Gardening Q&A with Richard Nunnally

Q:I am having some select timber cut on my property. Some of the hardwood that I am leaving has been skinned up with the bark knocked off. What can I put on it to help save the tree from disease?

Answer: Tree wound dress ings are no longer recommended.

The only thing you can do is try to cut the jagged edges of the wounds to a straight, clean edge. Also, cut the edge near the bottom of the wound to a point to allow water to run out rather than get trapped in uneven, broken bark. If the trees are otherwise healthy, the wounds are small enough and you make these repairs as soon as possible, the trees should repair themselves.

Q:We live on the edge of a wooded area which has several wild dogwoods close to the edge of the yard. I have also planted a couple of nursery dogwoods on the edge of the yard. I have fertilized and, when necessary, continued to water both types. However, only the newest domesticated dogwood has begun to produce any significant amount of berries. Do wild dogwoods normally produce fewer berries?

Answer: Native dogwoods tend to grow more slowly than cultivated ones. They also tend to grow in the woods where there is less direct sunlight. Both of these conditions could reduce their seed production.

Oddly enough, many times when plants produce a heavy seed crop, it's because they are under stress. The stress naturally causes them to produce seed in order to make offspring. My advice would be to continue to keep them healthy, enjoy their flowers and not be too disappointed in the lack of seed production.

Q:I planted grass seed a few days before Labor Day and haven't seen much of the grass coming up yet. We have a well and can't water, but I thought I did a good job of preparing the soil. Is there anything else I can do?

Answer: The best way to get grass seed to germinate as quickly as possible is to water it lightly once a day for a week after it's planted. Just keeping the top ¼ inch of soil damp is all you need to get fescue seeds to geminate in less than 10 days.

If you absolutely can't water, the only thing you can do is be patient and wait for the seeds to sprout on their own. Plant a little extra seed, just in case you don't have the right moisture at the right time to get good even germination.

Q:We had a terrific vegetable garden this summer, but now we're ready to pull up the old plants and give up the garden for winter. Is there anything I can do now to make sure our garden soil is in good shape for next spring?

Answer: Start by removing all of your old vegetable plants and chopping them up into small pieces. As long as the plants were healthy, they will be a perfect addition to your compost pile. Next collect several plugs of soil from random places in the garden and take it to be tested. Healthy vegetable plants use up a lot of nutrients, so this is the perfect time to see if you need to add anything to your soil to improve it. Any additions you make will have the winter to improve your soil. Lastly, around Oct. 1 plant a cover crop of rye or red clover in your garden. This will hold the soil and provide a good source of organic matter that you can till into the soil at the end of winter.

Richard Nunnally is a freelance writer and host of WCVE's monthly gardening show, "Virginia Home Grown." He can be contacted at .