Xtremehorticulture of the Desert Exceeds 20,000 Hits per Month

I am excited that my blog now consistently exceeds 20,000 hits or visitors each month. My blog is my way of paying back to southern Nevada residents for all their support over the last 30 years in my tenure with the University of Nevada. I have learned alot about horticulture over the years teaching and conducting research in southern Nevada. It is a shame to retire and have that information retire with me.

I hope you can use the information I am providing and, in the process, make you better gardeners and horticulturists.

I have returned from my assignment in Northern Afghanistan and I am excited to share some of what I learned there. I was concerned sharing much at that time due to security issues. Any pictures of individuals who worked with me there must have their faces blurred for obvious security reasons. Please bear with me when I share these experiences. Northern Afghanistan's climate is very similar to southern Nevada and their crops and planting schedules were nearly identical to ours. So stay tuned. More to come.

Saguaro Leaning and How to Correct It

Q. I have a saguaro cactus with three big arms growing from it leaning toward the west. On the east is my house and shading the cactus from the morning sun. I also have been watering on the house side of the saguaro, the up slope side, and letting the water run downhill into the roots.  I water about 3 or 4 times a year and water very slowly.

Do you have any suggestions about either stopping the continued leaning or how to straighten the cactus to upright?  Those two large saguaros have been in my yard for 17 years.

Saguaro leaning due to shade from the house most likely

A. These Sonoran desert monsters are top heavy. The root system of the saguaro is fairly shallow but expansive. This extensive but shallow root system can give this top-heavy cactus quite a bit of support under native desert conditions. But they have been known to blow over in high winds.

These cacti, like most, are opportunists and take shallow water from the soil before it evaporates or taken by neighboring plants. Most of the roots away from the trunk can be found at depths less than 12 inches. Watering deeply around these plants is probably a waste of water.

We put these plants in artificial desert landscapes and put them on drip emitters or run water close to the trunk. This can lead to a very small but dense root system close to the trunk. The roots don’t have to grow far from the trunk for water and so doesn’t help to stabilize the plant as the top gets bigger.

Saguaro normally does not need to be staked when transplanted but here is one method that protects the trunk

Your cactus could be leaning either because of the shade from the house or it might be leaning due to poor root support or both. If it is leaning and there is danger it will fall over then you will have to support it.

In the meantime, we create a more expansive root system by placing enough other desert plants close to this plant so that the irrigations from these other plants can help the saguaro extend its root system further from the trunk.

We could sprinkle irrigate the area around the saguaro, simulating desert rainfall. But sprinkler irrigation can lead to weed invasion in the landscape and weed control problems.

From the pictures you sent, obviously your watering regime has given your saguaro some good growth but it sounds like the water is concentrated close to the trunk. I will post the pictures of your saguaro on my blog for others to see.

Another possibility that could contribute to the leaning is how it was planted. If a hole was dug just large enough for the transplanted roots, and the soil was not conditioned properly, then this will encourage the plant to grow roots close to the trunk as well.

All cacti grow better in amended soils than in straight desert soils or sand. Always amend soils for cacti at planting time.

What can you do now? If the plant is leaning due to the house there is not much you can do. To give it better support put irrigation water at greater distances from the plant and use shallower irrigations.

Like I said, giving saguaro deep watering is not going to help but getting its roots to grow wider might. If the soil is not loosened, it is best to loosen the soil surrounding the plant where you are watering to encourage growth at distances that will support top growth.

Keep the Birds Out of Ornamental Grape Vines by Removing Flower Clusters

Q. I bought a house last December that has two large grape vines growing over a pergola that covers a hot tub. Last summer when the vines were producing grapes, the birds were unbearable. I know I could cover the whole thing to keep the birds out but it would ruin the aesthetic and make access to the hot tub difficult. Is there something I can to keep the beauty of the vine without it producing any grapes?

This is a grape spur that has been pruned for producing good quality grapes. The top stem is reddish brown. At
the base of the reddish growth is greyish-brown. The reddish brown growth will produce grapes because it grew
last year. The greyish brown growth is older and will ot produce grapes. If all the reddish brown growth is removed
from the vine, the vine will not produce any fruit

A. Yes you can. It is a fairly easy solution. In the winter months prune out all the new growth. You can see it because it is a different color than the greyer oldish growth. Grapes only flower on the wood that grew last year.

