Even without a partridge, a pear tree can add a special touch of beauty to almost any landscape. But, depending on your needs – ornamental or fruiting – you should do a little research before you plant.

QUESTION: “I have been told you need two pear trees to produce fruit. I just planted an ornamental pear, FLW Cleve Select. My neighbor just across the road was told if you have another pear tree within a half mile, that would work for the second tree. He wants to plant a pear tree. My question: will my ornamental work for his “second” pear tree if he plants a fruit bearing pear or does he need two of his own? Thanks for your time and help.” — Mickey VanSickle

ANSWER: Ornamental flowering pears will not work to cross pollinate fruiting pear trees. When planting a fruiting pear tree, a second variety of a pear tree should be planted within about 300 feet for cross pollination. The two fruiting pear varieties should either bloom at the same time or overlap their blooming period. Otherwise, pollination will not occur.

QUESTION: “I have a Cleveland pear tree and half of the leaves are dead-looking and brown colored. Any idea what is causing this problem? Your help is appreciated.” – John Young

ANSWER: It sounds as if your tree is showing signs of stress. A few things that you will want to check are: Fire blight Freeze damage Frost damage Wind damage Over/under watering Borers Residue from chemicals sprayed in the area

These are probably the most common reasons for pear trees to show stress. You can narrow the list by eliminating any that you know definitely could not be responsible. When you’ve narrowed the list, you might want to take a sample twig or a photo to a garden center or better still, call your nearest Ag Extension Service, as they might be knowledgeable about any causes specific to your local area. If you need help locating your local Extension Service, drop me an e-mail.

QUESTION: “I am having a problem with some of my trees that I plant that die due to girdling. The root just goes in a circle and kills itself. What can I do to prevent this?” – Fran Imlay

ANSWER: For readers who are unfamiliar with the term, girdling refers to the tendency of the roots of some trees to grow tightly around the main stem of the tree and slowly restrict the movement of water and nutrients. As a result, leaves become smaller, paler in color and less dense.

One preventative action is root pruning and/or fraying out the roots of container-grown plants before transplanting.

Here is a link to very helpful online article from the University of Ohio Extension Service about root girdling: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1139.html You can also click on a direct hot link to that article when you find this column at my Web site, www.landsteward.org

QUESTION: “I am wondering if you can suggest to me what to plant in my backyard that seems to be damp and moist most of the time. We are having three of our Austrian pines removed because of the drought last summer. We have been told they are dead. The area is in direct sunlight and the ground area seems to be damp due to a water drop off. What are some good trees or plants to replace in this area? We want something for privacy as well as beauty.” — Vernice

ANSWER: Sorry to hear about your pines, Vernice. I suggest you take a look at the following trees that could be what you need: Maples, bald cypress and river birch. Something you might not have thought of: Growing bamboo and taller growing grasses in larger containers. They provide quick privacy and can be moved around as other plants begin to grow taller. Some other plants that I’d suggest for your backyard are Canna lilies, Nandina, Hibiscus and laurels. I hope this gives you some ideas to build on.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Is your garden a sustainable landscape? Ideally, it should be. By “sustainable” I mean that it is in balance with the local climate and requires minimal resource inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and water.

Take pesticides for example. One survey indicates that homeowners use ten times more pesticides per acre than farmers and two thirds of household users dispose of excess pesticides in the trash or down the drain. Detectable limits of pesticides have been found in 5% to 10% of wells as a result.

When it comes to your pocketbook, a single acre of lawn will cost you between $400 and $700 per year to maintain. And approximately 75,000 people require medical treatment every year for mower-related injuries.

Perhaps because of these factors, many homeowners are turning to a more naturalistic garden design. A naturalistic landscape requires less maintenance, reduces environmental harm, can benefit wildlife and still provides seasonal interest.

One way to create a successful naturalistic garden is to focus on native plants. Native plants are those that grow naturally in your geographic area rather than plants that are introduced from other parts of the country or from overseas.

