Italian Cypress Browning Not a Good Sign

Q. Help! My Italian cypress are drying out and dying mostly from the top down and they have their own bubblers for water.

Italian cypress with foliage browning

A. Major reasons for Italian cypress dieback: Too much water. Water deeply once 3 - 4 weeks in winter and no more than about once a week in summer. Too little water. Sometimes people put these trees on just a few minutes of water from their drip irrigation system. Water should be applied so that it wets the soil down 24 inches to an area at least four feet in diameter around the tree. Depending on how quickly enough water from your drip system is applied this might take up to several hours of applied water.

Spider mites. Starts in hot weather because that’s what they like. Usually a problem on trees that were underwatered. Spider mites like dirty foliage. Wash trees with a high pressure hose nozzle after dust storms or a couple of times a year just to keep them clean. Periodic soap and water sprays are not a bad idea either.

Webbing in italian cypress may or may
not be due to the bad guys

Borers. Several people have reported borers in Italian cypress but this has never been a common occurrence in the past. I could not find it reported anywhere else either. Usually a soil-applied insecticide for borer control applied around the roots would be recommended if this were the case. Get your irrigation under control and that should solve most of the problems.

Yellowing in Palms Can Be Lots of Different Things

This is California fan palm with cold damage from
temperatures in the low 20's or high teens F

Q. We have a fan palm where the palms are turning yellow and I'm assuming dying. One or two would be acceptable but we are have 5 and 6 that are going bad.

A. Let's cover some ideas about why your palms could have yellow fronds. These are the main reasons: older fronds are dying from natural causes and should be removed; fronds were damaged during winter freezes; too much water applied too often or too little water; palms planted too deeply; palms planted in heavy soil that doesn't drain well; palms planted with pure sand around the rootball; fertilizer problems such as iron, manganese or zinc.

Not totally sure on this one but it was probably
light cold damage on this date palm during the
 winter in low 20's

Palms should be planted with the soil taken from the hole plus 50% compost and a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus added. Palms should NOT be planted with their root ball surrounded by pure sand in the planting hole which is commonly done in Las Vegas. The idea of doing that is absolutely crazy.

Palms are high water users even though they tolerate high temperatures and our desert climate. Different types of palms require different amounts of water. The larger the palm, the more water it will require. Some of the highest water users will be date palm with their huge canopy spread. The amount of water will vary but most fan palms would be happy receiving about 20 gallons every time they are irrigated.

This is Queen palm, not a good palm for the hot desert
and probably lack of soil preparation or watering too often
or both

One of the common problems is irrigating palm trees with small amounts of water, like ten or fifteen minutes of drip irrigation, daily or even twice a day. Watering like this can fill the soil with water and suffocate the roots causing them to rot, diseased or both. So if you are irrigating your palms daily, don't do that anymore!

During the heat of the summer they can be irrigated two or three times a week, using 20 gallons each time you irrigate but the soil must freely drain the water away from the tree. In the wintertime you might be dropping your irrigation to 20 gallons every 10 days or perhaps even as long as two weeks.

Sometimes the soil lacks certain types of minerals that palm trees need. Deficiencies like iron and manganese usually appears as a discoloration in the fronds at the center the canopy, the most recent growth. This can range from light green to nearly yellow. If these inner fronds are yellowing then we can usually narrow this to watering too often, poor drainage or a lack of minor elements such as iron.

Center fronds, youngest, demonstrating yellow growth
which could be due to watering issues, soil issues
or possibly disease

Next February when you make your annual application of fertilizer use a complete fertilizer such as a Miracle Gro, Rapid Gro, or Peters. You can also use fertilizer stakes. Make sure it is well balanced and try to select a fertilizer with the three numbers the same or close to the same value like a 16-16-16 or 10-10-10. Add an iron chelate that contains the EDDHA chelate in the ingredients. Let's see if that works along with irrigating with a large volume of water but doing it less often.

