QUESTION : My mom wants to plant holly bushes in the front of her house as a hedge. She would like to know if there is a specific kind to buy that will grow well in Frio county about 50 miles south of San Antonio. Any suggestions?
ANSWER : There are several that would be fine for your mother's location as indicated on this PLANTanswers web site
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/publications/southcnt.html
which is entitled Outstanding Landscape Plants for South Central Texas. They are: (1) Dwarf Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria 'Nana') - this is a small shrub (2' x 2') with small gray-green leaves. It has no berries.
(2) Dwarf Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta 'Rotunda')- another small compact shrub (3' x 2') with glossy leaves that are very spiny.
(3) Dwarf Burford Holly (Ilex cornuta 'Dwarf Burford'). This one can reach 5' x 4' but lends itself well to pruning to keep lower if necessary. It has glossy dark green leaves with a single spine at the end of the leaf. It also has prolific red berries.
My recommendation would probably be the Dwarf Burford. You can find more information about hollies at: http://www.plantanswers.com/garden_column/122901/122901.htm

QUESTION :This may not be a horticultural question but may be more etymological. But why is horseradish called that? I have looked in dictionaries, encyclopedias, been on the web, and have about 200 books on cooking, herbs, and plants, and will be darned if I can find the answer. The radish seems obvious (but what seems obvious often isn't), but where does the horse come from?

ANSWER :Here is a previous question and answer:

QUESTION: We have been searching the World Wide Web in hopes of discovering the origin of the name "horseradish." We are a father and son from Central Indiana. Last night while dining, my Mother casually asked why it was called horseradish, and now we have set out on this venture to discover the answer, and who better than an expert. Maybe as a slight incentive to forgive our Yankee heritage, we do have a sister-in-law residing in the state of Texas (Houston).
ANSWER: Anything to insure that you stay in Mama's good graces. I don't think that there is a definitive answer to how the name 'horseradish' evolved. However, this Oregon State University web site gives the best I could find:
http://www.orst.edu/Dept/NWREC/horserad.html
It says: 'The name "horseradish" is thought to have come from an English adaptation of its German name. Germans called the plant "meerrettich" (meaning "sea radish") because it grew wild in European coastal areas. The German word meer (sea) sounds like "mare" in English. Perhaps "mareradish" became "horseradish". The word "horseradish" first appeared in print in 1597 in John Gerarde's English herbal on medicinal plants.

QUESTION :I have a miniature Orange tree that I purchased from a Seed and Plant company. It's about 2 to 3 years old and about 3 feet tall. I understand that somehow you have to pollinate these plants so they will bear fruit. Do you know how to do this and when? I keep the plant in side and water frequently. Also, is there any kind of artificial light that will help the orange tree grow. I live in Maryland and the winters are too cold for it to survive outside.

ANSWER :These trees are usually self fruitful meaning that they can pollinate themselves. If the tree requires cross pollination, you will need another citrus tree of a different variety. It normally takes them a couple of years to set fruit after they start blooming so wait at least another year or two. You need to make sure you have a slow release fertilizer in the container and water with a water soluble fertilizer about every 3 or 4 weeks. Let the top inch of soil dry out in between watering. I would try to move the tree outside into full sunlight when the temperatures are above freezing. This would be far better and easier than trying to install grow lights.

QUESTION :Someone told my husband last night that you should use "drain cleaner" (Drano) to fertilize your pecan trees. She said to drill 8 holes around the drip line and fill with this solution and it would dramatically increase pecan production. My question is: Does this work and is it harmful?

ANSWER :The Drano will kill roots so I would not want to fertilize my trees with it. Rather use a 3 - 1 - 2 ratio fertilizer to pour into those hole you drill around the dripline of the tree. Use about a cup per hole. Normally we recommend a pound of fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter.

QUESTION :I planted several red tip photinias along the exterior walls of my house 2 years ago. I have never pruned them and they are getting to be over 6 feet tall. I would like for them to be bushier to fill in between each other. When is a good time to prune them and how much should I cut back? Also, what's the best way to prevent disease and bugs from hurting them?

ANSWER :If your red tips are doing fine, and your e-mail implies that they are, they can be pruned anytime after mid-February. Pruning stimulates new growth and if pruned too early, a late freeze could damage the new growth. This PLANTanswers web site is a good article on pruning
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/pruning/PRUNING.html
It includes a section on broad-leafed evergreens and also one on hedges. I encourage you to read the entire article as you will gain a lot of information on proper pruning techniques.
Red tip photinias suffer several maladies in the alkaline soils of our area. Some of those are enumerated at this Aggie web site:
http://cygnus.tamu.edu/Texlab/Shrubs/shrubs2.html
Photinia spp. Leaf Spots (fungi - Entomosporium maculatum, cercospora heteromeles, Phyllosticta heteromeles): Spray at 7-10 day intervals during wet or humid weather with a recommended fungicide. Expanded, brown and often zoned spots on the leaves. The leaf spots may be round-to-irregular, purple, then gray-to-brown with purple margins in which black specks can later be found. Powdery Mildew (fungi - Podosphaera leucotricha and Sphaerotheca pannosa): Dust or spray with approved powdery mildew fungicide when mildew first appears. Repeat at 10-14 day intervals as long as necessary. Preventive sprays in following years would produce better control. Cotton Root Rot: See Cotton Root Rot. Mushroom Root Rot: See Mushroom Root Rot. Root Knot Nematode: See Root Knot Nematode. Fire Blight (bacterium - Erwinia amylovora): Leaves, stems and fruit are blighted by this bacterium. New shoots suddenly appear as if scorched by fire. Brown or blackened leaves cling to twigs. Slightly sunken, girdling, discolored cankers develop on twigs, branches and trunk. Follow the same control procedures recommended for pears.
They are also susceptible to Entomosporium leaf pot for which there is no cure.

QUESTION :Can I ask you to identify this skull my daughter found on our place? We thought it might be a small dog, but those big teeth seem too large proportionally to the rest of the teeth. I' ve been cruising the web trying to find skull pictures and even found a place to buy a human skull or a giant panda.

ANSWER :Well we generally stick to answers about plants. However, you have a skull of the infamous South Texas javelina.