            Or it should be flowering now or very soon (late March). As you see these flower clusters on the vine, pull them off.

These are unopened flowers of grape. They come around late March to early April in southern Nevada. The come
from the reddish wood produced last year. Either remove all the reddish wood during the winter or early spring or
wait until these flowers come out and remove these clusters. They snap off easily so you could probably knock them
off with a broom if you don't want fruit

When and How to Prune and Fertilize a Cassia

Q. My cassia is full of beautiful yellow blooms. First year this two year old plant has done this. When do I trim it back and how far?  Type of fertilizer will it need?  

The base of cassia has several strong stems coming from the base. Choose one or two of these strong stems and remove
then at the base. Let it regrow from the base to rejuvinate it and let the leaves fill in from top to bottom from the
strong young basal growth.

A. Shrubs or other plants should be pruned soon after they flower. In spring flowering plants the flowers are produced during the late summer and fall months. Some finish maturing in the spring before they flower.

But regardless, if these spring flowering shrubs are winter pruned with a hedge shears it will remove the spring flowers. If shrubs are pruned properly and not pruned with a hedge shears they then can be winter pruned. Hedge shears should be reserved for nonflowering hedges.

Reach down inside the canopy, or from the outside, cut with a sharp and cleaned pruning shears about one inch above the
surface of the soil and make your cut. Pick stems that are the largest or too close together.

Pruning should be done with a few well-placed cuts deep inside the canopy to remove sections of the plant which are crowded, too tall or too wide. Cuts are made where two stems join together, removing the offensive stem.

This results in a general thinning of the shrub removing larger diameter wood. By removing larger diameter wood, this “renews” the shrub and helps keep it young. I hope this helps.

Center of Cassia Bush Died. What to Do?

Q. I have a cassia at the corner of my house to block the street view of my air conditioning unit.  The whole center section visible from the street has died.  I'm beginning to cut out the dead limbs. I check the cuts but am not seeing any green at the bark.  Is there a chance that partially cut back limbs might still produce new growth?  Or should I cut back to the main trunk?  With no center section it looks ugly. Can I hope the living branches will fill in eventually?  Dig it out and replant with a new one?



One of the cassias and what it should look like with proper care as it is getting at the Las Springs Preserve

A. Yes it is possible you had some winter kill but doesn’t sound like winter kill. Winter kill is most common on new growth, such as the tips of branches, if temperatures are just below their tolerance. If temperatures a considerably below their tolerance, then you will see death also in the older, larger diameter wood.



This is what a cassia will look like armed with hedge shears, improper watering and lack of
fertilizer 5 years after planting.

It is odd if it is just damaging the interior wood and leaving other parts of the plant alone. Another possibility is root rot if it is watered too often or the area is flooded. This should be fairly easy to determine by pulling the top of the plant toward you and looking at the base of the plant.

In cases of root rot, trees and shrubs the plant will not be securely anchored in the soil. When you pull on it the base will move around and not be firmly anchored in the soil.

In healthy plants that are not winter damaged you should be able to scrape the soft outer bark with your fingernail and see green beneath it. This is not easy to see in all plants. But at least the inner bark should be cream colored or white.

So I would not cut anything back at this time. If there is winter damage then the killing temperatures already “pruned” it back. If the plant or plant parts are alive they will show you where to cut after new growth emerges. When it emerges, cut a few inches below the dead part of the limb and into the strong growth, just above a bud or at a crotch (where two stems come together).

If you don’t see any new growth by mid-April, then it is dead. Whether to remove it or not is really a subjective call and not one I can direct. It is your call. With an established root system it should grow back very rapidly and will fill in the spots where there is strong sunlight.

Pink Leaves on Purple Plum Probably Iron Problem

Iron chlorosis on purple leaf plum

Q. I have two red leaf plum trees both about two years old. They started the year beautifully. One continues to look normal but the other one has all of a sudden taken a turn that bothers me. The leaves are getting pale, pink instead of red and see through-ish. It is a nice full tree yet young. Is it as simple as not enough water or something else? It had a great year last year.