Cold damage on palms usually results in the older fronds turning a bronze color first and then browning later as they die. General rule of thumb is if more than half of the frond has turned brown, remove it. The new fronds at the center of the palm should be healthy and green when they emerge in mid-spring.

If your soil is heavy and holds water a long time then plant on a mound 2 to 3 feet high and 6 to 8 feet across so the water drains away from the roots.

Moorpark Apricot a Good One for Las Vegas

Apricots on short shoots called spurs

Q. We have a beautiful 5-year old Moorpark apricot tree. It has grown well and looks quite healthy. However, it seems to put out a sparse array of blossoms in spring and has a very light crop of fruit every year. The fruit is delicious. I read that the chill factor for this cultivar may be higher than our climate provides. Can I increase the chill factor by watering the branches in winter on cool days to lower the tree's temperature and thus increase the chill factor? If successful I could get a larger crop?

A. Moorpark is a wonderful apricot variety and is used extensively in the canning and fresh fruit industry in California. It is best if it receives about 600 chill hours during the winter. This means that the temperature should drop below 45F for at least 600 hours for the best fruit set.

Apricot branch in the winter
with spurs clearly visible

However, don't worry about the chill factor in this case. We have Moorpark and it has good fruit set here even after 18 years at our chill hours. The problem is more likely the fruiting spurs or lack of them. These will be the short branches along the major branches.



If these were pruned off, damaged or never developed then the crop will be light due to a lack of flowers. This year was a bad year for apricots. We had good weather and then it turned very cold in March. That freeze reduced our orchard apricot production from about two tons down to about 200 pounds.

We have had no problem with Moorpark and irregular production and it has been a wonderful producer in most years. Perhaps the location of your tree in a particular microclimate of your landscape or how it has been pruned may have more to do with it than the variety itself. But a lack of chilling is not the problem.



Zimbabwe and the Baobob Tree




Hosted at the Bradshaw's house in Harare. Geoffrey
was a fantastic guide in helping me work with local farmers

 I went to Zimabwe in August of 2011 to work with some local farmers on some irrigation schemes. They call them irrigation schemes if a group of farmers all use the same source for watering their fields. So for instance if the source of water is a river and there is a diversion from the river (can be a canal or a pump) then everyone getting water from that diversion would be on the same scheme.


Sometimes this is a very large main canal and if this main canal is split into two canals and the water can be diverted (forced to go into one or the other but not both at the same time) then each of these would be an irrigation scheme.

 

Using siphon eight siphon tubes to bring water from the
lined canal to flood their onions

So I worked with about 17 of these schemes with an average number of farmers of about 200 or so. I primarily worked with issues of "governance" surrounding these schemes (how is the water going to be managed and shared so that they all get an equal share?). But if you have never been to this part of the world then it is a treat.

The fields are irrigated on a rotational basis determined by when water is released to them by the government agency that controls water deliveries from surface sources such as rivers.

Baobob tree reaching estimated ages of 3,000 years old
or more

In southern Africa there is a tree that is quite remarkable called the Baobab or Baobob. I prefer to call it Baobob because it reminds me of me. Locals use it for as a food source by opeing the fruit (kind of dry on the inside) and sucking on the seeds. Kind of a citrusy flavor if you suck on the semi-dry pulp surrounding the seed.



It is normally found in the drier regions of the country, regions such as IV and V. The outer bark can be removed multiple times from the trees without apparent damge to them and this is then woven into mats and used in the homes or the mats are sold along the roads to people passing by, usually tourists.

Fruits of the baobob which has a pretty dry pulp on
the inside but sucking on the seeds and the surrounding
pulp of the seeds reveals kind of a pleasand citrusy taste

The outer bark is removed from baobob, woven and used for
making mats for flooring and sold along the roads

The Problem With Pruning Pine Trees So They Don't Blow Over

A fairly recent trend in pruning in Las Vegas has been pruning pine trees so they don't blow over. We have some wind gusts that periodically get pretty nasty when they reach speeds of up around 70 mph (112 kph) or more. The trend was to remove some of the canopy so that there is not so much leverage on the root systems. This leverage, or sail effect, by the wind can pop the trees over when gusts come up quickly and our trees can be pretty shallow rooted which does not help to anchor them.

