The short answer is, very important! Nitrogen is one of the primary ingredients for plant growth. Nitrogen is rapidly depleted by vigorously growing plants so it must be replenished regularly. Nitrogen is available in two readily available forms. The first is organic nitrogen. Organic nitrogen can be found in the form of manure, soybean meal, blood meal, and sources from the yard such as grass clippings. Chemical nitrogen can be purchased in the form of ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate and sodium nitrate.

The suggested form to follow in looking for nitrogen content in chemical fertilizers is to look at the label. Nitrogen (N) is the first element listed on a fertilizer label. The first number listed on the label is the percentage of nitrogen in each pound of material. An example label that states, 20 - 10 - 10, would meant that 20% of the of the fertilizer is nitrogen.

Nitrogen application for your new garden can be done in the fall. There is no need to dig in nitrogen fertilizer into the soil. Water the soil or let the rainfall do it for you. Another method for nitrogen applications would be to use a green manure. Sow seeds like clover or rye and when they reach the height of 6 inches, cut the plants to the soil line and then incorporate the plant residue into the soil. The decaying plant material will release nitrogen and the soil should be ready to plant within a week after the incorporation of the plant residue.

The news is not particularily hopeful for your pine trees. I have had some personal experience in observing a long line of pine trees that were severly damaged on the northwest side from a severe hailstorm. The hail detached many needles the day of the storm. In the weeks that followed more needles browned and fell off. The trees on the end of line received the most damage and seem to be browning all over. I am assuming these trees will die in the near future. If your hail damage was light your trees may not lose many more needles. The loss of more needles will depend on the bark damage caused by the hail stones. Severely damaged bark will not have the capability to transport water to the needles and thus they will brown and die.

What can be done? The answer is not much. You can supply water to the trees when it gets hot and dry, thus helping the damaged tree with moisture. Fertilizing is not recommended beacause the fertilizer will promote growth which will place more strees on the damaged bark to transport water. The tree needs time to heal, not to grow. I suggest waiting a year to see how disfigured your trees become before making a decision to replant.

We have had some success over the past 2 years with keeping grass over winter in 1 and 2 gallon pots. We have kept Prairie Dropseed grass and Variegated Feather Reed grass and Little Bunny Fountain grass over the winter.  We have lost 1 plant during that time period. I am not sure what caused the plants demise as the other grasses fared very well. The winter here has started very cold, -3 degrees at this time in mid-December, so our wintering methods will be severly tested this winter.

The method we have used imitates what I have observed from a neighboring nursery. In late fall, after the plants are fully dormant, we move the pots to the south side of our house foundation. We lay them on their side and cover the pots with a layer of leaves and straw and grass. We have used wood mulch also. The leaf mulch is between 2 and 3 feet deep. To prevent strong winds from removing the mulch, we cover the area with plastic and place weighty objects on top of the plastic to hold it in place. In early spring we remove the mulch and set the pots upright. We water the pots and place them back in thier positions in the yards landscape. Grasses seem to take a long time to come out of dormancy so do not be too hasty in thinking you have a failure. Some grasses do not break dormancy until late May in our zone.

Mealybugs love houseplants as well as vegetables and shrubs. If you have them on a houseplant, take a cotton swab dipped in a mixture of water and vinegar or just plain rubbing alcohol and brush them off the leaves. You can also use a sponge soaked in soapy water to wipe off the leaves. Mealybugs are small pink insects that leave white cottony masses on leafs. When you see the white masses, use one of the afore-mentioned remedies.

If you spot mealybugs on an outdoors plant, check around for ladybugs. The ladybug is a great biological controller of the pesky mealybug. Other control methods such as spraying with an insecticidal soap or using an insecticide such as malathion is also very effective. A tell tale sign of the presence of mealybugs is sooty mold. Sooty mold is a blackish fungus that grows on the gel like excrement of the mealybug. Wipe the mold away with soapy water and them spray with a fungicide.

The maple tree is widely spread geographically and with 100 species and countless varieties to choose from, you should be able to select one for your landscape. I hesitate to try and get too specific because the maple family is so diverse and is suited to a variety of climates and soil types. The foremost reason for choosing a maple tree is for shade, closely followed by beautiful leaves and outstanding fall colors. For a spectacular show, plant a red maple (Acer rubrum). The sugar maple and some of the cultivars such as the 'October Glory' maple will provide a treat for your eyes in the fall.

There are a few species of maple that have rather soft wood. The silver maple and the box elder maple grow quite quickly and produce wood that is weaker and more brittle than many of their relatives. Another factor to consider when planting a maple tree is the dense shade they create. Trying to grow something around and under that dense canopy is difficult. Plants that will do well in a maple trees shade are euonymus, pachysandra, or periwinkle.

Lime is most often used to add calcium to the soil which raises the soil pH. By raising the soil pH, you would be able to place plants in acidic soil that would require a neutral or alkaline soil conditions. Lime also helps open thick clay soil to moisture and air penetration which assists in the decomposition of organic matter.

The only way to be sure if you need to add lime is to have your soil tested. If the pH reading is below 6.0, add lime. If the soil test indicates that your soil is short of calcium and magnesium, add lime. Lime can be added at any time and most recommendations for lime placement is on top or placed very shallow in the soil and then watered in. A good example from the plant world for quick response to lime is the clematis. Quicker growth and plant health can be observed in just 1 season after lime is applied.

You are certainly correct with your observation of lots of lily varieties. Lilies present a bewildering amount of choices. There are about 80 species and hundreds of lily hybrids to choose from. So suggesting a good one for you to grow would be quite easy, as they all are quite beautiful. I suggest looking at purchasing your lilies based on color and bloom times.