A. It is most likely iron chlorosis. If you want to see if that is the problem try making a few liquid applications of an iron chelate to some leaves using a spray bottle to see if this turns them dark purple (I am assuming you have a purple leaf plum).

            It may take four or five applications with a spray bottle to the same few leaves a couple of days apart since liquid applications to the leaves are not typically as effective as applying it to the soil. Otherwise buy some iron chelate containing the EDDHA chelate and apply it to the soil in a bucket of water and wash it in around the roots.

            You should see it turn dark purple in growth that comes out AFTER you make the application to the soil. This discoloration is also possible if the tree roots are being kept too wet by watering too often or you have poor drainage.

Asparagus Should Be Cut Below the Soil Surface

Q. I have a raised bed (5 x 10 feet) dedicated to asparagus. The yield has been magnificent. However, the plot has gotten so overgrown with old asparagus stumps that I have had to totally remove and replace all the soil because cultivation was impossible. My question is how long can an asparagus garden last without being so impacted that it must be replaced; or, is there a way to deal with spent stumps annually to prevent this problem.




Purple passion asparagus with some rabbit damage. Rabbits love the
higher sugar content of Purple Passion

A. Asparagus rhizomes are normally planted about 12 inches below the soil surface. If started from seed, the seed is planted in a trench and backfilled as the plants grow so that the developing rhizomes are still at about 12 inches deep. 

Asparagus crown for vegetative propagation. Selecting crowns that
are male will guarantee a male crop. Spears emerge from the top
where the fleshy roots come together

When this is done the spears can be harvested by cutting below the soil surface with a knife so that these "stumps" don't stay on the surface. If you harvest the spears by "snapping" them or breaking them above the soil surface then you will get these woody stumps remaining above the soil surface and they interfere with future harvesting.

So, in short, if you can harvest by slicing with your knife an inch or so below the surface I think this will stop your "stump" problem. The woody part is cut off after harvesting during food preparation. The woody part should compost fairly easily.

Snapping off spears will cause the spear to break just above the woody portion. Nice
for the kitchen but leaves a "stubble" behind in the asparagus bed

Recent research has pointed out that asparagus spears can be harvested anytime the spears are pencil diameter or larger five inches above the soil level. Smaller spears should be left to grow into fernlike growth to replenish the roots for upcoming seasons. The plant is still expanding its root storage system and excessive removal of spears weakens the plants. However, there is a market that has emerged utilizing these very thin spears.

In commercial operations all spears are harvested cleaning the entire bed and spears are allowed to grow to ferns only after the harvest period. An asparagus plant will yield an average of 8 to 12 spears per year before the roots need to be replenished by letting the spears develop into ferns.

Harvest spears by cutting or snapping. To cut a spear, run a knife into the soil at the base of the spear and carefully sever it. Because the spear cuts below the point where fiber develops, it becomes necessary to remove the fibrous base from the tender stalk. Most homeowners and some small scale growers prefer to snap the spears. This eliminates any woody growth on the harvested spears. This does however leave a "stubble" on the surface that can make harvesting more difficult.


To snap a spear, grasp it near the base and bend it toward the ground. The spear breaks at the lowest point where it is free of fiber. Stalk diameter is not a good indicator of proper maturity and associated tenderness. Hydrocooling, or plunging freshly harvested spears into cool, clean water is strongly recommended.

Commercially, asparagus is graded by class (US Number One and US Number Two which are based on straightness and head compactness) and by diameter 5 inches from the tip (see table) according to USDA standards for canning asparagus.

Stems of Beans Devoured at the Base



Beans planted in cool soils can get collar rot or get devoured by cutworms

Q. I found a couple of beans in my garden that have been devoured at the base. Could it be some sort of soil born larva or possibly a virus?  Any ideas would be helpful. I did find one small white worm about a half of a centimeter long near the root about an inch away. 

 

A. It could be a couple of things. First, with cool weather and cool soils it might be collar rot disease that rots the stem at soil level. This will happen if you plant beans too early in cold soils. Some varieties of beans are more susceptible to this than others.

Most likely cutworm damage

            The first indicator is that some plants appear stunted and grow poorly.  I usually end up removing these plants and hope the weather warms up. 