This Mondale pine was pruned probably
 in an attempt o reduce with wind load (sail effect)
 on its canopyand help reduce the potential
for blowing over

You can see that removing the inner small
branches concentrates the weight of the new
growth all on the ends of the branches causing
 them to bend and in some cases to break
 

I have some concerns about thinning pine trees to allow more wind to blow through their canopies. Not that it is done but really more about HOW it is done. Take a look at this picture of a pruned pine tree just for that purpose.

Most pine trees will not regenerate new growth on older branches once this growth is removed. Once the wood is older than about three years old most pines will not cause new growth to come from this older wood. Once this young wood is totally removed, it is gone for good.

By removing these small limbs in the interior it prevents pines like Mondale from renewing the removed growth. The juvenile part of the limb is now concentrated
only in the growing tips which are all at the ends of the branches.

This might be good in theory (the tree trimmers don't have to come back as often). But this can create a problem.Think of a fishing pole. Why is the pole diameter tapered and not all the same diameter along its length?

Poles or branches which are tapered help spread the stresses of bending along its length. If a pole or branch has no taper, then the stress of bending is concentrated in a very small area of the pole or branch which will increase its chances of snapping or breaking. By removing this small wood deep on the inside it also causes these "thinned" older limbs to no longer increase in girth (caliper or diameter).They bend more and more as the weight of the new growth is added to the ends of the branches.

Pine tree with a canopy thinned a bit better so
that limbs are less likely to bend and split

A better approach would be to selectively leave some juvenile wood on the interior of these larger diameter branches so that these branches will increase in caliper and taper. So instead of removing ALL the small juvenile from branches deep in the inside, remove some but leave some as well. This still results in thinning and allows for wind to move throught the canopy easier and also results in distributing this increased load along the branches rather than concentrating the load in a small area of the branch which increases its likelihood of failure (snapping or bending).

Just a thought.

Sap Oozing from Plum Tree Trunk

Sap oozing from the trunk of plum

Q. Last week I noticed sap bubbles 6 to 8 inches off the ground on the trunk of my year old Santa Rosa plum. I removed the bubbles and reapplied the whitewash. I checked again today and they are back. I've had plums before and the boars always win. I had hoped the Santa Rosa would do better. What can I do to save this tree?

Roses in the Hot Desert Do Well But Different From Growing in New Jersey

Garden rose not doing well in our
desert soils. They can do VERY well
if you just follow some simple advice

Q. This past spring I cleared a large "L" shaped area in my yard and planted 8 various rosebushes. They have sun from about 9 a.m. to about 5 p.m. They are watered in the evening and fed regularly. They are well planted with planting medium in large holes, and then mulched. All flowered during the spring and early summer.

Now, however, they are very spindly looking. The leaves left on them are brown and the stems are turning brown. There are no bugs that I can see. I tugged on them and they are still firm in the ground. Have they died and should I replace them, or wait until spring and see what comes back? Should I cut them back, and if so, how much? I do not want to cut too much off.

Palo Verde Dont Like Butch Hair Cuts

Q. Attached are pics of a Palo Verde which has some unusual black growths on the upper sides of the limbs. I'm wondering if it has something to do with pruning, since it appears to be only in areas that have been pruned, although other pruned areas are unaffected.

Damage to upper surface of palo verde limbs from reader

Palo verde pruned too high, in my opinio, allowing for
potential sunburn on upper surface of limbs

Palo verde with sunburn damage, borer damage and
limb and trunk damage

A. My first reaction to the pictures was sunburn damage. But I would have to see if this damage was sunken like a canker.
Next I would take a sterilized knife and cut around the edge of the damage and through the damage to see if the wood below the damage was dead or not. If it was dead below the damage and the damage was sunken then it is most likely sunburn damage to the limbs.

