Class on Thinning Fruit Trees in April

Thinning Fruit on Fruit Trees to Get Larger Fruit
April 19, 20 and April 26, 27

Thinning fruit, technically categorized as a form of pruning, is selective removal of fruit so that the remaining fruit get larger. On some fruit crops this is done with chemicals but we will only be using our hands. You will be taught how to thin fruit of apple, European pear, Asian pear, peach, nectarine, plum and pluot and even pomegranate! You will get hands-on experience learning how and when to do this very important form of orchard management.

Class fee is $25.

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Experience Summer Pruning Fruit Trees at the Ahern Orchard

Summer Pruning of Fruit Trees
April 5, 6 and April 12, 13
Summer pruning of fruit trees is done in late spring through early summer which keeps fruit trees smaller, manages their growth, improves fruit production and decreases the need for winter pruning. Summer pruning routes the tree's energy into better fruit production rather than into new growth. This keeps trees smaller and more efficient. If done early and at the right time, pruning equipment is not needed, only your hands. Learn how, when and where to do this simple technique that encourages smaller, healthier and more productive fruit trees.

Class fee is $25

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Tired of Putting Frost Blankets Over Your Tender Plants?

Q. You talked about the freezing temps in the valley. When we had the first freezing temp, I covered what I thought were my most tender plants with freeze cloths. But they were damaged anyhow. If we have another freeze, do I cover them again been though their damaged? It’s a pain covering tender plants!

Wow! This looks great! That means in February my lowest temperature in Las Vegas will be 45°F and my highest temperature is 66°F. The  uppre temperature estimate from those weather people was probably right. But that bottom temperature was wrong. Average temperatures presented by Weatherspark.com. February low temperatures were at or below freezing seven times. Do you smell a tourism conspiracy here?

A.  So, you thought having freeze-tender plants requires no work? Whenever landscaping with plants that do not belong in our climate zone, expect them to “cost” you in time, energy and money. That’s “our agreement” with these plants when we use them.

   Don't trust what you read about low temperatures in Las Vegas. 

We had 3 hard freezes come through the valley in February. Those crop covers or "anti-freeze blankets", only protect tender plants to about 5° F below freezing. If it gets colder than this, they get damaged anyway. The amount of damage depends the condition of the plants, how cold it gets and for how long.

Tropical and even semi tropical plants don't grow here.

            Tropical plants like Moringa, which has become popular Locallybecause of its reported health benefits, won’t handle any freezing temperatures at all. Compare it to Bougainvillea and handle it the same way; cut it back to within a few inches of the soil and let it sucker from its base.I grow it on our farm in the Philippines but I don't have to protect it. If it gets too large and I can't harvest the leaves anymore, I cut it back about 6 to 8 inches off the ground and let it sucker from the base.

Moringa, called malungay in the Philippines, is a tree common to our farm because we use it for a lot of cooking. There are probably about 15 trees that are continuously cut back and suckered again from the base so that the leaves are easy to harvest.Freezing temperatures acts just like a chainsaw and, once established, it will re-sucker again from the base after a hard freeze. Just protect the base of the tree during extremely cold weather.This tree is a weed in the Philippines and we don't have to do much for harvest.

            Semi tropical plants like many citrus show different degrees of damage depending on its age, if it was flowering or has tender fruit, and how it was fertilized the previous season.

Dalandan, or sweet orange, stays green in the hot tropics and is ripe when it's green and easily peels with its thin skin but it will freeze in Las Vegas. The amount of damage depends on how old the tree is, how low the temperature got and for how long. One of our citrus on our farm.We don't have to do much to grow this tree in the Philippines; water, fertilizer and horticultural oil to reduce scale infestations is about all it needs. We don't have to cover it.

            There are 3 things you can do to reduce plant losses prior to freezing temperatures; don’t fertilize after August 1 the previous year if using mineral fertilizers, construct windbreaks around your plants to minimize damage caused from combined low temperatures plus wind, pile mulch or dirt around the trunk of these plants just before freezing temperatures. 

