False oleander scale attacks magnolias

A: I could not find anyone who advertises themselves exclusively as a gardening coach. But several small landscaping companies I talked to have someone who is knowledgeable enough to do coaching if asked. They all emphasized that they are very busy with their normal landscaping, maintenance and design projects right now. As a result, a staffer would have to charge an hourly rate for their services.

Q: In June, a beaver dug into my fenced yard during the night and cut down my 6-year-old healthy pear tree. Now there are five very vigorous sprouts/suckers growing from the base. Should I cut back to one sprout or do I have to dig up the pear tree and start all over? Vicki Van Der Hoek, Morrow

A: Unlike with apple trees, pears are never grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock. This is a key bit of information because if you had a grafted apple instead of a pear tree, fruit from the sprouts might be unlike the fruit you expect. Happily, you have a pear. This means all of the sprouts are identical to the parent. Choose the one that’s growing fastest and straightest to be your replacement trunk and remove the rest. Since you have a 6-year-old root system feeding the sprout, it will grow rapidly next year.

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