The pics you sent had damage all on the upper side of the limbs which is consistent with sunburn damage. You wondered if it might be associated with pruning which it is. The big mistake people make on Palo Verde with the photosynthetic green bark like is pruning so much that too much light gets inside the canopy and burns these photosynthetic limbs. Even though the are designed to absorb light there is such a thing as too much light.

These trees don’t make a lot of shade and when we remove too much canopy we will get sunburn on the limbs. Once we get these limbs sunburned then we have to look for possible borer damage. They go hand in hand and several borers are general feeders and are not really particular what they lay their eggs on.

The adults focus on damaged trees for egg laying. So cut into the damage and look for football shaped exit holes about 3/8 to ½ inch long and ¼ inch wide under the damaged, sunburned bark. If this is the case, don’t prune so heavily next time and leave enough cover to prevent sunburn.

Ornamental or flowering plum leaves
with wind damage

Q. I put in a desert landscape with 2" of rock in the front yard with various bushes and 2 flowering plum trees. This probably was a mistake, as I read one of your articles which said that this type of tree is not suited for rock mulch. Anyway, my question is about watering the trees. I have a 28" diameter by 5" deep watering reservoir around each tree. There is a layer of bark mulch in the reservoir. Right now I water the trees twice a week filling the reservoir up twice at each watering.

This is purple leaf plum in a desert or rock landscape.
It will look good for about five years without much
attention. But after about five years it usually starts
with leaf scorch and may begin getting iron chlorosis

So far every summer around August some of the leaves partially dry out and turn brown. Is this caused by too much water or not enough? I water the bushes 3 times a week by drip system for 30 min per watering. They are all healthy and green. Also the bark on the trees are splitting in places and falling off. Do you think I will loose the trees at some point? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I read all your colums in the RJ that you write. Lots of excellent advice there.

A. Flowering plums can handle the rock better because you aren’t really worried about a crop of fruit to eat. But the rock on top of the soil will aid in the depletion of organic matter and over time it will most likely turn the pinkish color that accompanies iron chlorosis in red leaved trees like the purple leaf plum. If not corrected that can lead to more of a decline in the tree opening it for dieback and insect/disease problems.

This is the purple leaf flowering plum when it has iron
chlorosis. Plants with green leaves will have their
leaves yellowing with green veins. In plants with purple
leaves the leaves will turn pink instead of yellow but
the veins will still be a darker color than the leaf blade

Bark mulch is not nearly as effective as plain old ugly mulch made from chipped landscape trees. Not many nutrients in bark, it decomposes slowly, and is all just about the same size so it doesn’t decompose as effectively as chipped wood mulch. Plus 28 inch diameter irrigation basin is not very big. As these trees get bigger they will need more water. Increase the basin to about six feet in diameter (three feet from the trunk) all the way around the tree and fill this basin which should be about three to four inches deep. Fill it twice with each irrigation.

Hard to say why the bark is splitting and falling off but I would pull the loose bark off and look for damage to the trunk such as holes for borers. The bark should be removed anyway of the trunk is dead under the bark and it is pulling away from the trunk. Often this type of situation turns into a long lingering death spiral for the tree over the next few years when it will decline more.

Fall Lawn Replacement in the Hot Desert



Upper surfaces of grass blades can help identify
which type of grass it is: L to R, Kentucky bluegrass,
perennial ryegrass and tall fescue

 Q. I need advice. We planted about 100 square feet of sod a couple of years ago. It had been doing quite well. I believe it was over fertilized 5-6 weeks back.. It is now very brown and not responding to watering. I plan on replacing it with new sod once it cools down. My question is, can I put the new sod over the old or pull out the old and re-prep the sub base? Any advice would be appreciated.

