You learn something everyday in this business. For instance, I'd
never heard of "pricker bushes," but they seem to be a problem for
this reader!

QUESTION: "I am having a huge problem with pricker bushes. I have many
of them growing in the hedge row of my lawn. I have tried yanking them
out when the soil was wet and they died out for the season and I have
also tried burning them. Nothing seems to get rid of them and it
appears they are coming back two-fold the next season. Is there a way
to get rid of them for good? I sure would like to know."– Rachael
Spearance

ANSWER: I'm not exactly sure what type of plant you're talking about,
but I'm guessing it is thistle. If it is, then I'm sorry to say that
you will just have to keep digging them out before they go to seed.
You will eventually rid your yard of them as long as the neighbors do
likewise!

QUESTION: "I am looking for recommendations for a full sun ground
cover for Zone 4 that would have the same moisture requirements as
Pansies. Any ideas?" – Tammy Chisum

ANSWER: "There are a number of groundcovers that would do well in full
sun. You could try any of the Sedums, such as Baby Tears, Dragon's
Blood or Tricolor. Other possibilities are Purle Wintergreen or some
of the Creeping Phlox varieties. I should point out that the Sedums
will require more watering than Pansies. For more information on
groundcover choices, go to my Web site www.landsteward.org and click
on "The Plant Man" link. There you'll find two recent columns on the
subject.

QUESTION: "I planted many trailing periwinkle last year. I want to
give them a boost in growing this spring. What is the best
fertilizer/plant food to use and when should I apply it? The plants
are in a partially shaded/shade area." – Ann McCarthy

ANSWER: Anytime now would be fine to apply the fertilizer. You can
either broadcast a triple 13 balanced fertilizer or you could try
liquid Miracle Grow. Just remember that if you use the granulated
fertilizer you must be sure to rinse off the leaves of the plants with
water.

Rather than a question, the following is a comment from a reader:
COMMENT: "One thing you may want to remind readers about is that they
need to be very careful about preparing soil or establishing "tree
rings" around the base of their trees. If they use annuals and dig
into the soil each spring in that ring around the base of the tree,
they will also be disturbing, breaking, and opening up the small
ground root of the tree to infection. I have seen several mature trees
keel over after a few years of having those beautiful impatiens
circles around their base. it may be much safer to not plant anything
and use mulch, or if they really need to, perhaps a few carefully
installed perennials." – Jim

ANSWER: Thanks for the suggestion. I would imagine that planting
around trees will do better by adding soil to the planting bed as long
as you do not put the dirt right up against the tree trunk.

A sad footnote: Recently, I wrote a column with encouraging news about
the healthy return of the American elm that had been nearly
obliterated by dreaded Dutch elm disease. You can read more at my Web
site in the archived Plant Man column titled "They're back: American
elms are on the rebound!"

In that column, I mentioned that a strain of disease-resistant trees
had been developed from genetic material taken from one very special
tree that lived in a graveyard in Princeton, NJ. Sadly, this strong
old-timer has finally succumbed to the disease and had to be cut down
and destroyed a few days ago to prevent the chance of infecting other
trees. A count of the tree's rings revealed that it was probably 278
years old. Fortunately, this old "mother elm" was able to provide us
with hundreds of healthy "offspring" to carry on her lineage before
she died.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs
and landscaping to and for resources and
additional information, or to subscribe to Steve's free e-mailed
newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Your reader may be referring to Burdock. It has a very deep taproot and is a biennial. I grew up in NY state and we called them 'pricker bushes'.
http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/weeds/weed.asp?burdock

I was saddened to read about the old 'mother' elm. ;(

Newt