I am considering planting a pear tree in my yard. My neighbors have several apple trees and we just planted 2 Contender Peach trees. Can you tell me if one pear tree will be okay to plant, or do they need a few in the same area to pollinate?

I have about eight Plum Pudding Coral Bells lining my sidewalk to our front door. Several of them have large ant hill mounds within the plant. Can I use some type of ant killer on them without harming the plant?

For several years now, the 5 rhododendrum shrubs on the side of my house only have blooms at the bottom of the bush. There are buds all over but the only blooms that open up are at the bottom of the bushes.

There is a shooting range that has been operating for over 30 years. The owner has a grandfather clause allowing for land use as a shooting range. The shooting range had 4-5 positions for the paying public to do target shooting. The owner has recently decided to expand the shooting range with additional shooting positions. These new shooting positions are positioned near others’ properties and have caused noise and the possibility of reckless shooters to have bullets stray into these adjacent properties. Is the expansion of the range allowed? If this expansion is allowed, it renders the adjacent properties useless and potentially dangerous.

Hello, I would like to be able to recycle/reulse the "gray water" from my bath. However, I often add about 1/2 cup Espsom salts. Questions: > Is using the bathwater on outdoor plants safe? > And, would it matter if it was used for potted plants or those in the landscape? Thank you very much for your time, effort and expertise on this question/request. Appreciatively, Janet Dennis

I might have planted this rhody in a location that gets more sun than i realized. The questions are - is it too hot a spot, should i move the plant, can i move it now?

I have dear browsing my front and backyard daily. I would like to plant flowers in both yards, specifically shade-friendly ones. Perennial and/or annuals. Is it safe to have a planter on the deck with vegetables and/or flowers, i.e., do they climb steps to go for food? Would like to plant vegetables in planter, but NOT sure this would be safe. I tried to get into a community garden for this summer, but have had no luck. The obvious one being the Ben Franklin Community Garden in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Do you have any other suggestions?

What is best time to prune and how much. We have a large old plant that blooms great but lots of dead branches also. We also have all kinds of shoots popping up where we don’t want them. Thanks

Hello, I thoroughly enjoyed your site, and am using it to help educate my children. One was stung by something, likely a yellowjacket, a few years ago, and now is just terrified of all wasp/hornet/bee-like things. Anyway, we've watched a number of videos as well, but I was hoping maybe the UMN had something specific to the insects in Minnesota. I've searched around a bit, and didn't find any, so I thought I'd ask. If it makes any difference in terms of location for insects, we live in Shakopee. Thanks so much for any help you might offer. Best, Michael

I have 2 trees (1 very big & 1 very small) that had strong Gypsy moths infestation last year. I have read up on certain to do at certain times of year if possible. Need to make barrier with duct tape & Vaseline. My question is it ok to use clear duct or is the silver better. I only saw silver used online & I would prefer it not be so noticeable. Thank you for any help in this matter.