QUESTION : Can you give me any information on the pruning of holly so that it will become more "bushy"?
ANSWER : The topic of pruning is one that cannot be adequately covered in a short e?mail. However, there is a very good article on pruning at this website:

http://aggie?horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/pruning/PRUNING.html

You did not identify your holly, but since the subject of your query was Holly Trees, I am going to assume that it is one of the larger of the species. Your success in developing a "more bushy" plant is going to depend on the maturity of the holly. If in fact it is an old plant, it will be much less likely that you can attain your goal. Fullness in plants is generally attained by training through pruning during its
youthful years. This is done by cutting lateral limbs back to an upward and outward facing bud to stimulate more fullness. You will note in the article mentioned above that it is recommended that holly shrubs be cut back very severely to attain the fullness you desire. However, this would not apply to a large tree.

QUESTION : What is the best time of year to transplanting plum trees?
ANSWER : January or early February in order to allow for root growth prior to budbreak in the spring.

QUESTION : My wife and I are moving from the Cincinnati, Ohio area to The Woodlands, TX, 30 miles north of Houston. As a general rule what trees and shrubs that we are accustomed to, do not do well in Texas. For example, can we still grown Sugar Maples, Red Oaks, etc. as well as grow asparagus, tomatoes, corn.
ANSWER : You should utilize the publications on PLANTanswers to answer your questions about what, when and how to grow in Texas. The lists we have of adapted plants for your area are found at the sites:

http://aggie?horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/beaumont/beaumont.html

and

http://aggie?horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/publications/statelist/statewide.html

For the vegetables to grow, consult the sites:
http://aggie?horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/earthkind/ekgarden.html in the spring

and

http://aggie?horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/fallgarden/fallindex.html in the fall.

We hope you find PLANTanswers an invaluable tool to help you with your transition to the "promised land"!

QUESTION :I have a couple of orange trees they are about two years old and I moved them inside and the leaves started to fall off what should I do.
ANSWER :Place them is a location which receives maximum sunlight every day. Anything which is less light then when they were outside will cause such leaf drop. If the location in the house has quite a bit of light, then the leaf drop should decrease once the tree has become used to its new environment.

QUESTION :I live in northern New Jersey and have a question about the best way to winterize a fig tree in this area.
ANSWER :Keep the fig plant is a bush form rather than a tree form, i.e., maintain multiple trunks. Then prior to the first severe freeze (below 28 degrees F) mulch the base of the plant with 12 to 18 inches of leaves or cypress mulch. The better the job you do with the mulch, the better the base of the plant will survive. Once spring arrives then pull the mulch out of the interior but leave it on the ground surrounding the plant.

QUESTION :Do you know of any recipes using acorns? The reason I ask this: When I was a child, my grandfather had me pick up a small bucketful of acorns from under our pin oak tree. A day or two later, he asked me to come over to his house and he fed me acorns. The only problem I have is he never told anyone how in the world he prepared them.
ANSWER :Here is some information about eating acorns or rather acorn meal. The tannins have to be removed to avoid the bitterness. I don't know what your grandfather might have done to remove the tannins in whole acorns unless the type of acorn had less tannins to begin with and could have been removed by soaking the whole acorn.

ACORN PANCAKES from Sharon Hendricks

Break an egg into a bowl. Add:

1 teaspoon salad oil
1 teaspoon of honey or sugar
½ cup of ground and leached acorns
½ cup of corn meal
½ cup of whole wheat or white flour
2 teaspoons of double action baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ cup of milk

Beak all together. If the batter is too thick to pour, thin it with milk. Pour pancakes into a hot, greased griddle and cook slowly until brown on both sides.

Serve with butter and syrup or wild blackberry jam. Delicious!!

PREPARATION OF GROUND ACORN MEAL

1. Pick up several cupfuls of acorns. All kinds of oaks have edible acorns. Some have more tannin than others, but leaching will remove the tannin from all of them.

2. Shell the acorns with a nutcracker, a hammer, or a rock.

3. Grind them. If you are in the woods, smash them, a few at a time on a hard boulder with a smaller stone, Indian style. Do this until all the acorns are ground into a crumbly paste.
If you are at home, it's faster and easier to use your mom's blender. Put the shelled acorns in the blender, fill it up with water, and grind at high speed for a minute or two. You will get a thick, ream?colored goo. It looks yummy, but tastes terrible.

4. Leach (wash) them. Line a big sieve with a dish towel and pour in the ground acorns. Hold the sieve under a faucet and slowly pour water through, stirring with one hand, for about five minutes. A lot of creamy stuff will come out. This is the tannin. When the water runs clear, stop and taste a little. When the meal is not bitter, you have washed it enough.
Or, in camp, tie the meal up in a towel and swish it in several bucketfuls of clean drinking water, until it passes the taste test.

5. Squeeze out as much water as you can, with your hands.

6. Use the ground acorn mash right away, because it turns dark when it is left around. Or store in plastic for freezing if you want to make the pancakes later.