Sod removal using a sod cutter

A. You didn’t say what kind of sod it is but I am assuming it is tall fescue. Tall fescue represents about 98% of all lawn grasses in the Las Vegas area due to its tolerance, for a cool season grass, to our high summer temperatures. Before you do anything make sure it is dead. Tall fescue can appear dead but if you see any green at all at the base of the dead grass then it may just have died back.

Tall fescue is very drought resistant even though it uses a lot of water. It can dieback when water is not available and sit there for quite awhile appearing dead and then re-emerge from grass that looks dead and start growing again. This might take a couple of weeks of applying water after it turned brown. It might then be a bit sparse and you may have to seed into the grass again to get it to fill in those bare areas that didn’t make it.

Power rake, aka dethatcher aka verical mower used for
removing thatch, slicing stolons and improving
water penetration to turfgrass or lawn.

However, if it did turn brown due to a heavy fertilizer application then that is salt damage and tall fescue is not all that good in its tolerance to salt and then it is very probable you are right. You have two alternatives in replacing the sod. One is to rent a sod cutter and cut the old sod out leaving behind a ready made surface for resodding. Or you can try digging it out by hand and leveling the surface in preparation for the new sod. A lot of work. You will not be able to put new sod on top of the old sod. The old sod will leave an “interface” that will cause all sorts of problems for the new sod.

There is still yet another alternative worth considering. The dead grass is a perfect seedbed for seeding a new lawn. In about late September to mid October mow your dead lawn as short as you can and use your bag on the mower. Don’t mulch the dead grass back into the dead lawn. Next rent a power rake, sometimes called a dethatcher, and dethatch the dead lawn deep enough (you can adjust it) so that when you make a pass or two you can see soil between the dead grass blades. It is important to see bare soil throughout the dead lawn.

Patchy look to a lawn when a coarse textured grass is seeded
into a finer textured grass. An example would be seeding
K31 or Kentucky 31 tall fescue (a pasture grass) into bluegrass or
even a turf-type tall fescure with a finer texture

Purchase good quality tall fescue grass seed, 100% tall improved tall fescue and not Kentucky or K31 tall fescue, the cheap stuff. Apply a starter fertilizer such as 16-20-0 or any fertilizer high in the middle number(in this case 20) but having some of the first number (in this case 16). Seed at about 10 to 12 lbs of seed per 1000 square feet and topdress it with topdressing or steer manure with NO MORE than about 1/8 inch of topdressing. It is best to do this with a roller for applying this stuff. You can rent one from most rental places. Irrigate about three times a day for a few minutes each cycle. Irrigate long enough to wet the topdressing but not long enough to cause it to run off of slopes or puddle. Do this about 8 am, 1 pm and 6 pm. Your biggest challenge will be keeping the pigeons and other birds off of your seeding. Reduce your watering to once a day when you see grass emerging usually in 7 days or less.

A wild idea would be to not use tall fescue but a different grass seed that has high tolerance to heat in our area and a much softer feel to it. These are the heat tolerant perennial ryegrasses. They are superior to tall fescue in feel and water use but you have to get the right kind of perennial ryegrass. Some perennial ryegrasses are very heat tolerant and others are not at all and will burn up when it gets hot in the summer.

One of the best of the perennial ryegrasses is a combination of Palmer and Prelude perennial ryegrasses. It has been used on golf courses for nearly 30 years now here and does very well in the heat. You can mow it short as close as ½ inch or less (if you seed at the right rate for this kind of cut) or even up to two inches. It is soft to the touch, unlike tall fescue which has tiny hooks on the edges of the leaf blades that can cause “itchiness” some people think is an allergy which it is not. The problem is that it is only available in 50lb bags. This seed blend is available in Las Vegas from Helena Chemical Company but it will be pricey in that quantity. I could not find it on the internet in smaller quantities.

Newly Planted Apple Tree Dead

Q. I've attached a picture of what was once a beautiful, thriving Golden Delicious apple tree. Within one week it turned brown and died. It’s a young tree. I didn't plant it myself I purchased my home last July and it had just recently been planted.

