Q: My garden is 2-4 inches low in dirt. No new dirt has been added in the past six years. Do I add some dirt and then some compost and then mix it into existing dirt? Perhaps 2 inches of each or something different? Also, what is a good mulch for vegetables and flowers? Specifics please. I haven’t a clue. – Lane County A: When your soil shrinks down, it is largely the organic matter that disappears and compaction of the mineral matter. If you are buying soil to upgrade raised beds, a mix of loam and compost is usually a good start. If your beds are flat, then you will need to mix the new soil in about 4-6 inches to get more air into the mix and amend the soil. As for mulch, chipped wood lasts longer for perennial plants and depletes less of the organic material over time. Straw mixes (with no seeds) can also work well for the general run of annual crops. Wheat or barley are the recommended types. – Pat Patterson, OSU Extension horticulturist, retired Q: Two of my daphne have lost nearly all of their leaves in the two cold snaps this winter. They have lots of blossom buds. What should I do to help these plants? Or is it a lost cause? The same goes for one of my large jasmine plants. – Multnomah County A: This has definitely been a stressful couple of months for plants that are close to the edge of our cold tolerance zone. Daphne usually live for about 10 years, so if they are older plants, yes, the stress may have done them in. You can protect them a little by putting a sheet, blanket, or other cover over them at night and removing it when the temperature gets above freezing during the day. Keep the soil moist (although that is not a problem lately), and don’t give them any fertilizer. Just watch and see what happens during the warmer weather coming soon. The same goes for the jasmine plant. Mine have lost all their beautiful flowers so I’m not going to bother covering them. I’m assuming yours are not in pots so you can’t move them inside for a bit. I have heard of people putting Christmas lights (the old kind that give off heat) or other heat sources on their plants to get them through the cold weather. Wrapping the plant in material used for garden row covers can also help as long as the plants are not in the wind. I hope these suggestions are not too late, but if they are, you can think about what hardy plants you will replace them with next spring. – Rhonda Frick-Wright, OSU Extension Master Gardener Q: We found this very large grub in some oak. – Clackamas County A: You have found some carpenter worm larvae. is an excellent guidance document with recommended treatments and other great information from the University of California. Typically, carpenter worms will keep infesting a branch until it dies and falls off. So, we often don’t have to worry about carpenter worms killing the tree, just the branches. If there aren’t too many insects and the infestation is early, try the nematode or hanger methods mentioned in the guidance document. If the insects are in the trunk and appear to have been there for quite some time, it may be time to think about potentially removing the tree. – Alex Gorman, OSU Extension forester Q: I grew this dahlia tuber from seed in a 4-inch pot, which is why it is so clumped together. It appears to either have a ton of eyes that are sprouting, or something is wrong with it. I’ve not seen this many eyes on such a young tuber before. I did transplant it late in the season to remove it from its pot and put it in a section of the garden with other seedling “keepers. ” This is the only tuber that looks like this. It is currently stored in my garage away from the other tubers until I know what’s going on with it. – Clackamas County A: Dahlias are susceptible to gall, so it’s a valid concern. However, some varieties of dahlias can sprout vigorously from the top and still be completely healthy. I would continue to keep it separate for now and watch the sprouts closely as they develop. Are they deformed, or do they appear to be growing straight upward with normal girth and leaf formation? The sprouts formed by crown or leaf gall will be twisted, bulbous, or otherwise misshapen. If you were to plant the bulb, most of them would not rise above the surface of the soil. I would watch these sprouts develop for a while longer. If they are all growing upward and appear normal and healthy, you might just have a particularly vigorous bulb. If they appear twisted and abnormally shaped or extremely dense, then you should discard the bulbs somewhere other than your compost pile. If, after watching the sprouts develop a bit more, you are still uncertain, it is safest to discard the bulb – gall is highly contagious. I know that sometimes people are attached to particular varieties, especially if they are discontinued or hard to re-acquire. If that is the case, you might try planting the bulb this spring in a container where you can keep an eye on it and avoid soil contamination. You will know definitively when you pull back the soil after the greens have emerged and grown a bit – mass of twisted growth beneath the soil indicates leaf gall. Then it’s really time to toss the whole thing, including the soil in your container. Be sure to sanitize your container and any digging tools you used to avoid further contamination. If you would like some pictures of leafy and crown gall on dahlia tubers for reference, check out this page on the British National Dahlia Society website: Sarah Bronstein, OSU Extension Master Gardener Q: This is the first year I’ve grown raspberries in ground instead of in containers. They are all everbearing or golden. I planted them last spring. I am getting the beds weeded and ready for the year and I’m seeing how much I need to thin them. I also wonder if I can dig up and repot the new shoots that are outside the main group to give away for neighbors that want berries. I included a photo of the bunched up grouping to show how thinned out they need to be or what I should do. – Linn County A: Everbearing raspberries will have two fruitings. One is on the primocanes (the new shoots) in the fall. The other is on the floricanes (second year of growth) in the summer. How you prune them will change how the raspberries will fruit. What to prune for everbearing raspberries: What to prune for summer-bearing raspberries: There are some considerations when thinking about digging up and sharing the new shoots: Here are some resources: (Pruning starts at about 18:20 in the video. ) - Leo Sherry, OSU Extension Master Gardener.