Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

I have had many complaints about using plants like Japanese blueberry, Carolina cherry laurel, or Bay Laurel for a privacy hedge. I decided ...

 Not all cacti are the same. Remember that. Just because its a cactus, or looks like a cactus, does not mean they can go out in very hot loc...

Probably the two varieties I would chose for almond production in backyards are 'Garden Prince' and 'All-in-One' .  Almonds...

Q. I have a 10 yr. old ‘All-in-One’ almond tree that is healthy and produces an abundance of nuts.  Most of the nuts are not edible because ...

Q. I have a clump of silver torch cactus about 7 years old and some of the columns appear to be shrinking in diameter. It appears to me that...

Q. I have several bottle trees, now over 7 feet tall, damaged by two windstorms close together. After the windstorms, the branches were sagg...

Q. Something has been eating my almonds! I heard it was ground squirrels or rats. I've never seen either in my yard or neighborhood in t...

Q. What causes cantaloupe melons to split before they slip the vine? Melons splitting as they are ripening A. Like any fruit, when the mel...

Q. Why are the leaves of my fruit trees cupping or rolling? Leaf roll or cupping on pepper plant even though its mulched A. Fruit tree lea...

Q. I am wildlife biologist and a gardener. You should retract your statement about poisoning ground squirrels as the poisoned bodies will ap...

Q. The new growth on my bottletree I bought in 2018 is dying (crusty), starting a month or so ago. After talking to the local nursery, I inc...

Q. I am growing Bababerries. What small berries do you recommend for our Mojave Desert climate? 'Rosborough' and 'Womack' bl...

Q. What is the range of N-P-K value in cow manure that I see some landscapers use for grass? Manure can be a valuable source of many differe...

Q. Why do my pomegranate trees have large branches lying on the ground? Young pomegranates sucker from the base every year when they are you...

Q. What causes cantaloupe melons to split before they slip the vine? Melons splitting can be from several things but usually applying a surf...

Q. Why are the leaves of my fruit trees cupping? Leaf roll of tomato ('Early Girl' variety, I think) during summer heat but the leav...

Q. I am wildlife biologist and a gardener. You should retract your statement about poisoning ground squirrels as the poisoned bodies will ap...

Let me talk about sago palm (cycad; Cycas revoluta ) and growing them in the desert or in desert landscapes. We should be aware that they a...