Figs Grow Great in the Mojave Desert

Q. A friend of a friend has two fig trees that produce just the best figs I have ever tasted. So I am planning on taking cuttings and eventually planting them in my big back yard with full southern exposure. However we do not know what variety they are, so is there an easy way of identifying them and knowing whether they are self-pollinating, i.e. whether I need to plant two of these trees?

A. All of the figs I have tested here in our climate do well with very few problems. It is just a matter of your preference in taste. Normally, the darker colored figs such as black mission or brown Turkey have a stronger flavor. The yellow or white figs are milder in flavor. The biggest mistake when growing figs here in our climate is not watering them with enough water during each irrigation. They are oasis plants, not desert plants.

One of our "white" figs, perhaps 'Desert King'

Nearly all figs are self-fertile so there’s no need to have more than one. There are so many different varieties of figs it would be very difficult to identify which fig it might be. However, if you send me a picture of the fresh fruit so that I can see outside fruit color and color inside the fruit (cut open) I might be able to narrow it down for you.

Also, let me know if it was purchased through a local nursery since they typically carry the more common varieties. This also helps narrow it down. Follow my blog and I will give you some step by step instructions on how to propagate figs and grapes as well in the near future.

Lowering the Height of a Large Tree

Q. I have a view of the valley for a few months of the year when the leaves of many trees behind my property are gone. The partial view is still manageable the rest of the year except for a tree that is very, very full and you can see nothing beyond or through it. I know I can't ask for that tree to be topped. But what would happen if I asked for some branches to be removed in the middle of the tree so that it wouldn't be obvious to anyone? Before I go before a Board and ask such a question, I would appreciate your views on doing this and what the consequences might be down the line.

My Lawn Is Watered Enough It Has To Be Bugs!

Q. Do I have a bug problem? Spots in various areas of the lawn. I water enough.


Lawn suffering from a lack of water. Brown areas are

undefined and kind of run into each other. Pattern
of damage is related to the irrigation pattern.

A. So if you believe you water enough let’s go ahead and eliminate the possibility that you underwatering, overwatering, and getting even water coverage over the entire lawn through a properly designed and installed irrigation system.

That system should have what is called head-to-head coverage (water from one sprinkler should be throwing water all the way to the neighboring sprinkler) and a pressure regulator should be on the system so that water pressure at the sprinklers is not excessive. This helps prevent misting due to excessive water pressure.

This is the lawn disease called "summer patch". It has a
definite pattern to it. Kind of horseshoe-shaped

or the brown damage has a green patch in the center.

 Can you see the pattern?

Brown spots from watering problems usually occur in the same spots year after years and do not “move around” in the lawn. These spots are usually either next to the irrigation heads, halfway between heads or along the edges of an irregularly shaped lawn.



 So now that we have eliminated those problems since you water enough let’s move on to “bugs”. “Bugs” will usually include either insects or diseases. In tall fescue, the most commonly planted lawn grass for homeowners here in our valley, this is the time of year for disease problems. The most common lawn disease right now is summer patch and often accompanies our “summer monsoon” season.

Here is "summer patch" when you look
at a bunch of the running together.
We say the pattern has
"coalesced" resulting in tufts of green
grass growing in among the damage.

The spots start out as brown patches about 8 to 12 inches in diameter and frequently shaped like a partial circle or horseshoe. As this disease advances these brown spots blend together, if there are enough of them, into a wiggly or “snake” pattern of brown, dead grass. If you look at the green grass in amongst the dead grass, the green grass will be in circles about six to eight inches in diameter.

Make sure you are watering a few hours before sunrise, giving the lawn a chance to dry out as the sun comes up. Mow at 2 to 2 ½ inches in height. You can apply a fungicide that includes summer patch disease on the label and follow label directions.





Stop Horsing Around With Those Fruit Trees



Pruning cut healing with the cambium and wood "rolling"
over the damaged area.

