Question: I have a question concerning a small tree in my backyard. A power line came down during a storm and caught the grass on fire near the tree. The tree is below the power lines, beside the utility pole. The mark is still on the grass and no grass grows there yet. The tree has very little foliage this year. The flowers were there, but the bark at the base of the tree has somewhat fallen off. Will the tree eventually "heal" from the electrical shock?

Answer: Electricity from power lines is funny stuff. My local paper had pictures of holes 2 feet deep in an asphalt highway after high power lines fell on the pavement during a storm. The combination of the electricity and the heat could have done several types of damage to your tree.

First, the soil could have been sterilized. Large things like roots and worms will come through first. It will take a while for the various microorganisms the roots need to repopulate the soil. Eventually the soil will be fine.

Second, the roots in that area may have been killed and so they will have to grow back. Any plant can only have as many leaves as it has roots supplying water to the top, so as the roots grow back, the top will fill in. The branches may have been damaged by the electric shock. The roots need nourishment from the leaves and so with fewer leaves it will take a while before enough food can replenish the roots.

Connecting the top to the roots is the trunk and if there is bark falling off, there may be quite a bit of damage. Even if both the top and roots are fine, if the trunk is damaged, the tree can die. If that is the case, there is nothing you can do to help it.

In all the other instances of partial damage, you need to try to keep the tree from having other types of stress. If your area has a drought, then make sure it gets enough water, without drowning the remaining roots. Fertilization and pest control will be items to watch. Very small amounts of fertilizer will be good, but be careful to not exceed the recommended rates because burning the roots with fertilizer is much more harmful than under fertilizing.

Question: My mother's house is suddenly up for sale. There are irises, peonies and other plants that came from my grandmother that I would like to transplant to my yard before the house is sold. Can they be transplanted in the middle of summer? I don't want to kill the plants, but I am not sure I can wait until fall.

Answer: If you can dig up the whole root system or nearly so, and there is an emergency that requires you to move them now, then go ahead. Plants stay in balance with roots and top, so if you can keep the balance, you can move anything you want, whenever you want.

Most plants have root systems several times wider than the top of the plants spread. So, a 2-foot plant can have roots 6 feet out and a 20-foot plant can have roots 60 feet out. This means that unless the plants are small, you won't get a majority of the roots. The less you get, the lower the survival rate. If you can't get a lot of roots, then it is better to move it in the fall when the top portion of the plant is dormant. The sooner it is moved after the top goes dormant, the sooner it can go into the new location and begin growing roots.

Shrubs, small trees and plants with storage roots like rhizomes and bulbs will have some water and food storage capacity in the trunk, crown, branches and leaves, so if a lot of roots are lost, they may still survive a summer move. For best survival rates, leave as many roots intact as possible.

In the old days, it was thought that if you pruned the top to balance the bottom, you could help the plant out. Unfortunately, two wrongs do not make a right in this case, since removing leaves reduces the plant's food production. Some plants like the iris can be pruned back drastically on top and bottom and do very well because they have a rhizome storage root.

Transplanting is always best done in the plant's normal dormant period. Plants will have stored as much food as they can before this time, and so they will recover faster. They also do not require as much water, sunlight etc. during this time, so they can recover on their own schedule. If possible, wait until this fall after the plants drop their leaves.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.