Native plants are best adapted to local conditions and thrive with minimal care. Generally, native plants won’t harm natural areas. In a book titled “Wildflowers Across America,” Mrs. Lyndon Johnson wrote, “Wherever I go in America, I like it when the land speaks its own language in its own regional accent.”

A basic rule of thumb for a naturalistic sustainable garden is to select the right plant for the right place. By that, I mean it’s important to assess the site conditions, such as soil type, sun and shade and rainfall, and then select plants that thrive under those conditions.

I often hear from readers who say they have a sloping area of land that is experiencing soil erosion. The ideal solution is to plant some native groundcover plants that require little or no maintenance. The roots of groundcover plants hold the soil in place and also hold water, creating a healthy environment that prevents soil erosion and doesn’t need dangerous or risky mowing on a slope!

If you have a soil erosion issue or a hilly, sloping area that is hard to mow, a groundcover plant would probably be you best solution. You are welcome to send me an e-mail at steve@landsteward.org with some brief details of your situation and your geographic area and I’ll be happy to respond with some suggestions.

Meanwhile here are a couple of groundcover “idea starters.”

Bronze Ajuga
Sometimes known as Ajuga reptans or Carpet Bugle, this evergreen plant produces crowns and spreads by horizontal above-ground stems called stolens. It grows only to a height of 6” to 8” and produces spikes of attractive purple-blue flowers each spring.

Grass Carex Pennsylvania Sedge
When readers ask me what they can plant beneath trees, I often recommend Pennsylvania Sedge. It’s a native plant from West Virginia to Georgia to Alabama and forms soft, grass-like, 15 inch clumps of very narrow bright green leaves.

Heucheras Plum Pudding
This little guy won my heart! It grows well in shade and around trees. It’s a tough, long-lasting perennial that requires little maintenance.

Additionally, if heating and air conditioning costs are a concern, remember that trees on your landscape can lower energy bills by about 25% .

Recently, I’ve been traveling to some East African nations to assist in developing plans for sustainable agriculture that will boost their economy while growing much needed plants for the world market.

While in Ghana, I saw people carrying sturdy, colorful baskets that were so much better than the plastic or paper bags we use here to bring home groceries from the supermarket. I found that they are called Bolgatanga Market Baskets. They are hand-woven by Ghanaian artisans to provide income during the dry season. I brought home several baskets and now Cheryl and I use them constantly. If you’re interested in owning one or two of these baskets, drop me an e-mail and I’ll give you some shopping information.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Drought might be a landscape’s biggest enemy, but sometimes too much rain can bring problems of its own, as this reader found.

QUESTION: “Following some recent heavy rain, I noticed a LOT of tiny bright green weeds suddenly sprouting up through the mulched beds in front of our house. I mean there are hundreds of them.

“My question is this: Is it safe to get rid of them by spraying them with Round Up? The beds contain several established evergreen shrubs, no small plants or flowers. The prospect of trying pull up each and every one of the little pests is almost too much to imagine, so I’m hoping I can get rid of them some other way, but of course I don’t want to risk damaging the shrubs. What do you suggest?” – Mike H

ANSWER: Cheryl saw your question and said, “Put some white vinegar in a spray bottle and have at it. The vinegar in cooperation with the summer sun will kill off weeds. It may take a couple of good sprays, but you have to be stronger than the weeds. You can do it!”

Good advice, to which I would add this. Stir up the mulch every so often to disturb the roots of the little weeds. Do this in the hot part of the day so the ones on top do not have a chance to re-root. Round Up is good if the weeds are a certain height but not before that. A benefit of Cheryl’s solution is that it’s all natural. Use ordinary white vinegar, full strength. However, you still have to take the same care as if you were spraying Round Up and be careful not to spray the vinegar onto your non-weed plants.

A few days later, I received this e-mail from Mike: “Steve, I’d read one of your Plant Man columns that included a question from someone looking for highly concentrated vinegar to use as a weed killer. Because of that, I didn’t expect much from the ordinary vinegar I bought at the supermarket, but decided to give it a try. I put the vinegar in a plastic spray bottle and carefully sprayed the baby weeds. For good measure, I also sprayed some weeds coming up between the cobblestones in the front walk.

