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Question: Hi Anne I live in Fresno, California and I am considering to buy some Pansy Plugs and transplant them into my own six packs and 3 and 4 inch pots. I was wondering when is the best time to have these plants shipped into my area and also can these be grown in a shade house or do I need to have an actual greenhouse for the finishing time. Hope you can help me out. I know what the grower says but I would like to have a actual outside expert to advise me. Thank you, Bill

Anne Clapp: Pansies are “cool weather” plants that prefer night time temperatures in the 60's or below and daytime temperatures in the 70's or below. I can grow them in a shaded outdoor area in the Carolinas from transplants in early September to set out in the ground in late October. They get pulled out of the ground in May when the temperatures are in the 80's on a regular basis. I would think your grower has given you a good recommendation for your climate.

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Question: I planted 8 holly bushes about 4 months ago. They looked very healthy until 3 days ago. Almost all the leaves on 3 of the bushes fell off….they still look green….just fell off! What could the problem be? - Debi S.

Anne Clapp: It sounds like the plants may have been overwatered.

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Question: I live in Nashville, TN but read your articles. I have 5 Leland Cyprus that we planted as 10" tall in November and have nearly doubled in size it seems in 9 months. Now they are browning a bit....all of them... from the inside out. I lost two other Lelands planted with these in the spring to disease which seemed obvious, and those trees turned brown in big patches and did not grow. That is not what these five are doing, as they are really growing, but turning a bit brown from the bottom and inside out. They are on elevated beds, and I think they have been watered sufficiently. Is this Browning in late summer normal? - Brian A.

Anne Clapp: Leylands do lose some of their interior foliage in late summer or early fall – much the same way pine trees lose their old needles. It is fairly common when a plant puts on a lot of new growth.

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Question: Anne Clapp, A couple of weeks ago there was something about a flat border around a flower bed on your show.I missed most of It.I would like to know more about it.I've seen cheap looking ones in books,but this one looked nice.And a plus your push mower is able to run right over the border. Thanks for any help, Bobby W.

Anne Clapp: The border around my yard is brick pavers set in a sand and gravel bed. There is a 6 inch tall plastic edging set behind the brick pavers so that the Zoysia lawn does not creep into the flower bed. For those with Fescue lawns it would not be necessary to use the plastic edging. In my yard I dug a 6 inch wide trench 5 inches deep in front of the bed. I put a layer of gravel in the bottom for drainage and used coarse sand on top. I tamped it down with the brick as I laid them in place then tamped the brick to make sure it was level. It makes a great mowing strip.

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Question: When we bought our home I inherited fescue grass. It had been a wet summer and the grass looked great. Unfortunately things like crab grass and pre and post imergant were not in my vocabulary. I am getting ready to airrate, seed, fertilize and lime my yard but I have alot of crab grass. What can I do at this point for the weeds? Also is there a good book or article on yard care, especially the what and whens? I just need some good yard advice. Thanks for the time and help, Brent R.

Anne Clapp: If you are in North Carolina contact your local cooperative extension office for a copy of their booklet "Carolina Lawns". The same information is available on their web site. It is the very best publication you could have to answer your questions. First thing I would kill off the crabgrass with a lawn weed killer marked "crabgrass killer" on the label. Usually you can start your reseeding etc. about 10 days after you apply the herbicide.