            The other problem can be cutworms.  You should be spraying or dusting the soil surface around these plants with either Dipel or Thuricide, an organic pesticide.  This is the time of year you should be doing that anyway for a variety of pests in the vegetable garden.

Poisonous Plants: Dose Makes the Poison

Q. I have a volunteer gopher plant in my front yard that I nurtured into a bush.  I noticed that something is eating its leaves.  We have a great deal of rabbits in our area. Can it be rabbits?  I thought that the Gopher plant was poisonous even to rabbits.

What does gopher plant look like?

A. I assume we are thinking of the same plant. It is a euphorbia with white latex sap coming from a damaged stem, similar to the white sap you see in poinsettia which is also a euphorbia. We tend to react to poisonous plants with fear but there are degrees of toxicity when we call something poisonous.

            I watched a professor of mine in floriculture on television take a poinsettia leaf and eat it. He didn’t die or even get sick. He was demonstrating that the plant is toxic but it is the “dose that makes the poison”. If he had eaten many leaves the story would be different. Even table salt is poisonous if we eat enough of it.

            So it is possible for an animal to eat “poisonous” plants and survive. I have heard that some livestock will eat gopher plant in the range with no ill effects. They just don’t eat a lot of it and only when browsing is poor. Just like us, animals like to eat things that taste good.

Hybrid Bermudagrass Lawn Needs the Bumps Gone

Q. My hybrid bermudagrass lawn is flat and 30'x40', yet it seems bumpy when I mow. Can I get it as flat and smooth as a putting green? Should I top dress with sand or something else? If so, what and where do I buy the material, and how do I spread it? I do not overseed in the winter, thus it's dormant now.



Hybrid bermudagrass makes a beautiful soil cover but does require
work to keep it like this

 

A. You can do a lot of damage to hybrid Bermuda and it will come back but you should do this when it gets hot, not now. You can level it by taking the high spots out with a straight-nosed shovel, you can fill in low spots with soil (not sand, but something similar to the soil you have now).

Once you get these highs and low spots rectified, then this putting green (if that is what you want to do with it) will never have the same type of ball roll as a putting green because it is not built the same way. The best putting greens are constructed along very specific engineering specifics called the USGA Greens Section constructions specifications.

http://www.usga.org/Content.aspx?id=26124

In golf course terminology you have what is called a "push-up green", one that is made inexpensively from the local soils. These work just fine but will not give you the “feel” of the Augusta National.



Aerator for turfgrass.
Sorry but I dont remember where I got this years ago.
If you aerate lawns in LV, let me know.

Once you have your area level you should then start to aerate, fertilize and topdress your green on a regular basis. Topdressing can be done by hand with a shove with a little practice at "throwing" it.

I would look at sourcing stuff like this from sand and gravel company. Sand is used a lot because it is smaller and won't interfere with ball roll and it is inexpensive. For professionals they would select sand similar to the sand used for constructing it.

If you don't have one, you will need a greens-type mower (usually around $600or so for the inexpensive type or frequently you can find one used from people who have converted to desert landscaping). But this will be a reel-type mower, not the rotary type.

Greens are mowed at about 3/8 inch or thereabouts (bragging rights among superintendents is “how low you can go” with some at ¼ inch). These types of heights mean mowing daily in the summer months. If you let it go and mow it after a week you will not have the same quality. Mowing frequently makes the grass “tight" and helps keep weeds out as well.



Thatch is not just the light brown stuff, its the dark brown peat moss
stuff below it. It is mostly dead stems, not leaf blades

This climate can produce very high quality hybrid bermudagrass. It is similar to Tucson. I would rule out the climate as a problem. If it is flatter than this, then you should fill in the lower spots with soil similar to the soil in the lawn. I would not use pure sand to fill in these low spots.

Bermudagrass will start to have an inferior look if you don’t dethatch the lawn. An advantage of overseeding bermudagrass in the fall is that this process requires dethatching or opening up the turf for better soil and seed contact to improve germination. If the area is small, a hand dethatcher is adequate and gives a great upper body workout.

You would overseed sometime between mid-September and mid-October in our climate. Use high quality perennial ryegrass, not annual rye if you want a high quality winter lawn. Seeding rates are high if you plan on a greens height cut in the winter.


