A. Water Guidelines-How much water needed to keep your plants alive is dependent on several things and you need to do a little investigating and reevaluate your findings on a weekly basis. When plants are first put into the ground they have only the small area that is their root ball where water is available to them. Even if the soil outside the root ball is moist the ball may be dry. You must be very attentive at first and check the root ball every day. When watering the plant place the water directly on the root ball, sprinkles on the foliage may run off and never get to the roots (like small amounts of rain). Some things that may affect the amount of water needed would be: does the plant have leaves- if yes, it would need more water; is it planted in soil that drains fast (such as a steep slope or sandy soil)- it will need more water; are air temperatures high or low – 75-80 degrees F. is summer temps – it will need more water. Also on occasion we do get a little rainfall here, start measuring your rainfall, if more than _ inch is measured you should be safe for a day or so. As the plant grows and puts roots out into the soil around it, it’s going to need less and less help from you.

A. Cooley Spruce Gall-This gall is caused by a wooly aphid and can affect both spruce and Douglas Fir. These galls are rather unsightly but rarely have significant effects on tree health. The winged adults lay eggs in fall that hatch into nymphs. These nymphs overwinter at the base of needles, resume feeding in spring and mature in May. These now mature adults produce a very large mass of eggs on the under side of the twig that hatch at bud break. The new nymphs move to feed on the developing needles causing the unsightly gall. They will emerge from the gall by early July and molt into a winged adult to start the process over again. If you have only a few of these galls, removing them to make the tree look better is the best option. Mother Nature does control this insect with either early or late frosts. If however, you appear to have a lot of the galls and are either worried about the tree’s health or would like to prevent the galls for aesthetic reasons, there are chemical controls. Catching the overwintering nymphs before they mature and lay their eggs is best. Effective treatments include Sevin, permethrin and horticultural oils applied in late April or early May.

A. Attracting Hummingbirds- Hummingbird’s like tubular shaped flowers in bright colors such as red and orange. Surprisingly there are a lot of things you can plant to bring in the hummingbirds.
Annuals Perennials Trees, Shrubs & Vine: Begonia Beebalm Butterfly Bush, Four-o-clock Cardinal Flower Honeysuckle, Impatiens Columbine Currant, Geranium Coralbells Trumpet Creeper, Nasturtium Delphinium Lilac, Petunia Silene Russian Sage, Phlox Gilia Catalpa Tree, Salvia Lobelia, Cleome Hibiscus\, Zinnia Hollyhock, Maltese Cross, Monkey Flower, Indian Paintbrush, Penstemon, Red Hot Poker, Salvia
Hummingbirds can be very territorial with their food source. Planting more than one grouping of flowers, separated by some lawn will help.

A. Cutting Back Bulbs- The longer you leave the leaves on your bulbs, the more energy they can store for reblooming next season. Once the leaves start to yellow and brown they can be removed. This may be long after you want to replant the bed with annuals or something. A way around this dilemma, plant bulbs and perennials together, the perennials will slowly grow and cover the bulb’s leaves and the bulbs will be there when the perennials aren’t.