Q. Short story, we had a horse get out of their corral while we were out of the house today for probably 4-5 hours. While out, he ate most of the bark of 60% of the trunk of one of our pear trees. The tree has quite a bit of fruit on it right now, we are more concerned with saving the tree than this years crop. Suggestions or ideas on anything you would suggest we should do would be very much appreciated. We live out near the orchard in the northwest, the “exposed” part is a direct west sunlight direction.

A. Long answer. The good part of this is that your tree, provided it is healthy, will probably survive. I have had fruit trees with that much damage to the trunk survive in the past. Your horse probably ate all the way down to the wood. This means that the tissue which transports food from the leaves to the roots is gone in that area as well as the tissue which transports water from the roots to the leaves. With 40% intact on the trunk the tree may struggle but it should still survive.

I would recommend that you mulch the ground around the trunk with wood mulch which you can obtain free from our orchard. Saturate the ground around the trunk of the tree with water 2 to 3 times each week. Clean the wound created by the horse with a sharp, sterile knife, cleaning the jagged edges of the damaged bark so that it is smooth. You do not need to paint the wound with anything. Just let it go after you have traced the wound with your knife. Make sure you fertilize the tree next January and each January while it is trying to heal. Enjoy the fruit. But next year thin the fruit out why it is the size of the silver dollar so there is only one fruit per cluster.

Planting Blueberries In The Hot Desert And Poor Soils Of Las Vegas? Hahahahaha. Maybe.

Q. I am interested in planting various fruit trees in my backyard. One that I am curious about is growing blueberries in our region. Do you know how they do here? Would you have any recommendations? I did not realize the varieties of blueberry plants that are out there! In my search I also came across pink lemonade blueberries, I am definitely interested, but I do not want to put forth the effort if they will not be a productive plant in our area.

A. This is the case where your gardening skills are going to be challenged. They are definitely not suited to our climate and definitely not suited to our soils. So let’s give it a try! This means we have to modify the climate they are in as much as possible and also the soils.

Pick a microclimate in your landscape that will be as cool as possible yet still provide 6 to 8 hours of sunlight everyday and out of strong winds. This would most likely be an east or north side of a landscape that avoids late afternoon direct sunlight. Find a location or create a location that is protected from prevailing strong winds.

Next, modify the soil. Blend anywhere from half to 2/3 of the existing soil with a good quality compost. To this mix, and sulfur that is as finely ground as you can find or in a liquid form. If you are not opposed to it, and aluminum sulfate to help lower the alkalinity. Water the soil thoroughly and let it drain several times before planting.

Use only southern high bush blueberries in the planting holes and space them according to the directions. Stake the plants securely in the soil the first season of growth. You will need pollenizers so make sure you get the correct blueberries together for good fruit set. Drip irrigation can be used or you can flood the area with water from bubblers.

Cover the planting area with 3 to 4 inches of wood mulch, keeping the mulch away about 6 inches from stems that enter the soil. Grow them for one season and see how they do. If you see signs of leaf scorching on the edges you might to put 30% shade cloth over the top of them to help them a bit from intense sunlight.

Every year you should be adding compost and acidifying the soil with finely ground sulfur or aluminum sulfate plus a good fertilizer and a soil applied iron chelate containing EDDHA. This is done in the spring before you see new growth. This should help get you started.

In the Desert, No Water - No Plants

Q. I live in Arizona and don’t know much about plants and gardening. I do have aspirations to do more. I’m loving your blog and working on reading back posts. I would like to get your recommendations on what kind of tree to plant. I have a rental property where the entrance to the property is plantless and has a small gravel landscape. I’ve included a picture of the property with boxes around where I’d like to do something. There is no water source. I would like to plant a tree or maybe bushes in front to add color and make it more appealing. Since there is no water source it would need to have low water needs. Something without thorns is ideal because there are children. However because kids climb trees maybe thorns are good to prevent them from climbing and stressing the tree. What would you recommend?