I would use something around 15 pounds of seed per thousand square feet. When you mow close, the grass plants need to be closer together so you have to use a higher seeding rate than it says on the bag.

Aerating is important but if you do not dethatch bermudagrass you will have problems with color, texture and just plain looks of the grass. If you don’t overseed in the fall then you should dethatch it, but earlier so it has a chance to recover and fill in before cold weather hits. I would dethatch any time it is actively growing fast.

Bermudagrass can handle that kind of stress in the heat. Cool season grasses like tall fescue cannot and must be dethatched in the spring or fall; fall is preferable, around mid-September to mid-October. Same time as overseeding (strange how that works).

Legumes Should Be Supplemented with Nitrogen for Optimum Results



One of the bird of the desert bird of paradise, a legume.
Most legumes have characteristic flowers and leaves.

Q. Do nitrogen fixers like trumpet vines and locust trees provide significant nitrogen to nearby plants?  For example the Bermuda lawn surrounding the locust or the iris and daffodils in a flower bed anchored by a trumpet vine.

 

A. No they don’t produce enough for our high expectations in landscapes and gardens. Nitrogen fixers (such as legumes, there are others) supply enough to help make sure they can reproduce and make seed. The objectives (if I can put it in human terms) of plants and humans are different. Plants want to survive, reproduce and out-compete with other plants for their niche. In nitrogen poor soils nitrogen fixers, like legumes, take nitrogen from the air and supplement what they can’t get from the ground. In nitrogen poor soils, legumes are fantastic competitors. In nitrogen rich soils they are not.

Typical legume flower leaf and pod

            The expectations of humans for the plants they care for are far greater than plant objectives. We want beauty and lushness from landscape plants and we want a good production of food from our legume crops.

            The nitrogen needed to meet human expectations is far greater than the nitrogen needed to meet plant objectives. So for this reason, we need to fertilize nitrogen fixing plants with nitrogen to meet our objectives. The basic rule of thumb I use is the question, “So I want my plants to meet what they consider to be adequate (reproduction and beat out the competition) or do I want them to do more than that?”

Snow pea flowers and leaves are good examples of what
many legumes resemble

            Most people want these plants to do far more than successfully reproduce. Some people are purists and they want that “native look” or for philosophical reasons they prefer the plant produce what it can they are happy living in the "nitrogen cycle".  Nothing wrong with that and it meets their expectations. If you want lushness or greater production, then add extra nitrogen.

            The general rule of thumb you can follow is that many nitrogen fixing plants receive only about 25%, at best, of the nitrogen they need to meet our expectations. However you can treat legumes just like any other plant and feed them extra nitrogen. Plants can be lazy. If you give them all this nitrogen, they may produce little to no nodules on the roots (the nodules contain the nitrogen fixing bacteria). Hey, its alot easier to take available nitrogen than it is to build these homes on their roots for these symbiotic bacteria that take nitrogen from the air.

root nodules of legume can resemble root knot nematode infestation

            We are lucky in that nitrogen fixation by legumes is far more efficient in our alkaline soils of the desert than in acid soils of high rainfall areas. So to answer your question with a short winded response, no, they will not produce enough nitrogen for surrounding plants if your landscape expectations are high. If you are a eco-purist, then maybe they will.

Removing Sucker Growth from African Sumac

Q. I have an African Sumac that has sprouts coming up from the roots. Besides trimming them every time they get above the soil level is there anything I can do to stop these sprouts from popping up?

 



Suckers coming from tree rose. These should be removed from
the roots by pulling back the soil and pulling them if they are
young enough. If older they should be cut off below ground.

A. I think I have enough information to answer. If these are naturally occurring “sprouts” and not coming from a damaged area then I would say no. However, usually if you keep these suckers controlled as soon as you see them and remove them at the trunk, not cutting them off with a shears, the number should slow down considerably.

            There are chemicals you can apply that are sprout inhibitors but I don’t think you have access to those chemicals as a consumer and not a professional. Besides, even if you did have access to them they would probably be expensive for you and a real pain to apply it. The best way to reduce the numbers is make a short term commitment to remove them as soon as you see them. Remove them directly from the trunk.

            This may mean you will have to remove some soil from the trunk and cut them as close to the trunk as you can. As you see new sprouts a couple of inches long, immediately pull them from the trunk.

