Q: I have been trying to transplant wisterias. I dug up a good bit of the root system, but the plant didn't survive. I've tried starting cuttings in water. That didn't work, either. How are new plants started?

A: Wisterias are, indeed, rooted from cuttings. However, few plants root successfully in water. It's better to use a lightweight blend of half peat moss and half perlite. The cuttings should be 4 to 6 inches long, and you can take them either late in winter or in early summer, after the flush of new growth has slowed.

Rooting hormone powder speeds the formation of roots. You'll need almost greenhouse-like conditions of bright light and high humidity.

Q: I have a rather large garden area that is bounded by 20-foot Japanese ligustrum trees. I love the trees and their berries, but cedar waxwings devour the fruit and give me thousands of seedlings every spring. Is there a way to eliminate them without spraying? They are too close to desirable plants to spray. Would a pre-emergent weedkiller work? If so, what type would be best?

A: This plant is really invasive. Sad, too, because it's basically a pretty plant. You probably don't want to try a pre-emergent, because it might inhibit the growth of the other plants you'll be sowing, be they flowers or vegetables.

You'll probably find it easiest to apply 1 to 2 inches of mulch over the garden. It could be shredded tree leaves, or it could be compost or shredded pine bark. The mulch would inhibit many of the seeds from sprouting, plus it would make it easier to run a sharpened hoe across the soil surface, scraping all the seedlings that do germinate.

You could rig up a sponge on a stick to allow you to wipe a broadleafed weedkiller across the plants' leaves. That would eliminate runoff, drift and other contaminations. You could make such an application within a foot of a desirable plant.

Or you could spot-treat with a trigger-bottle sprayer, using a piece of cardboard as a shield to keep the spray from drifing onto your other plants.

Q: What kind of fertilizer should I add to my compost to make it decay more quickly?

A: You would want an all-nitrogen fertilizer to speed the micro-organisms' work along. It would be labeled for lawngrasses and shade trees. Stir in 1 cup per cubic yard of compost. Shred your organic matter before you add it to the pile, and keep the pile warm and moist. You should have great compost by spring.

Q: Five years ago we lined our long driveway with live oaks. Two died recently, bringing our total to almost half of the trees that we planted. Any advice?

A: That isn't many clues to go on, but it could be drought, trunk damage, herbicide injury or even oak wilt. Think back to when it occurred. If it was midsummer, it's likely that the trees got too dry, particularly if most of the losses were four and five years ago, while the trees were younger.

You should remember if you applied any weedkiller or weed-and-feed fertilizer near the trees, so that diagnosis should be easy, and you should be able to see any type of trunk injuries that could have been caused by sunscald, borers, rodents, trimmers or mowers.

Oak wilt is a vascular disease that can be identified by the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Texas A&M. Contact your county Extension office for details. You also can find information about oak wilt online at www.texasoakwilt.org.

Q: Someone told me that if I trimmed my gardenias back they would not bloom again. Is that correct? They are 3 feet tall.

A: That is not especially tall for standard gardenias, so hopefully you won't have to do much pruning. Any trimming you do should be done one branch at a time with hand shears. The best time would be immediately after the main flowering cycle in spring. Your plants will definitely continue to flower if you keep the pruning to a minimum and time it for late spring.