A. You will have a rough time without a source of water and it is doomed to fail or look horrible. Plant quality is directly related to the amount of water it receives. Our research has shown even a 25% decrease in water will lead to unacceptable plant quality. In the desert you have to have a source of water for urban plants particularly on a rental property. Once you have water established then let me know where you are and your elevation and I can forward some recommendations.

Wrapping Cactus in Burlap for Winter Protection

Q. I bought 3 cacti about 8 years ago and don't know their variety. Most tall cacti I see around town are very old Saguaros. The biggest one towers over the cactus garden at nearly 12' high growing over a foot per year! Can you identify them? Also the photos show problems that I hope are cosmetic. By the way, I have never wrapped them to protect from the frost and now they are just too big to reach. Do you know how tall this kind of cactus get in Las Vegas?



Cactus with blemishes. Not that it is on older pads
and stems, not the newer ones indicating
that it was probably caused awhile ago

and the newer growth appears to be fine.



A. For identification of cacti I would get hold of the local cactus and succulent society in Las Vegas. I am not a huge fan of wrapping saguaros during the winter. I believe this causes more damage than it does good particularly if we have a wet winter. Note that the discoloration occurs on some older pads and stems while the newer growth doesn't have it. Whatever it was happened at one point in time and is not affecting it anymore.

I’ve seen them wrapped in burlap here and personally believe this is a mistake. One wet winter when they were unwrapped they were covered in surface blemishes, perhaps bacterial necrosis from having wet burlap in continuous contact with the plants surface.

A certain amount of scabbing or blemishes are going to occur and all plants and should not be a problem if the plant is healthy enough to contain them. You might want to consult http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/diseases/az1124  for more information.

Yes Canna Lilies Can Be Dead Headed

Canna Lily 'Tropicana' picture obtained
from

http://www.brighterblooms.com/

 

Q. Dead-heading canna lilies seems to work but results in the stalk getting very high and less stable as the flowers become smaller. At times I'll cut the stalk off at it's base if the leaves start to lose color or get wind-tattered but the plant may get really thinned out especially as winter approaches. Is there a best way to dead-head canna to get maximum flowers?

A. It sounds as if you're doing it correctly. As the individual flowers fade or are spent, twist them off of the flower stalk.  Some flowers will be smaller than others.  Dead-heading flowers doesn't necessarily mean the flowers remaining on the stalk will get a lot bigger.  It does conserve energy for the entire plant so the number of flowers or the relative size will increase overall and help conserve energy for growth and flower production in future years.  You were still going to see a difference in flowers size among the flowers on a single stalk.  As the flower numbers in size and no longer serve you, then remove the entire stock at its base.

By the way, canna lilies very well in our desert climate and add a touch of a tropical feeling to any landscape design.

Watermelons can be thumped, turn yellow and grow pigtails when ripe

Crimson Sweet watermoelon and

Persian melon at the orchard

Q. I have several watermelons on the vine. How am I able to tell when they're ripe? Can you "store them" on the vine? I had one split open by itself and it was mostly white inside. After 50 years I still have trouble buying a commercial watermelon, whenever I think I have found the right characteristics I'm proved wrong.

A. Watermelons do not continue to ripen after they are picked so what is important to pick them at the right time. This is not true of many of the other melons such as muskmelon. Once picked from your garden, you can store many melons at 50-60° F for a couple of weeks. This may not be true of store bought melons.

Basically there are three methods used for determining if a melon is ripe or not. This includes the color of the melon touching the ground, thumping them and drying of the tendrils on the vine close to the fruit. Personally I just use two; the color of the melon touching the ground and thumping. Tendrils are tiny extensions of the vine close to the fruit that look a little bit like a corkscrew or pig’s tale.

The bottom of a watermelon should be turning lemon yellow instead of pale yellow or white on many watermelons. Thumping watermelons can be tricky unless you can learn what the thump is supposed to sound like. It should have a dull, resonating sound that vibrates through the entire melon. It is important to pickup a melon to thump it, not leave it on the ground when thumping. If you’re in a store, pick it up to thump it.