Ash and Plum Success Stories

 

Fan-Tex ash tree about 17 years old. Front yard.

At least 17 years old.  When I got to take care of it 10 years ago, it was on its last legs.  Plenty of bone meal and water. It has great drainage.  I did apply some 30 year old insecticide for ash borers on the trunk about 5 years ago and probably some of that systemic rose fertilizer. The only ash tree in the neighborhood.

Santa Rosa plum tree in the back yard. Notice that the water is applied through drip emitters that apply water to the soil surrounding the tree and covering at least half the area. Also notice that the soil is covered in wood chips that decompose and enrich the soil with organics as they rot near the water.

Planting Peach Tree in the Summer Not Ideal but......

 Q. Here is the hole where I will plant the peach tree.  Still have to add some more top soil/compost mix.  Plan on shading the tree with 40% sun fabric for the first year.  Will mulch heavily but 8 inches away from the trunk.

Planting hole was dug super big and the soil from it was mixed with compost.

A. Planting in the middle of summer when it is hot in the desert is not the best time and not really recommended but it can be done. How?

Not recommending for this time of year but it can be done. Here is how.

1. Predig the hole at least three times wider than a five gallon container. Mix the soil from the hole with a rich compost like you can get from Viragrow, about 25% in the summer (one shovel full to three shovel full of soil from the hole).  Fill the hole with water before you get the tree.

2. While you are out and about getting the compost, get a garbage bag or two full of wood chips from the University Orchard in North Las Vegas. Call 702-257-5555 for directions and availability. You need enough to cover the area around the tree, about six feet in diameter, with wood chips.

3. Pick out a tree in a five gallon container that is healthy with low branches. Small is good as long as it is vigorous. Also buy a role of green nursery tape. When you get home, water it and put it on the north side of the home until early tomorrow. Do you have rabbits? Then pick up some chicken wire.

4. When it is first thing and cool out, remove the plastic container, fluff out the roots quickly, and put it in the hole. It should be the same depth in its new home as it was in the container. Slowly fill the hole with water and  put the amended soil around the fluffed out roots. You should see air bubbles escaping from the planting hole.

5. After seeing no more water on top of the soil, stake the tree so the roots dont move. Cut the green nursery stake free from the tree and pound it in the soil right next to the plant until its solid in the ground beneath the hole. Re-tie the plant back to the nursery stake. Apply wood chips three or four inches deep around the tree but keep it 6 to 12 inches away from the tree trunk.  If you have rabbits in the area, protect the tree with a two foot tall cylinder made from 1 inch diameter chicken wire. If rabbits chew on the tree, it is a goner. Rabbits love to chew on fruit trees. In and is there a the culture and I thinking I just Russians I you and so I'm thinking you'll find in your area will you as you are serious a serious and you will is maybe is a good time love you the possibility is very about the you because I think it would be a mistake to buy anything is very Las Vegas is is expensive but I keep it open is maybe you are a places that can be pretty easy to talk more about the money find this in a you will

6. Do not fertilize if you used rich compost like the kind you get from Viragrow. Water it with a hose the next day and then every other day until you see new growth. Once you see new growth and it is hot outside, water three times a week.

Crape Myrtle Can Be Grown in Desert Soils

Q. I planted this crepe myrtle the first of May. I recently noticed leaf curling and now the brown edges. I’m watering with 6 “ inline tube emitters every other day for 20 min. It’s located in a very hot spot in a corner with south and west facing walls. Any advice would be appreciated.

Crape myrtle newly planted and growing in a raised bed.

A. The browning along the leaf edges either means though tree is not getting enough water or it is being watered too often. The crêpe myrtle will not like hot locations. It doesn’t like hot locations unless you are a very good gardener and can manage that heat and water it needs.

I certainly wouldn’t water more often than every other day. I worry a little bit about two things; is the soil staying too wet between irrigations and secondly is the water getting deep enough when you are watering. 20 minutes of watering doesn’t tell me much. I drink 16 ounces of coffee in 1 ½ minutes. I like coffee when it’s hot. Some other people they can sip on this coffee for one hour. So, 20 minutes doesn’t mean much to me. A crêpe myrtle that size needs about 10 gallons of water. It can get it in 20 minutes or one hour. It doesn’t matter.