Lilies are categorized into several classes. The most common are species, Asiatic, Aurelian, Trumpet, and Oriental hybrids. Each of these categories will deliver somewhat different bloom times. If you are looking a late spring bloomer, I would suggest an Asiatic hybrid. Later summer bloomers can be found in the Oriental hybrids category. When you have established your desired bloom time you can then choose the colors. Bloom colors of lilies offer so many choices from single color blooms to intricate, multiple color combinations. So to answer your request for a good lily choice, I suggest these two: Jacqueline from the Asiatic category and from the Tiger lily family, Sweet Surrender.

Not knowing what kind of tree trees you are referring to, I am going to assume that they were fruit trees. The traditional way to protect fruit tree trunks from heat and sun is to paint them with a thick coat of lime and water. Most of the time the lime and water are heated to make the coating last longer. This method is called whitewashing. The white paint will reflect the sunlight and thus keep the bark cooler.

Some tree trunks are painted with white latex paint to prevent the killing of the bark by sudden temperature changes in late fall and winter. I have been told that adding rabbit repellent to the paint helps protect the tree from winter foraging of the bark.

The quick answer to this question would be no. But who likes quick answers? Plus, when I'm told no to a question of mine, the next thought that pops into my head is why wouldn't the trees pollinate each other? Tart cherries are biologically capable of pollinating your sweet cherry trees but the bloom time of the tart cherry does not overlap with the normal bloom time of a sweet cherry. The needed pollen source is not available at the needed bloom time.

Yes, I do have a recipe that I copied from my wife. She copied it from another source that she has forgotten. So my apologies to the original author for this recipe but it does work. Puree 6 or so garlic cloves in a blender with about 2 cups of water and a few hot chilies like Jalapeños. Strain the puree into a spray bottle and add 1/4 t-spoon of liquid soap.

Spray this homemade potion directly on your plants. Insects and fungal diseases should avoid the plants that were treated. Keep this spray bottle around because you will need to retreat after each rain or watering.

I believe one of the best insects used for biological control of aphids would be the ever popular ladybug. Ladybugs are also referred to as lady beetles or ladybirds. Ladybugs will forage with gusto on an aphid diet. Other insects that will whet a ladybugs appetite are mealybugs, spider mites, thrips, and whiteflies.

Ladybugs can be purchased in small or large quantities. They will need enough food and water to keep them around long enough for them to lay eggs and begin another generation. Try to offer them a hibernation site on your property if you want them to winter over in your garden. Stack some dead leaves, hay or straw, at the base of a fence to allow them to have a place to hibernate over the winter.

Hydroponics entails growing plants without soil. Plants are placed in a liquid solution and supplemented with a liquid fertilizer and grown to maturity with out any soil around the roots. There some commercial vegetable growers that use hydroponics to produce fresh vegetables, like tomatoes, and deliver them to supermarkets all year around. The tomato plants are held upright by a mesh like fabric at the base of the plant and the roots are visible growing in the tanks of water below. Just imagine a fish tank with roots in the water and vegetative growth on top of the water.

Home grown vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes. peppers, cucumbers, radishes and herbs are good candidates for hydroponic gardens. I know there are websites that describe the process of starting a hydroponic garden or even how to grow an individual house plant hydroponically. Hydroponics could be a great hobby with the reward being fresh vegetables from your own pots or tanks.

A gardening professional speaking at a conference stated that just about every yard has a unique micro-climate. Micro-climate means that a unique climatic condition is created by buildings, house location on the lot, wall location, berms, and other factors that are a little different in most every location. Knowing and observing the climatic conditions in your yard will help you place appropriate plants in locations where they will thrive vs. another area in the yard where they may struggle.  For instance, knowing where the prevailing winds strike your yard would help you choose a location away from a windy location for a tender plant.

Another topic that gets a lot of discussion is borderline plant hardiness. The micro-climate in the yard may allow you to successfully plant a zone 6 plant in a zone 5 location. Placing the zone 6 plant in a protected area of the yard that is sheltered from the north wind and where it gets more heat from a southerly exposure to the sun will very likely allow the plant to be grown successfully. A good rule to follow would be is "don't fight your site". You will save time, money and energy by working with your micro-climate rather than fighting it.

The term evergreen is a catch-all word for a plant, tree, shrub, groundcover, vine or perennial that retains its foliage year around. Most often evergreen is used to label a tree or a shrub. The term semi-evergreen is also used to describe a plant that looses their leaves in the winter in cold areas and keeps their leaves all year in warmer climates.

Evergreen trees come in 2 general types. There are the thin leafed or needle leafed evergreen trees such as a fir or spruce trees. Most of the needle type are usually very cold hardy. The other type are frond or wide leafed trees such as the palm or magnolia trees. Most of the wider leaved evergreen trees are not cold hardy so they are found in warmer climates.

I do have a little info on edible flowers due to what my wife told me after attending a luncheon at a friends house. She was served nasturtium flowers atop of her salad and she commented that they were tasty and they made quite an attractive presentation. Not knowing that flowers were edible, I went looking for information. I will preface my comments with the statement that not all flowers are edible. Check with a poison control center before sampling any plant.

I found that flowers from bee balm, chives, daylilies, dianthus, hollyhocks, nasturtiums, pansies, roses, sunflowers, tulips and violets can be eaten and they provide an array of interesting tastes. Many food flower affection-ados prefer to grow their own tasty flowers so that they can be sure they are raised organically and do not contain any pesticide residue. Wouldn't the flowers in the picture make for an attractive dish?