Q. I live in northern Indiana. Please tell me how to grow mint. What is the difference between peppermint and spearmint? A. Mint is an important commercial crop in Northwest Indiana, with over 9,000 acres raised in 2007 at a value of over $6 million (USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Indiana/index.asp). The bulk of the Indiana mint crop is peppermint, followed by spearmint. Mint belongs to a botanical genus of plants called Mentha. Peppermint is Mentha […]
Q. Hello, I have 4 hydrangea plants in my yard that are over 5 years old and have never bloomed. Two are in total shade, one is in part shade and the last is in full sun. The plants themselves continually get bigger every year and thrive. I have tried not removing the ‘sticks’ or ‘spines’ left at the end of the season, as the plant goes dormant, to see if it would maybe cause […]
Q. We discovered fire blight on one of our apple trees this summer. We cut all the branches with symptoms (withered leaves and the crook at the end) and burned them. We have seen no sign of any further damage. Do we still need to spray next spring as directed by the product we bought from our local nursery? A. Fireblight is a bacterial disease that affects over 70 members of the Rose Family (Rosaceae), […]
Q. I’ve been interested in purchasing a reel push mower, the kind with no power engine, especially every time I see the price of a barrel of oil rise and every time I try to start my older, smoky power mower. I also like the idea of not polluting the air with noise or exhaust. We have a typical suburban front lawn and a very small backyard (under a lot of trees). Our lawn isn’t […]
Q) My aunt of 99 years passed away and left me 12 African violets. I’ve tried taking care of them like she did, but I can’t get them to bloom. Could you please give me some tips. A) African violets are generally quite easy to care for, adapting quite well to typical home conditions. The most critical factors are proper light, growing media, nutrition, and moisture. They will bloom best with long days (14-16 hours) […]
Q. In the last few months, we purchased property that included a portion of an old blueberry farm. We did have some of the bushes removed to have more backyard; however, we still have over 1,000 bushes that haven’t been touched for about three years! Most of the bushes are between six to seven feet high. Just a couple of rows are about four feet. Should we prune or cut down these bushes so they […]
Q. This winter, I was cutting down some trees that had poison ivy growing on them during the summer. I broke out in a rash, even though the poison ivy leaves were gone. Does poison ivy stay poisonous even after the leaves die? How do I remove the plants, even though they are already dead, without becoming contaminated? I am terribly sensitive to poison ivy and thought that I would be safe by waiting until […]