If you’re wondering whether it’s too late to add trees and shrubs to the landscape at the end of June, the answer is dig in and just grow for it – with some warnings. Trees and shrubs sold in containers at nurseries usually are safe to add to the garden any time the ground is not frozen. But only if you live in Western Washington.

In other parts of the country, hot summer weather makes adding fruit trees, flowering shrubs and evergreens more risky.

Now if you have trees and shrubs that are growing in the ground and not in a pot, wait until fall to make the big move if at all possible. Roses especially are difficult to transplant if they’re in the ground. But it’s easy to buy them potted and in full bloom from a nursery.

Anytime you add, transplant or move a plant, you will need to keep the soil moist until new roots grow. Just like any transplant operation, push the liquids but don’t force-feed the patient a big meal.

READER QUESTIONS

We put down sod around a new construction site and now the grass is turning yellow and curling up at the corners of the newly laid sod squares. We have been keeping the area watered so I don’t think that is the problem. My husband did not think he needed to bring in topsoil, so could that be causing this? Please help. – L.W., Bonney Lake

Dear L.W.: Lawn does not live by water alone. You live in a area with rocky, hard-packed soil and I suspect there is a grass-roots rebellion about the poor living conditions. Even in areas with rich valley topsoil, you need to prepare and loosen the earth before laying sod or seeding a new lawn. Roll up the yellow sod and store it in the shade. Invest in some quality topsoil and then tiller mix this into the top 6 inches of subsoil. For a superior lawn that will require little water, mix 6 inches of topsoil into the top 1 foot of subsoil. This will give those grass roots 18 inches of soft soil to sink into. The deeper the grass roots, the more water and nutrients they can find on their own. After you’ve prepared a comfy bed, unroll the old sod and use a roller to press it firmly into place. Feed, water and hope for the best. If your sod is all yellow or mushy and starting to rot, you may want to just throw in the trowel and seed a new lawn onto your great topsoil investment.

Help! I bought a perennial called lady’s mantle a few years ago and now it has spread all over and there are baby plants coming up in the cracks of my patio, my gravel pathways and even in the gutters of my house roof! How do I control this invasion? – G.C., Renton

Dear G.C.: So now you know why this lady is called a tramp. The first thing to do is clean your gutters. They’ll overflow this winter if they’ll full of enough gunk to support a perennial plant. Next, pull out all the young seedlings in every part of the yard. Now the important part – cut off all the bright, yellow blooms from lady’s mantle, euphorbia, lychnis and all other overly enthusiastic plants that you don’t want reseeding all over the garden. Removing spent blossoms is more than just having a tidy garden – is it a form of plant birth control. But before we totally trash the reputation of lady’s mantle, let me say that it’s a great plant to use as an edging in shade gardens or as a filler in perennial beds.

The frothy yellow and green blooms look like baby’s breath and the rounded leaves have the endearing habit of holding onto dew drops so that they sparkle like diamonds on summer mornings. Plus lady’s mantle is slug-, deer- and drought-resistant.

I have a small orange tree that I grow indoors as a houseplant. Finally I got to see oranges form on the tree. These oranges were small but starting to turn from green to orange. Then one morning the oranges started to fall off – before they were ripe. Now only one orange is left. What happened? – A.D., Tacoma

Dear A.D.: Bud blast and fruit drop are two ways that fruit trees have temper tantrums. Something upset the pregnant tree and it decided to abort the fruit. The most common cause is lack of water. If you kept the soil moist, then perhaps you overfertilized or exposed the tree to a harsh cleaning product or other contaminant. (In one case I know of, an office worker poured a cup of hot coffee into the soil of a potted citrus tree and lemons were falling by the end of the week!) Did you move the tree? Often house plants will fuss and complain when moved closer or farther away from a window. Don’t give up, keep the soil just barely moist and your orange tree will get all juiced up and ready to flower and fruit again.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. For gardening questions, write to her at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw, WA 98022. Please send a SASE for a personal reply. She also can be reached at her Web site, www.binettigarden.com.