What a beautiful week we had. This gradual warming is nice. We finally get a chance to enjoy spring rather than going right into the hot summer.

Get out and take a walk in your area and see all that is beautiful during this wonderful time of the year.

QI planted three lilac bushes about seven years ago. My problem is they send out these shoots, from real close to about 6 feet away, messing up my landscaping.

How can I stop these runners? I clip and pull but they pull up my mulch and tarp. I try to keep the lilacs tall, not bushy.

Frances P, Newburgh

Lilacs send out runners in order to increase their overall size. There are barriers that go down 6 inches or more that should keep the lilacs from spreading through your landscape beds. The barrier could be a poly-based material, steel edging or copper. There are many products on the market.

The runners can be sprayed with something called Sucker Stopper, or you can keep cutting and pulling up the runners until they are gone. Once all the remaining suckers are gone and you put in the barrier, you should be runner-free for quite a while.

QI have a large deck on my RV that I fill with containers for planting cherry tomatoes, small cucumbers, flowers, etc.

My question is, what is the best mulch to use on top of these containers? I go to the RV about three times per week, and if we have very little rain, my plants are in need of water.

Emmy A, Port Jervis

Container gardening is a wonderful way to keep things growing in areas we wouldn’t normally use for growing. They just need to be maintained.

Mulching the containers will certainly help you water less. One of my first choices is straw. A handful of straw shaken around the top of each container will help conserve moisture and keep weeds down. If you don’t like the bright yellow straw, you could also use everything from small rocks to shredded wood mulch, compost or even old sea shells.

To keep container plants healthy: fertilize on a regular basis. Flowering and fruiting plants should be fertilized with a liquid solution every two weeks. Green leafy plants should be fertilized once a month from spring to fall. Granular, slow-release fertilizers are also excellent for providing nutrients to container plants. They last three or four months or longer, so one application can do the job all season long.

QPlease tell me how to make my sunflowers stand straight and tall. And how deep do I plant the seeds?

Ruth C, Newburgh

Sunflowers are best sown outdoors directly into the garden. After planting, cover them with a screen because birds and animals love to dig the seeds out.

You can also start them indoors and transfer them when they are small. If you plant sunflowers indoors, use individual peat pots. Start two to three weeks before the last frost date. Plant one or two seeds per pot, thinning to one plant before moving outdoors.

To keep your sunflowers growing straight and tall, you can either plant them in front of a fence or other structure and tie the plants to it as they grow, or you can stake them. Staking requires the use of a large bamboo pole or rod that is firmly place in the ground near the sunflower. The sunflower is tied to the pole for support.

If you plan on staking your sunflowers, then the proper time to drive your stakes are before you even sow your seeds. Driving your stakes into the ground after the sunflower has started developing could damage the root system. Drive your stake several feet into the ground or until the stake is secure. The point of staking is to secure your sunflower, so a stake that isn’t firm in the ground will not help your plant.

Most garden centers carry bamboo stakes in sizes ranging from as small as a couple of feet to large 8-foot poles. I recommend using stakes that are around the expected height of the plant. If you are growing smaller, ornamental varieties of sunflower that only grow 6 to 8 feet, then I would use stakes around 7 or 8 feet. For giant variety sunflowers, I would use 12-foot bamboo rods with a large diameter.

It’s important that you do not tie your sunflower too tightly to the stake.

This may damage the sunflower and possibly choke out your plant. Loosely tie the sunflower to the stake, leaving a loop slightly larger than the stem to give the sunflower some room for movement. It’s also important to use a nonabrasive cord or string that will not cut into the sunflower stem. Old panty hose or plastic bags work well.

A quick fact: Sunflowers always point their blooms, or face, to the rising sun in the east. Keep this in mind as you determine where to plant them.

Tip of the week

Summer flowering bulbs, including tuberous begonias and cannas, can be planted in mid-May. Choose a well-drained and partially shaded area. Set the tubers in the ground so they are barely covered, placing them 18 to 24 inches apart to allow plenty of space for growth and air circulation.

Fertilize and water when the soil is dry, preferably in the morning or early afternoon to give the foliage time to dry before nightfall to reduce chance of disease.

Dan Daly is a plant fanatic who has been gardening since childhood. With more than 10 years in the business, he’s ready to answer all your gardening questions. E-mail him at askdan@th-record.com or send to Ask Dan, the Times Herald-Record, 40 Mulberry St., Middletown 10940.

source : www.recordonline.com