Visit our new neighborhood pages where you can send in photos, find quick information and news and join our message boards.

Visit our new neighborhood pages where you can send in photos, find quick information and news and join our message boards.

Question: Walter viburnums on the north side of our house are losing their lower leaves; the rest of the plant portions seem to be healthy. Is there anything I should do?

Answer: Most likely, your plants think they are being kept too much in the dark. The leaf drop results when the lower foliage does not receive its fair share of the sun. It's quite common for hedge-type plants to drop their lower leaves as the upper branches produce excessive shade.

Your plants have even more of a problem because they are on the naturally lower-light north side of the home. You might try trimming to make sure all sides of the viburnums have uniform exposure to the available light. Still, you probably are going to have to tolerate some leaf loss at the bottom of the plants.

Q: Our new bahia sod was installed four weeks ago and has not been mowed or fertilized. Should I do these chores now?

A: Give your new lawn that neat, trimmed look with a good mowing whenever you are ready. Frankly, I don't know how you waited this long. My general rule is when the grass needs cutting, it's time to mow.

Bahia should be cut when it reaches about 6 inches tall, and it is mowed back to 4 inches above the ground. The grass needs the taller blades to grow properly. This may be one of the few mowings until spring because bahia's growth slows during the shorter days and cooler weather ahead. Mowing can be done as needed to even up the few blades that do grow and to control weeds.

Also, you can feed the lawn lightly now. Either use one of the "winterizer" products or apply a general lawn fertilizer at one-half the normal rate. This can help encourage root development without wasting fertilizer on a grass that doesn't want to grow at this time of the year.

Q: I have Bermuda grass beginning to mix with my St. Augustine. Is there a preventer to use that won't affect the St. Augustine?

A: Being negative is no fun, but the answer is no. The only way to keep a pure St. Augustine lawn during a Bermudagrass invasion is to remove both grasses with a nonselective herbicide, such as Finale or Roundup. This type of control allows resodding after use. Apply once and wait a few weeks during the warmer weather for the residual Bermuda grass to regrow, and treat the spots again.

Hopefully, you have caught this weed problem early and there will not be a lot of resodding to do.

Usually the Bermuda grass invades in patches, and staying alert to control the weedy areas can keep your pure lawn.

Q: My mom has a bougainvillea that had wet feet and dropped nearly all its leaves before being transplanted to a drier location. When the stems are scratched, they are still green. Can the plant be saved?

A: The new location might save this plant's life, but it's going to need time to recover. Green stems are a good sign. Probably the plant needs to grow a new root system, so just keep the soil moist to encourage it.

A light feeding can be provided with a general garden fertilizer, but this application should have little effect until new roots begin growth. The root system can start recovering during the cooler months, but don't expect major shoot growth until spring.

Q: Some of the branches were broken on my newly planted magnolia and oak trees. Is there any reason not to apply a pruning sealer?

A: Pruning paints lost favor about 30 years ago and are no longer recommended treatments for cuts or scrapes with trees and shrubs. The research is conclusive that the use of a sealer or paint can impede wound healing and should be avoided.

Ensure quick healing by making good clean cuts. Avoid trimming the limbs back flush with trunks or limbs. Leave a little of the limb protruding, commonly called the branch collar. After this, the tree has to do the rest. If given normal care of adequate water and maybe a little fertilizer, the tree can start to heal.

Tom MacCubbin is an urban horticulturist at the Orange County Cooperative Extension Service, a division of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. Write to him at Orlando Sentinel, MP-240, P.O. Box 2833, Orlando, FL 32802. E-mail: TomMac1996@aol.com. Or blog with him at OrlandoSentinel.com/tomsdigs.

Question: Walter viburnums on the north side of our house are losing their lower leaves; the rest of the plant portions seem to be healthy. Is there anything I should do?

Answer: Most likely, your plants think they are being kept too much in the dark. The leaf drop results when the lower foliage does not receive its fair share of the sun. It's quite common for hedge-type plants to drop their lower leaves as the upper branches produce excessive shade.

Your plants have even more of a problem because they are on the naturally lower-light north side of the home. You might try trimming to make sure all sides of the viburnums have uniform exposure to the available light. Still, you probably are going to have to tolerate some leaf loss at the bottom of the plants.

Q: Our new bahia sod was installed four weeks ago and has not been mowed or fertilized. Should I do these chores now?

A: Give your new lawn that neat, trimmed look with a good mowing whenever you are ready. Frankly, I don't know how you waited this long. My general rule is when the grass needs cutting, it's time to mow.

Bahia should be cut when it reaches about 6 inches tall, and it is mowed back to 4 inches above the ground. The grass needs the taller blades to grow properly. This may be one of the few mowings until spring because bahia's
... read the whole article