Hi Lovemysheltie: Thank you for that very pretty picture of pink climbing C. Soupert, is that low-in-thorn? That's a great idea to put climbing rose on the side of a swing! The tulips I planted 12 years ago are gone, but the daffodils multiplied many times. The best plant-payback in terms of beneficial insects here is dill. My Mom gave me dill seeds ten years ago. I sprinkled them near trees' roots - they sprout and host beneficial creatures like ladybugs, toad, and praying mantis. Dill is not invasive since I can kill them in 10 minutes - versus digging up heavy clumps of invasive garlic chives (tested effective against aphids and spider mites).

the link.. is for an already overgrown plant ... at 3 feet ... yours is not.. so you would not prune it that way ... this spring.. should it bud out... you would ... cut the soft new growth about half way ... it is imperative that you do this.. while it is soft and fresh ... on a typical pungens... new growth should be about one foot up... 8 inches sideways... [but of course yours is a recent transplant so both would be lesser] ... anyway ... as the new growth extends.. new buds are set ... as the wood hardens... if you do it while soft.. new buds will be set.. before it hardens off ... if you do it too late ... and you cut off all the set buds.. you are screwed ... lol ... unfortunately.. i dont have time to find you a precise link in this regard ... hopefully someone else can provide such .. the pic above.. represents one that was pruned as i am explaining.. not like at the link ... ken ps: commando planting ... ???? .. i wonder.. is that much different than polluting the park ... presuming the park is planted with a design or plan??? .. i dont know, nor am i denigrating such.. i am just wondering ... would it be ok.. if it were an invasive plant???

David, unfortunately my recent checks about a month ago weren't helpful in identifying this fungal pathogen, so it continues to devastate trees and shrubs. Not just blue spruce trees are affected, but so are maple trees and oaks, and people around here are having many of them cut down. Just last month my two neighbors had 5 of these large trees cut down. Mountain ash trees are dying too. And I'd say that 50% of the white pines in this area (southern New Hampshire) are either dead or in decline from this disease. I don't spray mine since I consider them somewhat of a weed, and mine are slowly and continuously losing needles. I expect them to die within a few years. The good news is that this year I've kept up spraying with Mancozeb every two weeks since May 1st. Every tree and shrub I've sprayed (where my spray can reach the foliage) is very healthy. I'm now also working on my grown son's 4 dying spruce trees to see if I can restart growth on the now bare trunk and on other branches. But don't try a "ground drench" with Propiconazole - I tried that last year and it killed off beneficial ground bacteria, harming the trees & shrubs. Fortunately, they're recovering this year with fertilizer and spraying. Norway spruce and linden trees seem to resist this disease best.

I overwintered my 4ft dwarf alberta spruce on my 3rd story balcony (In a 16" diameter pot) and it came back just fine this spring. Now with this very hot weather I have noticed alot of browning and needles falling off. I have been watering things plenty (and not too much). I have had problems with spider mites on my roses which I have been taking care of by spraying them daily with water. The spruce is between two Annabelle hydrangea's that are close to the base of the tree (not completely covering it though). I'm just not sure what is the issue with the tree... if it is just not getting enough sunlight because of the hydrangeas... or if it is spider mites. Upon closer inspection I couldn't find any signs of spider mites. The tree sent out new growth this spring and the whole thing was freshly green and now some of the new growth is beginning to wilt, dry up, and eventually lose needles.