Question: What is dead heading?
Answer: This ominous sounding word simply means to remove the flowers and stems of  plants whose flowers have finished blooming. This procedure encourages a second flush of  flowers to develop and rebloom. Longer nights encourage a longer flowering period and more sturdy plants which do not require staking.

Question: What is the difference between English ivy and  Boston ivy ?
Answer:English  ivy is evergreen, it has attractive leaves that  are shiny. It grows up and on anything.  Boston Ivy is deciduous, it has large leaves that turn deep red in autumn. Both ivies cling to a wall with aerial rootlets. Either ivy should be cut back from time to time because once it is established, it tries to cover the world.

Question: How can I  keep grass and weeds from coming up around my trees? I have tried mulch.
Answer: The idea of mulch is to keep out light which which causes grass and weeds to sprout. Even a heavy application of mulch has tiny light holes allowing grass and weeds to sprout. A barrier of landscape cloth or good old newspaper placed on the area before mulch is applied will prevent any light or vegetation from coming through. 

Question: The leaves of my rhododendron are curling and wilting. Watering only doesn't help. Can it be saved?
Answer: Your Rhododendron  is suffering  from root rot. Watering only aggravates the problem. Rhododendron have fine fibrous roots. In heavy wet soil  they suffocate and die.  Improve soil drainage by amending it with coarse sand, ground bark, or peatmoss. Raise the shrub so that  the top one half inch of the root ball is above the soil surface, then cover it with mulch. If the shrub is too far along, you may have to replace it.

Question: How  can I keep bees away from my hummingbird feeder?
Answer: To keep bees away from a hummingbird feeder , remove and replant any flowers that attract  bees away from the area of the hummingbird feeder. Some flowers  that are especially attractive to bees are: lambs ears, cleome,annise hissop, loostrife, New England aster,butterfly weed, baptista. The bees will prefer the flowers.