            If you keep this up and do not let them get large before you remove them then I think you will see a reduction in numbers and easier maintenance. I wish there was a magic bullet for you but I doubt it.

Use Plants Resistant to Nematodes

Q. You have covered on one of your post about nematodes. Last fall, I pulled one of my cucumber plants. There were 4 plants in a row. One of the plants definitely had strange roots which I am almost positive were caused by root knot nematodes. I didn't do any solarization because it was cold during the time and I have read that it is best to do it during the hottest months. Are these nematodes harmful to humans and my dog? Will it give me a disease or worm if I touched the soil?

Swelling bumps on roots is root knot nematode infestation

You have covered that the only other way to fix this completely is through fumigation--which I can't really do since I only do organic gardening. Can I at least plant any other vegetables in the same raised bed, or will it cause me any ill effects after I eat the fruit/veggies that it bears? I was also thinking of maybe removing the soil from the raised bed and move them to the big pots where I will be planting citrus plants. Then I will replace the raised bed with new soil. Would this work well or will it just cause problems to my citrus plants? I'd love your input.

 

Root know nematode on tomato

A. Nematodes are very tough to impossible to get rid of if you have them. I should say they are basically impossible to get rid of. Be careful and do not move soil from this spot to other areas or you will move the nematodes as well.

Nematodes only infest plants, not animals so all animals are safe around these guys. Soil solarization will help knock back the populations but not get rid of them.

There are some products like Clandosan (a natural product) which are supposed to help but I would not be too optimistic. Even with fumigation it does not get rid of them buy just knocks them back.

            Use vegetables that are nematode resistant and fruit trees on rootstocks that resist nematodes. On vegetables they will have the designation "N"below the name somewhere. Other letters might also appear like "V" "F" and the like which just stands for resistant to other pest problems like Verticillium (V) and Fusarium (F), two prominent disease problems.

Nematode resistant rootstocks for fruit trees include Nemaguard, Citation, Viking, Atlas, Myrobalan, and Marianna. Hope this helps.

 

Organic Control of Stinkbugs

Q. What is the best way to control Shield Bugs here in Las Vegas?   They were found on my Italian Cypress.   My concern is that they will invade my garden.  The broccoli and cabbage seem to be ok right now but the new garden is going in this week.  

Shield or stink bug. They have a hypodermic-like mouthpart
lying under their abdomen that can pierce fruit or vegetables
and withdraw fluids.

A. These can also be called “stink bugs” because it can release an odor from its abdomen when attacked or threatened. Many of these types of insects will damage fruits and vegetables and they have no really good predators here for them. Even birds will leave them alone because of their “stink”. 

            We will find lots of bugs on our plants. It is really the numbers that count. They are overwintering right now and waiting for a chance to find some food with the new growth and make some babies. I would at this point just hand pick them when you see them and put them in a bottle with vinegar or alcohol.

Stinkbug and apple to give you relative size. The dimples
on the fruit were probably caused by stinkbug feeding

            If you do not need to use a pesticide, I wouldn’t. These guys have wings under that shield and can fly from yard to yard. Pesticides used unnecessarily will also kill other insects, good and bad.

            Also if you just take a spray bottle with soap and water and spray them directly this will also kill them. This is true of all insects, good and bad. The water is made “wetter” or it loses its surface tension and can then invade the tiny spiracles that insects have on their body for taking in air and “breathing”. This causes them to basically drown.

            Soap and water sprays are good to use but must land directly on the insect to “drown” it. It will not leave a poisonous residue behind like pesticides can.

Moving Grapefuit Tree to New Location Means Cutting it Back

Thinning cut removes branch at a crotch
or where two branches come together.

Q. I have two, 3 year old grapefruit trees that I want to move to new area of yard.  How far back should I prune them before the move?

A. The purpose in pruning them would be to reduce the top because you need to destroy part of its established root system to move them. So by cutting the top back, you compensate somewhat for the partial loss of the root system. If you were moving them without destroying much of the roots, you would not need to prune them back.

            However, if you are digging them from the ground and you notice that you have to cut through quite a bit of roots, and larger roots at that, then I would take about one third out of the canopy. I would probably remove some limbs totally that might be a bit too close together.

