John Davies

It's been three years since we cut off the main shoot. That's why I thought I may need another approach.

Thank you for your reply. I'll give them some more time.

I have old apple trees that my dad planted. They are columnar apple trees that he used to shade his greenhouse in the summer.

The trees are about 10" in diameter. I cut the trees about 5' off the ground since they have gotten too tall. This caused them to continue to grow shoots but none of the shoots get flowers. From my reading, this may be because I cut off the main shoot.

Do you think if I got some scions next spring I could bring these trees back into production? I've always wanted to try grafting and this seems like a good time to experiment.

I'm in SW Pennsylvania.

I have a fenced-in area that I attempted to grow some fruit trees. Some have died so I have some extra square footage. I don't do a good job of taking care of the fruit trees. I don't want to spray them every two weeks as my dad did. I want something lower maintenance.

I'm in Zone 6a. My blueberries are doing great with minimal maintenance. So are my currants.

But I'd like some more suggestions for fruit bushes.  Extra points given for native plants.

thank you.

My wife and I are going on a long weekend vacation - Thursday through Sunday. My pepper and tomato plants are ready to go outside, but the weather is not cooperating. Our last frost date is May 20 and I'm in 6A

The weather prophecy says that we are going to have a lows of 54, 44, 30, 37 on Sunday.

I'd like to put them out under some row cover or plastic, so I don't have to worry about watering. After I get back, I can easily run heating cables or light bulbs to keep them toasty if the lows go any lower.

So do I risk cold outside or water inside?

I don't want to be too glib about it. But I sure would welcome a bit of hunger in my area so that the bow hunters could poach some deer in our suburban development.

They're driving all my gardener neighbors crazy.