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Dear Helen: We have an apple tree that has not been pruned for around eight years. It has many, now woody, upright water sprouts. When is the best time to prune, and how much of the excess growth can safely be pruned away at one time? M.P.

I’m sensing gleeful anticipation all around — in people I meet, in the mail. A recent email from a gardener expressed it well: “It’s March. Spring is coming.

Dear Tony: Our recent annual general meeting held electronically had 17 resolutions on the agenda for upgrades and repairs to our buildings. Our meeting dragged on for almost five hours and in the end, every resolution passed.

Dear Tony: Three years ago, my washing machine hose ruptured, causing a flood in my unit and the two units below me.

Zigzag windows and diamond-shaped skylights, Japanese-style alcoves, inner courtyards, jutting rooflines and high ceilings are just some of the details that make Joan McNeely’s home in Gordon Head a work of art.

I’m not much given to navel- gazing angst, but I must admit that the bout of cold, snowy weather last month reminded me how much I rely on time in the garden to maintain a sense of mental and physical well-being.

Dear Helen: You often write about pansies and violas. Do you prefer one over the other? P.L.

Since all my socializing for months has been outdoors, much of it occurs in the garden.

Tucked into the woods of Shawnigan Lake, at the end of a gravel road, stands a house that suits its natural surroundings as well as the couple who call it home.

Dear Tony: I own a townhouse unit in Surrey that I have been renting out for the past 15 years with a reliable tenant. I conducted routine inspections, and all seemed well until the tenant gave me notice two months ago.