Garden Detective

We purchased our home 11 years ago and every year since, we have been battling olives dropped by 12 trees that surround our home. Our trees are typically in full bloom the second or third week in May.

I have a 3-year-old oak (from a stray acorn) that's growing 4 feet away from my 7-foot navel orange tree.

About two years ago, possibly three, I had a very tall liquidambar tree cut down and the roots ground. Within a month or two, I had shoots coming up all over the removal site.

We've been in our home for more than seven years, and in the first year, we had a couple Japanese maples and a fruitless plum planted on the north side of our home. It seems as though all the trees along this side of the house are stunted.

I just had a conversation with an experienced gardener and told her about some of our plants dying right at the start of last year. I told her we put in chicken and/or steer manure.

I have two full-grown (7-foot and 10-foot) orange trees that were loaded with oranges, but as many as 10 (total from both trees) fall off each day. We find each of these on the ground with a large greyish-brown spot that is softer than the rest of the orange.

There's this invasive ground cover with little white flowers that's growing all over our yard and intruding into the vegetable garden.

I think I've got the only grapevine in Napa that will not make a grape!

This huge fruit came from our Eureka lemon tree. Do you know what it is?

I have a question about Italian cypress, in particular their seed pods. I would like to harvest and plant as many as I can. What is the best way to accomplish this task?

Is it too late to do anything about pear psylla? I have read to use dormant sprays, but of course the leaves are out now.

I have a plum tree that is 4 years old. Its trunk is approximately 4 inches in diameter. In the spring, it's loaded with blossoms. However, it has never had one piece of fruit. Any thoughts on what I can do to get some fruit?

I hope you can help me. I love my elephant ears, but they have grown so much that they are going to fall down or grow into the way of the sidewalk.

When should iris be dug up and replanted? Is it based on the calendar – a certain time of year – or condition of plants?

My yard has over the years been invaded by this clover. It spreads perhaps via bulbs or tubers. Either way, it is spreading everywhere.

Would you please direct me to the website that would provide a list of native plants and trees that would grow well in the soil of our El Dorado Hills home?

I planted raspberries in a raised bed. I plan to use nylon baling twine as my guide wires.

I recently moved into a new subdivision and notice that the homeowners association or developer's landscaper planted a magnolia tree directly over my water service lateral.

I have a 30-foot redbud tree that has been losing its outer bark quite severely on the lower 4 feet of the trunk.

I love the Sacramento climate for my vegetable garden. Is there a lettuce that I can grow here in the summer months?

Is it OK to plant edibles where oleanders have been?

While thinning fruit on my apple tree, I came across these little critters. They are about a half-inch long and mainly black with orange in the middle of their backs.

In my backyard here in Elk Grove, I have an apple tree and a peach tree. Every year, I get hundreds of apples and peaches, but every one of them has a brown hole and a worm inside.

My liquidambar trees drip a sticky "sap" that is as hard as a rock when it dries. It is death to car paint.

I am looking for suggestions for plants or shrubs that can withstand full summer sun in a south-facing area and that won't freeze during the Sacramento winters. I want them to bear flowers and grow to about 3 to 4 feet tall. What types of plants or shrubs should I consider?

My Japanese birch is suffering die-off in some of the smaller branches and twigs.

I have an heirloom (Brandywine) tomato plant that I purchased at Eisley's nursery here in Auburn.

Each year, I plant tomatoes and each year they end up with yellow leaves.

I'm trying to grow orchids. I can't find a book that tells me when and how to repot them.

I have noticed this flower (pictured at right) when I have been biking on the American River bike trail (which is often).

Our Asian pear tree these last three or four years has wormy fruit. Before that, the fruit was always worm-free.

A few years ago, this plant started growing in my garden. I did not plant it so I'm assuming that maybe a bird somehow brought it into my yard.

I'm curious about this plant. It was given to me as a clipping a few years ago and now blooms prolifically.

We live off a busy street and were looking for planting suggestions to block the street view and noise. We were thinking about planting some Thuja (arborvitae) for evergreen coverage. We'd like to plant several layers of plants if possible. Do you have any other suggestions? This area gets the late-afternoon sun.

Last year, my serrano chile pepper had a highly variable amount of heat. One week they were very hot, the next week very mild. Does overwatering or cool weather make for milder peppers?

Help! I have a Thompson seedless grapevine that's in its fifth year. Each of the past few years, it has produced bunches of grapes that never mature. The grapes grow to approximately 5 millimeters, stop growing, and eventually harden and die. I'm about to the pull the darned thing out, but I've decided to ask for your advice first.

We bought two banana plants; both were supposed to be dwarf but one ended up being the larger type of plant, and it gave us some fruit.

My wife and I built two large raised mounds and planted five birch trees on each one. Each tree has a drip sprinkler on a timer set for 30 minutes a day and seems to stay damp.

I planted tomatoes for the first time last year. When they finally started to ripen, I found quite a few of them had some kind of rot on the bottom about the size of a quarter (or a little more).

Two things about me will explain my "phone box" project: I love to build things with wood, and I love all things British and sci-fi.

I have a question about a magnolia tree. We are new to this house and the tree in the front yard doesn't look good.

My question is regarding very large black bees homing in on the eaves of my house.

How do I get rid of voles and moles in my raised-bed tomato garden?

I have a 5-by-5-foot planter box in my backyard. When pulling out my tomato plants, I found that a neighborhood cat has been using a corner of the box as a litter box.

When is the best time to cut back hydrangeas?

I have inherited a house with many beautiful, mature and antique climbing roses that go up to the roof.

We have several Japanese maples in our yard, and the majority of them have bark that is splitting and separating from the trunk. What could be causing this?

I have a neighbor with a beautiful rose that I would like, too. Is there any part of that rose I can take a cutting from that will give me the same color and petal texture?

We have an apple and a pear tree that were planted in our yard before we purchased our home. We have lived here five years, and every year, I sample the fruit at different times to see when it might be ripe or close to ripe. Fruit from both trees tastes terrible, no matter when we taste it. Our horses will eat it, but no human could stomach it.