Soil is a pretty good insulator from the cold and wind. If you’re using compost as a fertilizer, then apply it only once in the spring and no more.

Controlling Bermudagrass with Chemical Sprays

Q. We are doing a lawn conversion to desert landscaping in the front. Our lawn has a lot of Bermudagrass along with the fescue. Our contractor told us to wait until May before spraying the lawn and killing the grass otherwise the Bermudagrass will grow back. Is that accurate? 

Common Bermudagrass and how it spreads from place to place with horizontal grow called stolons. In common Bermudagrass this kind of growth is extremely aggressive and invasive. When selecting Bermudagrass as a lawn grass, common Bermuda grass is not used unless you are nuts or cheapskate. It's going to cause nothing but problems. Common Bermuda grass is a pasture grass for feeding cows and horses during the summer months.

A. I need to do a podcast on controlling Bermudagrass, particularly which chemicals to use and why Roundup sometimes works and sometimes doesn't seem to work and alternatives to Roundup.

Your contractor timing is right. Bermudagrass “wakes up” around the end of March or early April. Spraying a weed killer for Bermudagrass before that has limited success, if it kills it at all. Bermudagrass should be growing happily to get the best control. The worst control comes by spraying it when it is first waking up or when it is under stress. So, don’t stress it with a lack of water or fertilizer for spraying.

            The second part is wishful thinking and maybe a little bit of sales. Don’t expect 100% control of Bermudagrass after it is sprayed. It will never happen. You might get 75% or more but not 100%. The only way of getting it under control is with repeat killing, pulling or hoeing of anything green as it pops out of the ground.

            If you stay on top of controlling it the first year, you will probably get about 95% control by the end of the season. If you let its new growth get out of control, you will probably be fighting it for years and never get rid of it. It is important to get rid of new growth as soon as you see it.

            The safest weed killer to spray around landscape plants is a product called Fusilade. Yes, I have actually used it around fruit trees and it works. Have some around after the landscape has been installed. Roundup is usually used for the first kill by a contractor. But Fusilade, unlike Roundup, only kills grasses. 

Another similar product to Fusilade is Poast. It just works slower. So, both can be sprayed near flowers, trees or shrubs that have Bermudagrass invading their spaces. If you accidentally spray landscape plants, it won’t harm them. If you are really careful and know how to apply a spray evenly and the proper amount, it can kill bermudagrass growing in a fescue lawn. But if you are not careful and damage your lawn, don't blame me!

Western Redbud Better Choice for Desert Landscapes

Q. You mentioned Western Redbud as a better choice for landscapes in the Mojave Desert than Eastern Redbud. You warned me it might be hard to find, and you were right. What’s so special about Western Redbud when compared with Eastern Redbud?

A. Eastern Redbud can be found as a native tree growing from the southeastern United States from Northern Florida up into Canada. Western Redbud has a more limited range, growing as a native in dry, desert regions of southern California, Southern Nevada, southern Utah and stretching into Arizona and Mexico. Sometimes the nursery trade doesn’t differentiate between these two trees and calls Eastern Redbud, just simply Redbud. So, it gets confusing.

One example, and it's not a particularly good example, of Western Redbud growing at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas Nevada. In my opinion this is an extremely underused plant considering how many red bites planted of the Eastern kind.

            But there are major differences between the two, not so much in looks but how they perform in dry desert landscapes. The Western Redbud, sometimes called California Redbud or Arizona Redbud in the nursery trade, is more tolerant of our alkaline soils and high temperatures. It can also handle the heat better than the Eastern Redbud. It is a better choice for desert landscapes in the Southwest.

These are the leaves of an Eastern Redbud sent to me by a reader wondering why the leaves look like this. Eastern Redbud is not drought tolerant or salt tolerant to our alkaline soils.

            You will probably have to search online for Western Redbud but also include the names California Redbud and Arizona Redbud in your search. They are basically the same tree.

