EDMONTON - Q: Can you tell me what in the world is happening to my carrots? They were healthy when we harvested them last fall and we are storing them the same way we have for untold years. They are rotting from the inside out. We have lost over half so far.

We rotate the crops every second year, so what is the cause? Can you help?

A: I asked plant pathologist Ieuan Evans what might be the cause and here is his reply: “Highly unlikely to be an infectious disease since it is internal. Possibilities are the carrots were immature due to one of the coldest summers in 2010. Only 1,500 heat units from May to September. We normally get 1,600 to 1,900.”

I have to go with Ieuan on this one because all the research I did on this topic drew a blank. There is nothing in the literature I searched on carrots rotting from the inside out.

Q: We have a fairly large mock orange bush by our back steps. It is more than 30 years old and is just beautiful and fragrant in July. We need to have some work done on our sewer and the contractor says that the bush has to go.

Is it possible to dig up the bush and replant it after the sewer work is done? If so, what time of year would be best and would we need to hire someone to do this for us?

A: I wish I had some good news to tell you about your shrub. With a shrub that old and large it would be very difficult to dig it up without damaging the root system severely.

The rule of thumb is that shrubs older than 25 years should be removed or left alone.

You can try inquiring with some landscape contractors to see if anyone would be willing to tackle this job but my hunch is that you might have a hard time finding someone willing to do this work. That is the realistic part of the answer.

The hopeful part of the answer is that I never like to leave anyone without a possible solution, so I will tell you what might work to save this plant.

You will need to root-prune the shrub. Root pruning is simply inserting a spade into the soil in a circle around the base of the shrub. The circle should be around 60 centimetres from the middle of the plant.

Do this technique roughly eight weeks before the move. Four weeks before the move root prune it again.

Root pruning cuts back the older roots and encourages them to send out new rootlets. It will also make the root ball smaller and perhaps a little easier to handle. You will need several people to lift even the smaller root ball or ask if a contractor would be willing to do the job after the root pruning.

Keep the root ball wrapped in a tarp or even better dig a temporary hole and plant the shrub in the hole until the work on the sewer has been done and then move it back to its original home.

Note to readers: My first book Just Ask Jerry is now available on store shelves in Edmonton and area.

Look for the book at garden centres and shops like Chapters, as well as online at www.chapters.indigo.ca. Superstore will be carrying it as well.

The book is a collection of my Journal columns as well as new features on many gardening topics.

Gerald Filipski is a member

of the Garden Writers Association of America. If you have any questions e-mail them to filipski@shaw.ca.