QUESTION: I have two natural areas in my large rural front yard. There are dogwood trees, azaleas, daylilies, tulips and a small patch of violets. My question is: Should I rake out the old leaves and pine needles that are remaining and lay mulch down on the bare ground, or do I just put the mulch on top of the leaves?ANSWER: You already have mulch, and this is good stuff that will continue to decompose and enrich the soil in which your plants are growing. Don't take it up; it's valuable. However, I sense you want to give these natural spaces a fresh and uniform look. That's fine. A fresh topping of pine needles or bark will look good and blend nicely with what you already have. Just make sure the mulch is not more than 3 or 4 inches deep.

QUESTION: I love roses, but the past three years have been hard. I cannot keep black spot from forming and the roses had it earlier than ever this year. I love the roses, but I am really frustrated with the lack of success. Should I dig them up and stop trying?ANSWER: Battling black spot on roses requires consistent spraying with a fungicide and meticulous attention to getting rid of diseased leaves to prevent reinfection of new ones. It is not an easy task, but one that many serious rose growers accept as the price of growing several kinds of bush roses, notably hybrid teas.However, in recent years, the rise of a new class of roses called landscape roses has helped many gardeners have good roses without constant spraying and fear of diseased plants. These roses, bearing such names as Bonica (pink) and Knock Out (cherry red) have proved to be excellent choices for Piedmont landscapes. They bloom for a very long season and require very little care. They do not produce the elegant, perfectly formed roses like a Queen Elizabeth or Mister Lincoln that people love for vases, but which require a lot of care. But in the landscape, they look very good, and you get a lot for little effort.Knock Out's newest version is a pretty, double-flowered variety in cherry red.Another shrub rose I like very much is Rosa mutabilis. It produces five-petaled roses that change in color from peach-yellow to dark pinkish red as the blooms age. This is not a rose for a small space; it can soar to 10 feet and higher and spread several feet. But it has a long bloom season, great resistance to diseases and the most charming blooms of varied color. It is not a new rose like Knock Out. But it was not widely planted until recently, when it became more widely available as people looked for roses with better resistance to diseases.Contact Nancy Brachey at The Charlotte Observer, 600 S. Tryon St., P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230