Question: Wild violets are taking over area of front lawn and garden. What is the best way to rid them without harmful chemicals? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional I’m sorry to hear about the violet problems. Unfortunately, as you can read in this fantastic resource on wild violets from Penn State Univ’s Extension, “[w]ild […]
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Question: I purchased a cottage and the garden has a lot of forget me nots in the garden beds. I’ve been removing invasives aggressively and successfully but I kept the forget-me-nots thinking that they were native. They did not bloom in 2023. This year I will want to pull them out if they don’t bloom […]
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Question: We’ve experienced serious erosion in recent storms with topsoil washing away leaving exposed clay. What can I plant to prevent further erosion and to make the bank look less like a war zone? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional I will offer a couple of fantastic resources on choosing plants for erosion control, […]
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Question: I am purchasing pots of grasses for our seaside home. When can we plant them outside? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional The estimated last frost date for your town is May 2 this year, so you’re very likely to be fine planting then. I will note, for full disclosure, that these dates can’t be […]
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Question: Is it safe to use pressure-treated lumber for raised garden beds? If not, what are the alternatives to help prevent the wood from rotting? For example, a plastic lining does not seem to me to be a good alternative. Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional It’s a complicated question because the fact of […]
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Question: I have two small flower gardens in my yard. I would like to have native pollinator-friendly flowers, but I am struggling to find greenhouses/plant sales that have specifically native grown plants. Any ideas? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional My first advice is always to call local greenhouses and nurseries to see if […]
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Question: We live on the coast and after this year’s winter storms, we are considering planting more native sea grasses in the yard. We are hoping they could survive near the tide but out of it and then help hold soil when it is inundated during larger storms. What advice could you provide on this? […]
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Question: One of our garden areas was planted with lavender plants. They have all died off and we want to replant more lavender. Can you tell us what variety of lavender is the hardiest, lasts the longest and is most disease resistant? Also , is there such as thing as using too much peat moss? […]
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Question: We have two ducks and to keep them happy and healthy, this winter I dug out a small pond for them. The pond is approximately 10′ by 18′ with varying depths of 12 to 30+ inches. It’s in a naturally low lying area that tends to be wet for a good part of the […]
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Question: When is the the last spring frost in Hancock County and first fall frost? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional The short answer is somewhere in the neighborhood of May 6th for last and October 2nd for first. Longer answer: as you no doubt know, frost dates are always an informed guess kind […]
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