Several of our asters are growing deformed. No yellowing and look reasonably healthy otherwise. May also be on the salvia. Maybe a virus?

My neighbor and I are looking for an intern from your department who could help us with our gardens this summer. We live in Manchester. Both of us have extensive gardens that need more care and maintenance than we are able to manage currently. We would like to hire someone who has experience but who also wants to learn, as both our gardens are quite established. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you very much. Terry Heinzmann<personal data hidden>

I have a garden and I've decided that Round One has been won by the Creeping Charlie and Nettles. However, in Round Two, I'm going to cover the whole darn thing with thick black plastic and kill everything. Once that is done I'll replant with desirable plants. My question is, would it be good or bad if, right after removing the plastic, I threw down some clover seeds? My intent in doing so would be to provide something covering the ground ASAP and hopefully something that would keep weeds out, but allow whatever new plants I put in there to grow. Thoughts?

I have a gravenstein apple tree with a virus which I understand is not curable. I won't be able to have the company come and cut it down until Monday possibly next Friday. Is there anything I can do to prevent it from spreading to my other gravenstein apple tree and my two Bartlett pear trees? The virus is the one that starts out with blotches on the leaves that you can see when the light shines through the leaf and then the blotches turn yellow, the leaf turns black and then falls off the tree.

is it a leaf miner ---do i pick off all infested leaves? anything else?

My grapevines had started to get leaves and some had small grape clusters starting. When we had several nights of below freezing, a large majority of the leaves got completely burned including several small grape clusters. Thankfully there were only a handful of grape clusters. In the past years, I have had small amounts of frostbite on a couple leaves but not all my vines My questions are- 1. will the grapevines get new leaves and continue to develop future grape clusters 2. should I try to remove the small dead leaves Thank you very much

Hi there - I am being targeted by squirrels. Not really, but it sure feels like it! I have a small container garden on my apartment patio that I have been lovingly tending to. However. Squirrels keep digging stupid little pointless holes in my containers. They aren't even burying anything, they're just digging up my plants. How do I make them stop? Do those squirrel sprays work? Do I need to create an elaborate fake ecosystem of fake snakes and owls? Help me.

What pesticides can I use that won't contaminate the peaches I will be eating: 1. to keep predators from eating the fruit 2. to kill crabgrasses, clover and other weeds under the tree I have used the Ortho fruit tree concentrate, mixed and sprayed on the leaves (is it safe?). I see that a 70% neem-only solution is also available (is it safe?).

Hello, I currently have a very mature Honeycrisp tree (planted in 1992). I now need a pollinator for it. I am unsure of which one to use because most trees I search out are zoned for zone4+. Supposedly, we're in zone 4B (i think that's a bit optimistic). I'd like to enjoy the fruit off the pollinator as well as the Honeycrisp. Availability of trees is a concern of mine - I go local when I can but alson drive down to Gerten's. I was thinking Triumph Kudo's, Snow Sweet ... None of which are as temp hardy as HC, unless I'm missing something. What do you recommend for my needs? Thank you.

Zinnias and some other plants getting munched! Took a photo of an insect I’m suspicious of. Thanks!!