“When I looked the next day, the weeds I had sprayed had all shriveled up! As you suggest, I will stir up the mulch a bit and keep the vinegar spray handy for the next time the weeds emerge.”

QUESTION: “I have a Kwanzan cherry tree about 5 feet tall. It was doing GREAT… then a deer ate the leaves and as it pulled away it snapped the trunk (below the branch development). It was still hanging on so I taped it back up hoping it would heal. What should I do?” – David McDonald

ANSWER: There’s really not a lot that can be done over and above what you have done already. Frankly, the chances are it will not come back from the trauma caused by the deer.

However, one thing you can try is to angle-cut the tree at the base about 3 inches from the soil. It will sucker out stems if the tree is still viable. When most of the stems reach about 6 to 12 inches, cut off all except the best. You may have to stake it but probably not.

If your tree has a good root system, the roots will cause the “new” tree to grow to maybe where you were before the deer damage. Good luck!

You might also want to invest in a product called Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent. You can buy it as a 40 ounce concentrate or as a Pump & Spray combo pack that includes a 48 ounce pressure sprayer and 6 ounces of Liquid Fence, enough to make three quarts of repellent shat should be enough to treat 1,500 square feet. If you need some shopping information, drop me an e-mail.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

I’ve always thought that cooking enthusiasts and garden lovers have a lot in common.

For example, cooks tend to have a shelf full of cookbooks and always seem to have room for “just one more.” Additionally, they love to find cool tools and gadgets that will make their lives easier and more productive.

In the same way, gardeners tend to be voracious readers of books on every aspect of plants, garden design and landscaping. And no shed feels complete without an array of garden tools and related outdoor products!

Today, I’ll point you at a few items that you (or your garden-obsessed significant other) might find fun, useful or maybe even both.

Let’s start with books…

“Don’t Throw It, Grow it” by Deborah Peterson When is a leftover piece of gingerroot not merely destined for the compost heap, or a wrinkled potato well past its prime more than just an affront to the eye and nose? When Deborah Peterson gets her hands on it and transforms it into a windowsill plant.

Visitors to our Web site www.landsteward.org know that Cheryl and I are strong advocates of recycling. If kitchen scraps can find a new life as attractive houseplants or even homegrown food, so much the better.

Peterson’s book includes growing instructions for 68 plants in four broad categories – kitchen vegetables, fruits and nuts, herbs and spices, and more exotic plants. With Peterson’s help, a sweet potato turns into a blooming vine; chickpeas transform into cheery hanging baskets; a humble beet becomes a dramatic centerpiece; and gingerroot grows into a three-foot bamboo-like stalk.

“Designer Plant Combinations” by Scott Calhoun If you’ve watched the HGTV show about the 25 biggest landscaping mistakes, you’ll remember that one of the mistakes was called “scattered color.” Professional landscape designers think in terms of a palette of colors that enhance each other, whereas amateurs often scatter colors like randomly-dropped crayons.

In this new book (available August 2008) Calhoun demonstrates 105 plans that use six plants or fewer. Rather than complete garden designs, these combinations are small, understandable pieces intended to demystify the design process for home gardeners, particularly those dealing with small spaces.

Filled with photos and illustrations, this book should inspire the exterior decorator in every homeowner.

Moving out of the bookshop and into the back yard…

Bat House Kit
The most natural way to control mosquitoes is to allow bats to feed on them. A single bat can eat hundreds or even thousands of mosquitoes in a single night, and a bat house kit is a fun project to share with the kids or grandkids.

Mosquito Repellents
For the skeeters that escape from the bats, you need a way to keep them away from you when you are outdoors. Apart from that annoying itch, insect bites can cause West Nile virus, Lyme disease and malaria. Two new products claim to repel mosquitoes and other flying insects without the use of DEET.

