Dear Neil: As you can see, my sago palm is growing prodigiously from its base. However, nothing is coming from the central stalk. Is that normal? If not, what should I do?

The old leaves that froze were attached to that stem. You have trimmed them away, and since the stem froze, it is not putting out any new growth itself. All of the sprouts are coming from the root system. That stem can be removed by cutting it away carefully at any time. Try to do it before much more new growth is produced on the sprouts so that you do not damage them.

Dear Neil: Our pittosporums took a real hit in February’s cold. They are 26 years old. They’re sending out new growth up and down their stems. I know we will need to prune them to get them to fill back in again, but I am wondering if I need to wait until winter to do it. It seems so harsh to prune them in the middle of the summer.

You can prune dead wood out of them now without harming them in the least. However, I have to admit that I would simply replace them. These will take so long to fill back in again that I think you’d be better off starting with new, vigorous nursery stock. It probably would save you a lot of heartache, and four or five years of waiting.

Dear Neil: I planted a redbud a couple of months ago. This morning I found leaf damage on it. What should I do?

You have leaf miners. They are small larval insects that work their ways through the leaf tissues as they eat their tunnels. Eventually they pupate and emerge as adult insects to mate and lay eggs, to start the cycle over again. Your best prevention will be a systemic insecticide applied in May each year. By the time you can see this type of damage, there is little you can do.

Dear Neil: I don’t know what to do with my 35-year-old red oak tree. I had it pruned late last year so we could get additional sun to our grass. I believe it was pruned incorrectly. The tree service removed all the leaves off the branches, and just left leaves at the ends of the limbs. The tree now has suckers all over those branches, and the ends are bare. What should we do?

Leave it alone for now. The one thing you didn’t take into consideration (apparently) was the impact the February cold had on red oaks. Many of them were affected much more than your tree. That’s why you are seeing the tip die back and the new sprouts along the branches. It should fill back in by next year. Thinning the canopy is usually just a temporary fix, even in normal years. I wouldn’t do that again for a while.

Have a question you’d like Neil to consider? Email him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.