Protect your fig tree from deer

Frost charts will show when to grow tomatoes from seed

Deer rubbing (with their antlers) peels bark like that. Protect your entire multitrunked fig with fencing. A circle of chicken wire can serve double duty. Fill it with leaves to insulate your fig from winter cold. This winter, any unprotected fig will sustain dieback. Usually they die to ground level but the root system survives. Wait until the spring to assess winter damage before pruning further. Review the Maryland Grows blog post and HGIC website for fig culture and pruning.

Whoa. When planted too early, tomato transplants tend to grow too tall and spindly because they cannot get enough light from lamps or windows. Starting tomatoes about 6 weeks before your frost date should be just right for successful transplanting. Frost dates vary year to year and region to region, so our frost date chart gives you the likelihood of frost for a range of dates. For example, in Baltimore City, there is only a 10% chance of a hard frost after April 11. That’s a good date to use for counting backwards 6 weeks to start seed. To reach frost charts on the HGIC website, click on Learn > Vegetables>When to plant vegetables in Maryland.

Click on Planting Vegetables for details and videos on starting all vegetable transplants and a time chart showing when to start each kind of transplant. Over-tall tomatoes needn’t be a loss — lay some of the stem sideways in the planting hole and cover with soil, leaving a nice-sized plant aboveground.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Maryland’s Gardening Experts” to send questions and photos.