Don’t Bite Me! patches are discreet, all-natural transdermal skin patches that deliver a blend of protective Vitamin B1 and aloe throughout the body. The manufacturer says that the waterproof patches can protect against bites from mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, chiggers and sand fleas for up to 36 hours. Unlike a spray, the patch will protect often-missed body areas such as ears, nose and scalp. The patches are available in 5-pack boxes for $4.99 and 10-packs for $7.99.

BugBand is another DEET-free repellent designed to protect you from biting and blood-sucking insects. It’s a wristband impregnated with Gerantol, a natural plant-based that keeps flying insects at a safe distance. BugBand is reusable (for up to 120 hours) and each band comes with its own storage pod in which to keep it between uses. Individual BugBands cost $4.95 and a four-pack is $14.95.

Liquid Net for Horses is a DEET-free pump spray specifically designed for horses. Spray it on your horse before you hit the trail and the flies, gnats and mosquitoes will stay away from your horse… and you.

So put on some bug repellent, build a bat house and relax in the garden with a couple of inspirational books.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

The height of summer might be an odd time to be thinking of winter but that is just what I was doing the other day. Cheryl and I were looking at some of our Hellebores and I was reminded that these plants are among the very first to bloom each year. In many areas, Hellebores are blooming as early as February.

The Hellebore genus is native to Europe and varieties can be found from the Mediterranean region to the northern reaches of Ukraine and into the Caucasus states such as Georgia, Armenia and Southern Russia. Perhaps this diversity explains why many Hellebore varieties feel at home in the varied climates of the United States.

If you are considering adding Hellebores to your own landscape, I will describe four easy-care hybrids that might be perfect for you. But first, let me share some fascinating facts and myths about these intriguing plants.

At first glance, it seems that the Hellebore’s petals remain long after you would have expected them to wither and die back. The reason? They are not petals at all. Each flower has five petal-like sepals that surround a ring of small nectaries that are the “real” petals, secreting nectar that attracts pollinators. The true job of a sepal in nature is to protect a flower in bud. In the case of Hellebores, the sepals themselves remain to become a delightful, and often colorful, feature of the plant.

One variety of Hellebore is nicknamed “The Christmas Rose” even though it is definitely not a member of the rose family and does not bloom at Christmas. Legend has it that it sprouted up through the snow from the tears of a little girl crying because she had no gift for the baby Jesus.

On the other hand, there are folklore tales of witches adding Hellebore to their cauldrons to summon up demons. However, other legends describe Hellebore being used to ward off demons. A versatile plant indeed!

There is evidence that the Ancient Greeks used certain Hellebore varieties for medicinal purposes, often as a purge or an emetic. However, the roots of certain Hellebores can be highly toxic and I strongly advise you not to self-medicate with any Hellebore plants!

Leaving aside tears in the snow, demons, medicines and poisons, Hellebores can certainly be an excellent addition to your landscape, particularly when you want to see some floral color in later winter and early spring.

Hellebore Red Lady
This hybrid produces red-maroon sepals in winter that persist into May.

Hellebore Blue Lady
This is one of the darkest forms of Hellebore with deep purple-blue flowers that I find breathtaking.

Hellebore Pink Lady
If you prefer a more delicate color, the Pink Lady could be for you, with her showy, cup-like sepals in shades of pale pink.

Hellebore Ivory Prince Plant this handsome young fellow alongside one (or more) of the beautiful Ladies. Prince’s creamy-white coloring compliments his showier companions.

All of the hybrids I’ve described here have lush, shiny, evergreen foliage that is very attractive even when not in bloom. Growing to a height of only one to two feet, these Hellebores can make a delightful groundcover forming clumps about two feet wide.

If your landscape includes a raised bed, so much the better as you’ll be able to really appreciate the beauty of their colorful, gently nodding heads.

In a perfect world, these Hellebores would prefer being placed on the edge of a woodland setting with moist loamy soil. To approximate these conditions, plant them in a semi-shaded area in soil that is rich in organic matter. Dig a hole twice as large as the root ball and add some compost or other bulky organic matter before planting the Hellebore.

These deer-resistant hybrids are long-lived and require little or no care once established, but they seem to flower more vigorously when organic matter is added in the spring.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org