If you're not careful, Eastern Redbud can be a little difficult to establish in desert landscaping. It may look pretty after its first planted but then some problems may develop because of our alkaline soils and droughty conditions.

            Some landscapers say they have better luck with Eastern Redbud, but I think it’s because the Western Redbud is watered too often. It is more drought and heat tolerant than Eastern Redbud. Western Redbud is better adapted to our soils and climate. You might try looking at the Nevada State Forest Nursery located atFloyd Lamb State Park and see if it’s in their inventory.

Grapes to Grow in the Desert

Q. I am from San Miguel Community Garden, a non-profit garden located near the North Las Vegas Airport. We are considering adding more grape plants to the Garden.  We have Flaming Red and Thompson grapes.  You said you have grown many different varieties in the Las Vegas Valley, and I was wondering if you would share with me other varieties that were successful for you so we can explore them as well. 

Barbera Wine grape grown in the Eastern Mojave Desert. Notice the unevenness in berry ripening during the time of harvest. This is a common problem when growing wine grapes in the hot desert.

A. I grew about 20 different table grapes and 18 wine grapes in the Las Vegas Valley starting in 1996. Some perform better than others. Still lots out there to try!

Grenache wine grape grown in the Mojave Desert.If wine grapes are grown with proper soil amendments and the soil around them covered with woodchip mulch, I had no problem with their acid and sugar balance. None of the grapes that I have grown were allowed to "struggle" as some of the romantics have suggested.

            Some table grapes to consider growing include Thompson seedless and Flame which you mentioned, as well as Concord, Thomcord, Perlette, Italia, Black Monukka, Fantasy and Ruby. Right now, the jury is still out on Canadice, Summer Royal, Suffolk Red and Crimson Seedless since they are only into their third year.  These table grapes should get you started.

Alicante bouschet wine grape with uneven berry ripening. Some of this might be controlled with changing the irrigation schedule which we could not do.

            Table grapes are usually seedless (except Italia) and used for fresh eating, make seedless raisins or eaten frozen. Table grapes aren’t as demanding as wine grapes since wine grapes are oftentimes used for high quality juice or wine must.

Fantasy table grape grown in the Mojave Desert, one of my personal favorites particularly for making raisins.

            Don’t forget wine grapes. You don’t have to make wine with them. Wine grapes come in an assortment of different flavors, more than table grapes, and can be pressed into juice and the juice used by itself or to make a variety of different jellies and fruit leather. They can make excellent raisins if you don’t mind their small size and seeds.

Zinfandel wine grade demonstrating particularly good bunches even under unusual nighttime temperatures.

            Some wine grapes to try include Zinfandel, Golden Muscat, Malbec, Syrah, Tempranillo, Barbera, and Sangiovese. These should get you started. Basically, the grape varieties grown in hot dry climates worldwide are best for growing in the Mojave Desert.

Italia, a seated variety and one of my favorites because of its musky flavor, develops very large berry size in the desert heat if it's given regular irrigations without much thinning.

            I would strongly suggest improving the soil at the time of planting with compost and then covering the soil around them with a thick layer of woodchips. Many people agree wine grapes should “struggle” to make good wine. I think just growing in this heat and lack of humidity is plenty of “struggle”. So I grow them "happy" and don't let them struggle too much. Let them do what they do best...produce fruit!

Some said it couldn't be done. I don't recommend growing this grape in our desert climate but I always love this variety. This is Pinot Noir, a cool season variety and is not recommended for the hot dry desert. But it developed good flavor and acceptable sugar acid ratios.

            So far, we haven’t needed to grow grapes that are grafted, unlike growing grapes in California. Most of the grapes grown in the US and sold here can be grown in the Eastern Mojave Desert on their own roots. However, if you are faced with buying grapes that are grafted, most grow well in our desert soils on these rootstocks: 1103P, 110R, Schwarzman, Salt Creek, Harmony and many others.