My 55 year old lilac bushes have never been trimmed. They hardly bloom the last few years. I know if I trim them now, they will not bloom in the spring. They are so big, now three feet below my power lines. Instead of trimming out the old wood, can I cut them down to four or five feet tall? Will they regrow? Thank you for you help, Cindi

I noticed my mature weeping crab was looking sick. It has a white cotton like mold covering the branches. This past spring, much of the inner branches were dead and there hasn't been a typical amount of growth this year. What is on it and how to I save it? Thank you so much for your help!

I have numerous oak trees, both which and red. A couple years ago, one large tree started turning brown and dried up in a very short time. This year another one a little ways down from it did the same, and now there are a couple more closer to the house, that look like they are doing the same thing. I hate to think of having to cut down all the oak trees. I still have some behind the house. I wondered if it was some sort of bug or fungus. I had them trimmed a couple years ago, and am thinking it may have caused something?? I happened to talk to a neighbor across the cul de sac and he mentioned that a couple years ago he had to cut down his oak trees. That seems to me that something is moving from one to another. HELP. maybe there isn't anything I can do at this point. Please give me some information. Thank you. I live about three miles North of New Market, South of the city. I don;'t have pictures at this point, but can get some.

Hi it’s near the end of the season and my Farfugium are getting these brown areas on the leaf edges. Is this something that requires treatment? And when it gets colder do I cut them back or do they go dormant?

Hi, I had to dig up several coneflowers this summer after they were infected with aster yellows. Now I’ve been pruning my Korean lilac, and I’m concerned that it has aster yellows too. What do you think? Please see attached photos. It’s a lovely old bush and I would hate to dig it up and then find out I was wrong. Thank you!

Hi, I live in urban Des Moines and realized this summer that I have a bagworm infestation on a large evergreen shrub. Actually, I am realizing now that I've had bagworms on this shrub for several years and didn't know it. Surprisingly the shrub itself looks relatively healthy. There are many bags on it now, some from prior years and I'm sure some new ones that have worms/eggs inside. My plan is to manually pull off as much as I can this fall, and then maybe use insecticide in the spring. When is it time to start the project of pulling them off?

Hi last week I submitted a question about a borer in my lilac tree trunk. The closet I can describe it, is like a white tobacco bug. Can you please tell me how to eradicate them?

Can you tell me what kind of mushrooms these are and are they hazardous to dogs? What's the best way to get rid of them?

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me ID this dogwood. I read in the fedco seeds catalog that the fruit of the kousa dogwood is edible but I don’t want to eat these fruits if it is a different kind of tree. Let me know if you need any other photos or can’t help! Thank you, Liz

Hi - we had a 13 large - beautiful arborvitaes installed by a reputable Landscape company last September (4) and this May (9) - they all have done beautifully until one week ago — when I noticed one of them on the side looked odd so I walked over to the row of them and walked behind the row and five of them appeared completely dried out and dead on the Northside and healthy and vibrant on the south side. They are planted in our garden in a shaded area so the sun is not hitting them hard. When I touched the bush the needles all fell off - the branches completely dried out— they also have a strange color to them on the north side — almost like they have been spray painted. There is no yellow or brown branches. And the all began dying off like this within days. This all began last week. What is very curious is that our neighbor had just had their back yard and trees sprayed for mosquitos and that day we had a very strong north wind - so strong that my husband came into the house because the fog from the spray was so dense. The trees starting dying off a week after this spray. I have called the Mosquito company and they came out yesterday and said - their spray would not kill trees/shrubs. They do have something they use on the ground that would kill Trees/shrubs but the representative said that should not have been in their tanks. I had the Nature Designs landscape company come out — specifically the owners and after two inspections they told me it is not a bug/mite that this appears to be an environmental spray or toxin spray. Now I feel stuck between no one wanting to clearly identify what the problem is as the bushes are still in warranty by the landscape company - however this was an expensive project, and I assume they do not want the liability. The Mosquito spray company does not want the liability either. I have kept the bushes watered and the ones that were installed last September came through the winter just fine. I am hoping someone can help me determine what is/has killed my beautiful shrubs.. they seem to be loosing more needles and drying out daily — on one side only. Our home is in Maple Grove on a Natural Wetland and the shrubs are inside our fenced yard.