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Greg - enjoy listening to you on the radio!! Now for my question: Ihave a potted rose bush on my terrace which I planted this spring (It'son its third round of blooms). How do I take care of this during thefall and when should I cut it back? I have never had success inbringing them back the following year - thus I just go out and buy a newone!! Thanks!

Potted roses can be a little tricky and require different care that roses inthe ground. If you intend to put them to sleep for the winter, stop fertilizing after Labor Day but continue to water them and you can leave them outside right through October. After that, store them in a very cool dark but not freezing (basement but not garage) over the winter and continue to water about once a month. In March, give them a warm water and liquid fertilizer wake up call and move them into bright light and then outside in the middle of May. A better way is if you have a sunny or very bright lit place in your home, you can keep them growing and maybe even blooming all winter!

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Hi Greg
Do you have any printed lists, or good resources for deer resistant landscape plants of all sizes (trees down to annuals). I always enjoy listening to you. Kerry Fallon

I used to issue a new list of "deer resistant plants" every year and every year it got shorter and shorter. I am now thinking of issuing a list of venison recipes (just kidding). I recommend an intensive and continuos repellent spraying program. Diligence and frequency is surpassingly effective. The one plant which is the last to be eaten by almost every animal is the glorious daffodil.

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When is the best time to trim a wisteria bush? The tendrils are attacking everything in sight!

The best times to prune wisteria is at 8 am and 5 PM every day! Wisteria canreally get out of hand quickly and you should prune back all the new growth except those leaders you wish to keep to provide desired coverage. You may prune very hard after bloom in the spring.

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I purchased a large canna plant this past May to put in my office. I waterit very well once a week. It is under very bright light (fluorescent bulbs)approximately ten hours a day. Before I leave the office on Friday, I open the blinds on a very large window and move the plant into its light so that it has the sun the entire weekend. However, the leaves are turning brown around the edges (burnt). It had flowers on it when it was purchased, but hasn't flowered since. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help, Marilyn.

Cannas are a tender perennial and as such usually only bloom once a year. The leaves will naturally turn brown at the end of it's growing season and dye back. Itr then has to go into a dormant period of about 90-120 days before it comes back. During this period it must be stored in a cool (never freezing), dark place. You can then wake it up with warm water and water-soluble fertilizer and bright light for another season of blooms and growth.

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Hi Greg! I live in a garden apartment and love to hang window boxes from my balcony. However, those darn squirrels are destroying them. I do have a young child who plays near them, and would like to know if there is a safe way to keep those rodents out of my flowers? Thanks so much.

Laura N.

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Try sprinkling the surface of the soil with a good dose ofreal hot dried red pepper or flakes. You may also augment this solution by tying a helium filled mylar balloon with bright colors or even a face (if you find it) in the vicinity. The breezes will keep it moving around and make old bushy tail real nervous. You won't have to leave it there forever, just long enough to change their habits.

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Greg: My 80' willow fell down on Saturday. The bottom part of the trunk

was probably 6' around; the trunk divided and those trunks were probably 2.5' around. Can you estimate how much this tree weighs so I can rent a dumpster to take it away (the dumpsters are priced by how much they weigh when filled). Thanks for your help.

That's a tough one. Let's see....a cubic foot of weeping willow wood in the summer weighs 12.2 pounds (in the spring, it can weigh up to 3 times as much). The formula for finding the volume of a cylinder is bh=pi r squared times h. All you have to do is divide the trunks and branches into given lengths, calculate the volume of each and add them all up and there you have it. Of course that doesn't include the leaves and small twigs but they don't weigh much. Of course you might just want to get one dumpster and see how far you get and then order more accordingly.

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Hi Greg, We have approximately eight Holly bushes or shrubs on our property. We planted them about eight years ago. They never got any berries on them. We even bought a male and female and planted them nearby. That didn't help. Could you please tell us what's wrong. Thanks.

First of all, make sure the "male" you have is a male. This can be determined by an expert looking at the flowers in the spring. Contact an arborist or take a sample of a twig with flowers to the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Valhalla, NY (lifting up the leaves and peeking underneath won't work). If you haven't been feeding your shrubs with a high Phosphorus fertilizer, start this November with a does of 5-10-5 or "Holly Tone." Apply according to label directions (never more). Feed again in the spring when you see new growth. With the right fertilizer and the presence of a male your females should be loaded with berries next year.