We planted three 5-gallon-size camellias last spring against the north wood fence adjacent to our concrete patio deck. The patio has a wood trellis-style cover anchored by four posts, two of which are about 5 feet from the fence.

The plants suffered in the afternoon sun and heat, but we left them on their own. They survived last summer and now have a lot of new growth. They are suffering again with our recent heat wave, and we need to act, but the question is how.

We made a cover using heavy sunscreen fabric that blocks heat and sun. We attached it to the fence and patio cover, which may have worked but looked terrible. We dismantled it after we stepped back and observed it from a distance. It was a visual polluter!

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

– Anne, Sacramento

According to UC master gardener Veronica Simpson, Camellia japonicas thrive and bloom best when sheltered from the hot sun. Camellia sasanquas can tolerate more sun.

Moving the plants away from the concrete patio, which no doubt radiates heat, would be a solution. Shelter them until they become established. Adding a 4-inch layer of mulch will help to keep the roots cool. Keep the mulch about 4 inches away the trunk.

I recently had a tree cut down in my yard. The tree was about 12 years old. Besides pulling out the stump, what other actions can I take to guarantee that the tree will not grow up again?

– Peter, Olivehurst

Since the tree was cut down and you have had the stump pulled out, the source of any regrowth will be the roots still in the ground, says UC master gardener Lorraine Van Kekerix.

Some species have little regrowth from roots; other species have a lot of regrowth. Regrowth can occur a significant distance from the original tree if it was a species with extensive roots and a tendency to regrow.

Most tree roots are found in the top 18 inches of the soil. You could dig up the entire area to a depth of 18-plus inches and remove the roots. Doing this would reduce regrowth but would be very costly and time-consuming, and would damage any other plants in the area that you want to keep.

It's much easier just to snip off new shoots as they appear. If you keep snipping off the shoots, eventually the roots will quit putting out shoots because there aren't any leaves to feed them. This may take a few years. Eventually the roots will die and break down in place.

Is late spring or summer too late to prune rosebushes? Will late pruning just delay blooming time, or will it seriously hurt the plants? And if I should not prune, should I be doing some kind of extra fertilizing?

– Teresa, Elk Grove

UC master gardener Bill Pierce says the best time to prune roses in the Sacramento region is January and the first half of February. Your goal should be to prune before new sprouts appear – you don't want the plant to waste energy producing shoots that will be cut off.

Pruning in late March, or even as late as the Fourth of July, won't kill the plants, but it will limit and delay bloom. "I've known people who lived in the foothills and pruned every other year," says Pierce. "Their flower production was satisfactory. I tried this once, but the drawback was the increased amount of wood that needed to be removed after two years. The foothill folks didn't have this problem because the deer did some pruning all year long."

Giving your plants some fertilizer, with or without pruning, is helpful because they need energy to produce a crop of flowers every six weeks from April through November.

There are three great publications on roses available from UC Cooperative Extension: "Roses in the Garden and Landscape: Cultural Practices and Weed Control" (PN 7465), "Roses in the Garden and Landscape: Diseases and Abiotic Disorders" (PN 7463) and "Roses in the Garden and Landscape: Insect and Mite Pests and Beneficials" (PN 7466).

For copies of these, send a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope for each one, specifying the Pest Note that you want, to UC Cooperative Extension, 4145 Branch Center Road, Sacramento, CA 95827. These publications are also available at www.ipm.ucdavis.edu.