Crape myrtle watered with a basin and bubbler, fertilized once a year and using EDDHA iron chelate as its iron source, No organics added to the soil.

I noticed you have what looks like vinca or periwinkle planted with the crêpe myrtle. That is a no no. Vinca or periwinkle has roots that are shallow growing to about six or 8 inches deep. It likes to get frequent watering. The tree on the other hand has roots that are as deep as 18 inches. It likes to get water less often than the vinca but more applied each time. Unless you are a very good gardener and can manage the water between the two the mixing of these two plants together can cause problems in watering. I suspect that’s what you’re seeing. Other deeper rooted flowering plants like rosemary would be a better choice since it has deeper roots and a more similar watering regime.

What to do? 

I am not sure how much water that laser tubing is delivering in 20 minutes. The water for the tree should be applied so that it penetrates the soil each time to a depth of about 18 inches. Then the idea is to hold off on watering again until the soil begins drying in the top few inches. That might be one day or it might be two days I’m not sure. An inexpensive soil moisture meter like for house plants would tell you that. 

Inexpensive soil moisture meter used for monitoring irrigations. Push it in three or four inches in several different locations.

Push it into the soil in three or four locations about three or 4 inches deep and don’t water again until it reads Midway or about five on the 10 point scale. The periwinkle are vinca will drive your watering cycle since they are more shallow rooted.

The other problem you’re going to have with crêpe myrtle during the summer months is its location. As you pointed out it’s very hot in that spot. The crêpe myrtle will improve and looks in October and November but it will not like it there during the heat. The most successful locations for crêpe myrtle in Las Vegas has been on the east or north sides of homes where it’s a bit cooler.

Why Branch Fell off of Mesquite Tree

 Q. This large branch suddenly fell off our 22 yr. old Mesquite tree. We have no idea why. Any thoughts?

When a stem becomes a branch, there is just a thin cylinder that is living inside this branch. The rest is dead wood.

A. When stems are first growing and just young small suckers the entire inside is living and pumping water up and down to the leaves and roots. If this upright sucker is getting plenty of water and lots of light, the growth of this sucker will be fast. As this young stem becomes older and larger, the inside of it dies and becomes dead wood. But inside every large branch there is a cylinder of life protected by the bark that is alive. Instead of having small suckers, stems, that move the water up and down these larger branches don’t need that much living parts of the stem and so this internal "vascular tissue" dies and becomes the internal but dead wood. This internal wood strengthens the branches and keeps them attached to the tree. 

Branches are dead on the inside. This cylinder of living wood inside the branch is "rolling over" the dead wood inside and will eventually fully transport water back and forth between leaves and roots.

Internal Wood is Dead but Strong

This internal wood, since it is dead, can very easily decompose if infected. The outer bark of a tree protects the wood from rotting but if it is damaged by improper pruning or a knife or other accident, then this dead wood on the inside can become infected and die.

 Your Mesquite Branches

The internal wood of this stem on your Mesquite tree has rotted. The stem has weakened because the internal dead wood has rotted or is rotting. This is why I encourage people to sanitize the saw, lopper or pruner before cutting into the bark. Sanitizing sharp pruning instruments helps to protect the internal wood from getting infected, rotting and weakening the limbs. Dead or dying limbs are blown off the tree more easily than strong healthy limbs.

 

This mesquite tree is infected with slime flux or wetwood disease which is common on mesquite. This bacterium will rot the interior of the branch and weaken it.

If you look closely at the internal damage of this branch, most likely you will see where the bark has been injured and disease rotting organisms have gained a foothold inside the branch.

Three Reasons for Spots in a Lawn (Uhm, four)

Q. My hybrid Bermuda grass lawn from seed is coming along well but have this spot that is turning yellow.   Any thoughts?

