Good afternoon! The soil in my raised beds had an issue with being hydrophobic last year. I did some work this fall and winter to prep it for this year, and it seemed to have worked. However, after two days of sun and no rain, it's gone back to not accepting water. Water will just sit on top of the soil and won't seep in past the first millimeter or so of topsoil. Any recommendations on how to fix this?

Hello, What fungicide or treatment is good to treat black knot on trees?

NE Itasca county; Balsam area; mostly sandy soil. We have wild blackberry plants throughout our 40 acres, along trails, etc. They do not seem to produce berries. I have experimented; thinned the plants, pruned back the tops, transplanted to sunny areas, etc. What, if any, type of fertilizer can I apply to try to get these plants to produce? If you have a sugesstion, also recommend when I should apply the fertilizer. Thanks, Roy

We just bought a home with 2 huge older apple trees, McIntosh I think. The birds and insects eat all the apples the poor trees grow and so many branches don't produce any. We need information on how to prune, how to fertilize, and protect the apples without using dangerous pesticides.

What is the best way to slowly convert our Kentucky blue glass lawn to a more drought-tolerant lawn, such as turf-type tall fescue? I was told it was best to aerate our existing lawn and spread turf-type tall fescue seed afterwards. If aerating/seeding every spring and fall, I'm told the conversion should take place in approximately 5 years. Is this accurate information? If so, at what rate should we spread the seed? Also, we have already aerated our lawn this season but don't plan to start our sprinkler system for another month. Since I know we need to keep the seed moist for germination, should we wait to seed until the sprinklers are running? And if so, do you think we would need to re-aerate at that time?

Thank you so much for your advice.

I live in Southern Maryland and moved into a new house about two years ago and cant seems to grow a healthy lawn. I have aerated and over seeded twice in the fall and yet my lawn still very patchy and bare in most spots. A company told me that I need to spread compost and topsoil and then seed again this month and that I will have better results as my lawn is lacking nutrients and is heavy clay. Should I go ahead and do this renovation in spring or is it best to wait until Fall again and try this then? If i wait to seed should i just dethatch now and apply some preemergent for weeds ?

Hello- I have two pears trees approximately 5 years old each. I have tried to organically treat the pears with Neem Oil and other methods (putting baggies around the fruit) but each year the fruit either gets black or has bugs and the majority is inedible. The trees are two varieties to cross pollinate. Whom can I call and or how can I successfully produce edible pears?

I keep hearing about grating Irish Spring soap into your garden to keep away deer. Does this work? And, does it also keep away pollinators? Does it hurt the plants?

Hello,

We had our backyard regraded by a landscape company and thus, the grass was torn out. They have placed grass seed and straw with a nylon looking mesh.

We had a weed and feed service scheduled to do a pre emergent crab grass treatment and fertilizer. Should both treatments be canceled for this season?

Is there a benefit for the pre emergent crab grass treatment at some point this season? The grass is beginning to grow already. (we still have our front yard grass intact; should that be treated with fertilizer and pre emergent crabgrass treatment?). 

Thank you!

We have a large silver maple with exposed roots. Concerned about lawn mower cutting roots. Please advise which is a better, mulching or planting ground cover. Thank you