I am one of the family advocates for Head Start. I am reaching out to your agencies to get further information on how parents can get Pull ups for their preschooler. We do have quite a few children who use pull ups in our school, but unfortunately, we only provide diapers and not pull ups. If a child is potty training using a Pull Up will help the child achieve this goal. Pull ups are to be provided by the families and as you know this is costly and most of these families are on government assistance such as SNAP. I would truly appreciate your help and/or orientation in this matter.

Found this crawling across newly weeded space. Never seen anything like it before.

Caller is looking for termite extermination recommendations

We have seen several Lantern Flies on our condo community grounds in the last few weeks. We want to take any steps necessary to protect our trees and shrubs from damage. Is there a list of trees and shrubs we can refer to that would inform us about what trees and shrubs are most vulnerable? If so, is there a set of accompanying recommendations about how to treat vulnerable trees and shrubs in order to protect them to the maximum extent possible? Thanks for your response.

I discovered scale and a black carbon -like coating on my entire 4 Foot crepe Myrtle. I do not have a clue of what the black coating is probably some kind of a Mold. Because I don't have any Insecticides or oils available. I sprayed it with a strong solution of dishsoap, ammonia and water. I will spray with malathion and volk oil later. What can I do to remove and eliminate the black mold?

I’m interested in having a neighborhood master gardener stop by to give some friendly advice on native plantings

Hi: You have helped me so much in the past with gardening/lawn/soil questions, I am hoping you can help me here. I have a shed on a wood foundation that I installed 12 years ago, The floor is on a wolmanized wood platform, and the plywood is a sturdy Plytanium brand that was painted on both sides before being installed on the wolmanized wood platform. The plywood flooring has rotted and it smells bad. So far, I cannot tell if some vermin is maybe dead under the flooring, but it does smell bad. I have suited up with an N95 mask and double Nitrile gloves to remove the flooring by unscrewing it and placing it in black contractor bags. Again, I'm not sure if you consult on this matter. My other question is the soil beneath the flooring. If there is a dead vermin I can carefully bag and remove it. Buth, the questrion is, do I also need to remove the soil that it was in contact with? Is there any risk in leaving the soil exposed? I do not have any children or pets in my backyard - just, as it seems, hundreds of squirrels who come to visit every day. Thank you in advance for your help, Jim

I want to overwinter geraniums in pots. Is regular potting soil okay? It has the feeding stuff in there and not sure if that is good since I don't really want them to grow too much?

I need to treat this island in my yard that contains A crêpe myrtle tree, and several azaleas that have been affected by disease. I need some advice on how to treat the area to prevent spread. I have read that an aphid or an insect might be the initial problem that has been led to the spores of black mold, attaching, and around in circles I have read. I’m not sure which or in what order I should Treat this area I have Sevin, which is a systemic insect killer. I have a fungicide and I have neem oil at my disposal. I would love some guidance as to where I should begin or how I can contain this area and treat please help if you can.

Lea Seaquist <leaseaquist> 11:32 AM (2 minutes ago) to extension.umn.edu/local/ramsey Hi Master Gardeners, My husband and I have been overseeing a Community Garden in Maplewood. We are hoping someone can talk with us about best practices. The garden is used by 48 Karen immigrant families. The plots each family uses are roughly 16x20.The garden has been expanding behind Path of Grace Methodist Church in Maplewood for the past several years. We till the garden each spring, renting a small tractor. As my husband and I get older, this is tough and we are wondering if you have any other ideas. (There was one year that we did not till the soil and the families were breaking up the soil with axes! ) Are there any resources to help obtain garden tools and equipment for families? Rain barrels? Any idea of farmers/gardeners in the area who could help till? Thank you for any help. Lea</leaseaquist>