Weeds

Question: Do I need to overwinter strawberries some special way? This summer we pruned them back and rerouted the runners back into the beds. What do we do next? Answer: To prevent frost from heaving of crowns out of the ground and to protect overwintering flower buds, cover the plants with floating row cover (available through garden catalogs.) Alternatively, cover crowns and aisles with four inches of straw or other organic mulch. Do this after the soil freezes, when the plants are dormant.

The decrepit mansion once served as home to the president of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, but two decades of brush has grown and, along with vandals, has made it uninhabitable. Cue the goats. In what's the first step to a $10 million project to transform this piece of Druid Hill Park into an environmental and recreational center for the city, the four-legged weed whackers have cleared a half-acre ring of ivy and other invasive species. The herd of 40 will be brought back to clear the rest of the 9-acre parcel that few have used, legally anyway, for years.

College kids are notorious for packing too much for college. The rug. The futon. The mini fridge/microwave. I remember stuffing a shoe rack and 10 pairs of shoes into the trunk of the family car. By the time I went home for Thanksgiving freshman year, I was wearing only fringed moccasins. OK. You had to be there. But a garden? Packing a garden to take to college? That's what Matt Lehman had stuffed in the back of the family car for the 14-hour drive from his home in Ohio to college in Kansas.

We at the Janet's World headquarters in Maryland are conducting an experiment with mulch. I'm sure I don't have to convince you to read on, after this compelling topic sentence. Who doesn't love a good essay about mulch? The only thing better would be a scratch-and-sniff essay about mulch. Let's first explore the purpose of mulch. Shredded hardwood mulch is supposed to protect plants and keep weeds down, while giving your flower beds that je ne sais quoi, which is French for "the exact same appearance as all the other suburban yards in your subdivision, and subdivisions across the continental United States."

THE PROBLEM: : Overgrown bushes and weeds block pedestrians' path on a sidewalk in Northeast Baltimore. THE BACK STORY: : The grass is green and lush on Sinclair Lane. Unfortunately, so are the weeds and shrubs. Lottie Sweat walks north on Sinclair Lane, in neighborhood of Frankford, to get to the post office at least once a week. But for months, weeds and other greenery growing taller and wider have encroached on the sidewalk along a short stretch between Parkside Drive and Bowleys Lane, requiring pedestrians to detour into the roadway.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Stung by U.S. allegations that elements in its premier spy agency colluded with Islamic militants in last month's bombing of the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan, Pakistan acknowledged yesterday that Taliban sympathizers "probably" were within the ranks of its powerful intelligence establishment. The Pakistani government, which denied reports of its involvement in the bombing as soon as they surfaced, reiterated that there was no evidence that members of its Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence had aided Taliban militants in the attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which killed about 60 people.

The hunters were stalking their prey on a wooded path in Patapsco Valley State Park south of Baltimore, peering closely into the underbrush. But they weren't looking for animals. The group of amateur naturalists was on a search-and-destroy mission for exotic plants that have invaded Maryland and are killing off native life. The problem of invasive species is drawing increased attention as globalization has brought more international trade, which has led to more seed-hopping from continent to continent.

Perhaps his nickname contained just a bit too much information. An Annapolis police officer who answered the cell phone of a driver pulled over for a traffic violation made an unexpected drug arrest after the caller's name popped up on the phone as "Zack the Weed Man," authorities said yesterday. Joshua Steven Greene, 22, of Glencoe, was pulled over at 10:30 p.m. Monday for failing to stop for a red light at Church Circle and Duke of Gloucester Street, police said. After a check of MVA records showed that his license had been suspended, he was arrested.

Can you identify whether this is a weed or flower? (Photo sent through HGIC's Web site.) It looks like that invasive Canadian thistle. I'm afraid to wait any longer because that stuff takes over gardens! This plant is about to have a single large bloom. Happy news. You have a perennial poppy. It will probably be red or orange, though there are a few other colors, such as pink or white. Because of arthritis, I need to garden differently. Got any ideas? Can I grow vegetables in pots? Are tomato plants too big for pots?

A crowd gathered yesterday afternoon on the crumbling steps of a boarded-up rowhouse in East Baltimore. Their attention focused across the street, where construction workers using an 80-foot crane were assembling the first new houses in the Oliver neighborhood in half a century. The people had never seen such a sight - not here, not in this blighted community where one survey puts the vacancy rate at 44 percent and where drugs and crime have chased out most of the middle class. Construction of new townhouses happens along the waterfront, these people said, not in Oliver.