QUESTION: I need a mailbox planting, as my neighbors all bring their dogs out to use our mailbox. I had ivy but my husband killed it by mistake when treating the lawn. Any suggestions for the mailbox?ANSWER: The first thing to do is stop the neighborhood dogs from using your mailbox as a pit stop. Spending money and effort on a fine plant has no future if dogs are still going to visit it. I suspect it was the dogs that killed the ivy, not the fungicide you mention. Ivy is tough to kill, about as difficult as anything I've experienced.Get one of the deterrents sold under various trade names such as "Dog and Rabbit Chaser." You can sprinkle it around the mailbox to ward off the dogs. These products have temporary effectiveness and must be reapplied after rainfall, which causes the scent to dissipate. Stay with this project for some weeks, until the dogs get the message.Then, you can choose plants. There are many ground covers to choose from that would grow neatly around the mailbox. Or perhaps make it a bed of seasonal annuals: pansies for the cool months, vinca, marigolds or scarlet sage for the hot ones.And perhaps you could add one of the beautiful mandevilla vines to wrap around the post for a very long season of bloom if you have the sun they need.Once you invest in these plants, I would continue to use the dog repellant as insurance.

QUESTION: What do I do with the old rhododendron blooms now?ANSWER: This can be an easy task at the end of the day, when there isn't enough daylight left for a big project. Get a container, such as an empty plastic nursery pot or pail. Then reach into the plant and gently snap off with your thumb and a finger the spent bloom. Don't use shears because you are likely to cut leaves. This is easy work and once you begin to do it, you will find it goes fast and the plants will look much better. It also keeps the plant from spending energy developing seed pods.

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