Spots developing on a seeded hybrid bermudagrass lawn.

A. Do you have a female dog? The brown spots on the bottom of the picture look like dog spots from peeing. Brown spots from dog pee are usually greener at the edges of the spot and then get die in the center of spots that are about 8 to 10 inches across. But there is browning in the center of the picture as well.

Urine damage from dog

Checking for Insect Damage

Yellowing in spots can result from several possibilities. The possibilities are insects, watering or disease. Let’s eliminate one at a time and discover the most likely reason. The easiest to determine our insect problems. On the edge of the yellow area where there is a mixture of green grass and yellow grass pull on the grass like you are playing and pulling at someone’s hair and jerking their head back. Not rough but gently pulling. Most insect problems cause mechanical damage to the plant. When you pull on the grass and it has damage from insects, the grass comes up easily and to severed from the roots. You will get a mixture of green grass that looks fresh and dead grass in your hand. The insects that cause this damage are white grubs usually in the spring and side webworm in the summer. If this is the case and you find this true, then go to your favorite nursery or garden spot and by an insecticide to kill the grubs or side webworm. 

Not Insects?

Now let’s say the yellow spot is not insects. The next category we have to eliminate is disease. Most diseases when they are present will leave a few brown spots on the leaf blades and stems or dieback on leaves or spotting. When you are on your hands and knees checking for insect damage, also check the leaf blades in those areas for disease problems such as small brown spots. This is less likely than insect problems but if you think it might be a disease problem then go to your favorite nursery or garden center and by a fungicide for lawn diseases and make the application. Some lawn diseases can be spread from lawn to lawn by mowers.

Not Insects or Diseased?

The third reason can be irrigation, if you just started this lawn it went be too often and keeping the soil too wet most likely. Once the seed has germinated and the lawn is growing you should not be watering more than once a day. With Bermuda grass you might be able to water every other day even when it’s hot. The only way to know is to try and but definitely not more than once a day. Don’t water your grass again until you see any signs of water stress on the grass. 

Footprints when grasses like fescue need water

This is a smoky green color or when you walk across it it’s leaving your footprints in the grass. This tells you it’s time to water again. In the summertime when it’s hot you can’t fool around and wait a day to get the irrigation on. You must water it as soon as you see it when it’s hot. In cooler temperatures in the 80s you can go a day without watering and it won’t affect the lawn but not now.

Canary Island Date Palm with Dying Fronds

Q. Canary Island date Palm with one or two fronds browning and dying. What to do?

Canary Island Date palm with individual frond death

A. Please be aware of that Canary Island date palms can grow to 50 or 60 feet high so they are too large, in the long run, for residential landscapes. These are huge plants. But these palms grow slowly so it will grow slowly. There are several things that could cause the fronds of this palm to die. The most serious is a disease called Fusarium. You can Google the images and look to see if it resembles Fusarium or not. If the palm tree has Fusarium disease it will most likely not recover but it will get worse in time. If you think the palm trees are infected with Fusarium it’s best to remove them before they get larger and more expensive to remove. The other problem with Fusarium is that it contaminates the soil so few trees can be planted exactly in the same hole. It’s best to plant something close to it but not in the hole. Fusarium is caused by wounds to the palm tree oftentimes caused by improper pruning and sanitation of the pruning equipment and then weakening the palm tree by watering it too often.

The most common problem facing people growing Canary Island date palms in the Las Vegas desert are not amending the soil at the time of planting and watering too often. Watering too often keeps the soil wet and weakens the palm. Pruning these palm trees with dirty pruning equipment causes the disease to enter the plant and watering too often or poor drainage makes the plant unhealthy.

What can you do? 

If you are convinced this palm probably has Fusarium disease, then remove it while it is still small and young. Not many trees and shrubs are resistant to Fusarium. It’s a very aggressive and nasty disease. Make sure the soil around the plant drains water, do not watered too often but if you are watering too much then give it too much water rather than too often.

These can be expensive plants. It might be an expensive educational lesson.