A blend of fine-bladed grasses will grow well in shady areas

Q. What kind of grass can I sow in almost total shade areas?

-- E.R. of Okawville

A. Any blend of five or six fine-bladed fescue varieties should work well in shaded areas. You can find these being sold at most local seed houses in our area. Don't look for them at the nationally known discount stores. They sell seed for a large regional area.

Fine-bladed fescues are more resistant to diseases than Kentucky bluegrass varieties. They also require lower amounts of moisture to maintain their green color during the hotter months of the year and compete better with large shade-producing trees. Fescues do germinate faster usually, requiring only seven to ten days to see the plants coming up through the soil.

If this blend does not work, you will need to resort to planting ground covers. Some ground covers you can use are: wild ginger (Asarum canadense), lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis), sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), English ivy (Hedera helix), pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), and periwinkle (Vinca minor).

Q. I have several large ash trees that have many small brown stains on the bark near the bases of the trees. I have also noticed unusual growth that appears to be disfiguring some of the larger branches. They look like large swelling on one side of the branch with some kind of pitting? What could be causing these problems?

-- D.K. of Belleville

A. The problem sounds like borers, which are the larvae of several beetles and moths that attack ash (Fraxinus species) trees. One of the main culprits is the banded clear-wing borer (Paranthrene aureocinta), which specializes in ash trees. Another is the lilac borer (Podosesia syringae), which also likes to attack ash trees.

On small ash trees, these two borers will burrow in with a slit appearance and later they will form a pupal chamber plug in the tunnel and then early the next year the adults will burrow out, leaving a completely round hole on the other side of the trunk. On larger trees, these holes may be on the same side. Usually, eggs are laid near an injury to the bark.

If the tree is healthy, its conductive tissue will form sap to fill the hole and drown insect larva. But if this takes place in a weakened tree, this defense does not work. Make sure the trees have not suffered injures by mechanical means, such as lawn mowers or weed eaters, damaging the bark. Wrap the bark on the trunks of young trees with tree wrap. Also, you will need to control any feeding by aphids or other leaf feeders. All these factors help egg-laying females avoid healthy trees.

You will need to spray tiny, unwrapped trunks with a borer killer from early May until the end of September. Apply about every two weeks, according to the directions.

Send your gardening questions to Charles Giedeman, Lifestyle, P.O. Box 427, 120 S. Illinois, Belleville, IL 62222-0427.