I am confused about when to prune my Nine Bark and Mock Orange, and how much to take off. I never understand the guidelines (“old wood, new wood). Any easy suggestions? I’m in Multnomah County, East side, close-in Portland neighborhood. Thanks much.

I mulched my tomato plants with straw back in May. They did not do well this year but that may have been due to other factors. Anyway I don't want to mulch with straw next year. Should I rake up the straw now? Or will snow decompose it over winter? Then I could just till it into the soil in spring. Your thoughts?

I have a young American filbert hazelnut plant in my front yard that was planted at the beginning of April this year that is having some issues and looks unhealthy. These problems include orange/brown leaves, soft branches, losing leaves, and it is not growing (it is only 18 inches tall right now). I planted this plant with another of the same species for cross pollination - the plants are 7 feet from each other in my front yard and get lots of sunlight during the day. The other plant is healthy and approximately 33 inches tall with lots of green leaves. It does have a few (less than 5) leaves that also have the orange/brown leaf issue, but its overwhelmingly healthy. Since planting in April, both plants have been watered deeply, roughly, once a week, it's possible I missed a few weeks earlier in the summer. However, in last 2 months they have been watered more frequently (3-4 times a week) and given them two doses of plant food using this product (https://aerogarden.com/accessories/plant-food/<personal data hidden>.html) (diluted for outdoor plants). In my Google searches before reaching out, it seemed like maybe the issue was a potassium deficiency in the soil so they were given plant food to try and correct the issue, but the struggling plant looks like its losing more and more leaves even with plant food and watering over the last two months. I'm not sure if I need to be more patient as the plant is recovering or if I need to take additional steps to help the plant make it. I'd also like to note that both plants have been in deer cages and I have not noticed damage from deer. I also havent noticed a bug infestation of any kind on the plants. Can you please help me figure out a course of action to help the struggling plant get become healthy?

I planted this honey berry plant this spring and I saw few leaves (back then) that have dark spots on them. Now, the whole plant has the dark spots. What is it? What can I do for it?

Hello, for several weeks now I have been getting bitten at night. The results are very itchy raised areas. One afternoon I found a bug on my shirt. I started to squish it and then stopped. I tried to photograph the best I could. It's a little squished. If you enlarge the picture you can get more detail.

Hello I bought a milk weed plant ignorantly yesterday at a farmers market to attract Monarc butterflies. My yard backs up to woods and I was hoping to place the plant down in a woody area with sun. My plan is to cut off the pods every year before they open . Would this stop the spread? I did not know all there is to know until now. I just thought was a nice easy plant lol. Im not sure which type of milk weed I have. It may be native to my state. I also bought fennel and my thought is just to cut it to the ground every fall to stop the spread. Any recommendations? If these are 2 plants that I will not be able to control no matter what I do I will not plant them. Please advise, thank you

Hi all! I’m looking for a yard visit to help me with some tree issues.

Hello,

Would it be safe to store soft, factory-made, shelf-stable candy (European licorice, to be specific) in a low-oxygen environment at room temperature for up to a year?

Thank you.

While travelling, I saw a beautiful cactus in a botanical garden: Cylindropuntia "Snow Leopard". Any chance I could grow it in the mid-Willamette Valley? Would it get too wet in the winter? Would it be amenable to living in a pot, and I could bring it inside during the winter? Thank you for your help!

I've been admiring this as it was growing untill my daughter tried to identify it and told me that it might be a parasitic tree fungus. Now I'm worried it may be an indicator of a larger problem. It is growing from the tree. Should I be worried?