QUESTION: I have vowed that I will not let the morning glories choke my entire garden. I have been hoeing every day, and I find hundreds of new baby plants. In the past I have mulched really heavy to help deter them, but this year I haven't mulched at all, so that I can whack them daily. Is there another way?ANSWER: Because your morning glories have grown wild for so long, they produced a lot of seeds, every one of which seems to be sprouting. The most important thing you can do is to keep these vines from bearing flowers this summer. Try your hardest with a sharp hoe to scuffle the soil every few days to kill emerging morning glories. If your vegetables are set in rows, next year, you might consider using landscape fabric on the rows between small plants such as beans and between the plants of larger ones such as tomatoes and squash.

QUESTION: In the summer of 2001, I planted climbing hydrangeas on either side on my backyard pergola. They look healthy and green, but have not bloomed. My yard is shady with filtered sun in that spot. What could be wrong?ANSWER: This type of hydrangea is well-known for being slow to bloom after transplanting, but five years seems beyond even patient gardeners.One reason a hydrangea might not bloom is damage from winter cold. But we scarcely had winter. And since yours gets filtered sun, too much shade is not the problem. This type of hydrangea blooms on the current year's horizontal growth. How vigorous is your plant? Is it putting out this side growth? If not, one of the balanced, slow-release fertilizers may kick it into better growth and bloom next year. If your plants are near the lawn, try to avoid spreading grass fertilizer over the roots. That could inspire vigorous stem and leaf growth.

Nancy Brachey can be reached at The Charlotte Observer, 600 S. Tryon St., P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230.