            The type of cut you make will be important. There are two types: one where you remove a branch at the juncture of two branches leaving only one of the two remaining (thinning cut).



Heading cut is made anywhere along a branch just above a bud.
Heading cuts are not made where two branches come together.

            The second type is where a cut is made somewhere along the branch, NOT at a juncture (heading cut). It is best if you use THINNING CUTS (remove an entire branch or limb) if possible. These are cuts made at the juncture of two branches, leaving only one behind.

            This type of cut results in a general thinning of the branches (fewer branches in the area). The heading cut does not result in fewer branches, just shorter branches.

What Should I Be Doing for My Lawn in March?



Lawn aerator punches holes in your lawn to get air deeper
and helps your lawn improve its drought tolerance.

Q. What should I be doing for my lawn now in March?

 

These are the aeration plugs left behind by a core aerator. They
should be raked up and put in your compost pile.

A. We should be thinking about getting it ready for the heat. Better heat and drought tolerance is achieved with a deeper root system and good nutrition. If you did not aerate your lawn in the fall, then now would be a good time to do that.



            Watch out for your irrigation lines and sprinkler heads. The tines of the aerator can go down four inches. Your irrigation lines may not be that deep in some places. Aerating the lawn will allow air to travel into the soil deeper and help the grass to develop a deeper root system. Deep rooting is the magic behind good drought tolerance.

Aeration helps your lawn get a deeper root system.

            Good nutrition is key to good heat tolerance. Use a good quality lawn fertilizer at least once during the year. The best time to spend that kind of money is before the heat comes. Buy a trade name lawn fertilizer that has a history with lawns. Scotts comes to mind. There are others as well.

Scarring of Nectarine from Thrips Can Be Prevented

Nectarine damage from thrips. Picture from another reader,
not this one.

Q. I have an Arctic Star nectarine but the fruit really looks awful each year. How do I make the fruit look better and is this fruit safe to eat?

A. This particular nectarine is one of my favorite fruits to grow in Las Vegas and it is also one of the more difficult to grow as well. The difficulty is just what you are experiencing. The fruit becomes scarred because of the Western flower thrip.

            But let me say something about the quality of this fruit first. When I first tasted this fruit I was blown away. The flavor profiles are absolutely remarkable when it is grown here in the desert. My best description would be “perfumey”. Now I am not a “perfumey” kind of guy but it has this floral overtone that sets it apart.

Arctic Star nectarine growing at the Orchard. Sprays were
applied to control the scarring from thrips.

             It is a white-fleshed nectarine. Typical, like many white fleshed peaches, I would describe the taste having some almond in the background, very sweet and with these floral (I would call them rose) backgrounds.



            Nectarine is a hairless peach. It was discovered in a peach orchard as a “sport” (mutation) growing on a peach tree. This branch with the hairless peach was propagated by cuttings and then used as budwood to make more nectarines.

            The hair on a peach that some people object to actually adds some protection from insects for the fruit. Tiny insects, like the Western flower thrips, are so small (long and narrow measuring about 1/32 of an inch long) that they have a hard time battling their way down to the skin of a hairy peach.

Scarring from thrips starts at a very early time
in fruit development. Spraying should begin
immediately after flower petal fall.

            However, once that hair is no longer there this insect has no problem getting to the skin of the fruit. Once at the skin, this thrip uses its modified mouthpart to rip and shred at the skin surface and lap up the juice from the fruit much like a dog.



            This tearing and shredding of the fruit skin leaves scarring on the fruit surface as it grows. This scarring is what you are seeing. I have watched thrips start their feeding inside the flowers of peach and nectarine, feeding on the ovary of the flower. As the ovary becomes pollinated and the fruit develops, the hair on the peach keeps the thrip at bay.

 

            However, the hairless peach, the nectarine, does not have this protection and the thrip continues feeding up to harvest. This can cause tremendous scarring of the fruit and it looks so awful no one wants to eat it. It is, however, perfectly safe to eat.

            Control of the thrip on nectarine requires a spray program on nectarines but not on peach. Sprays used in rotation include insecticidal soaps, neem oil and spinosad. I will talk more about control and give some pictures in my blog. Start your spray schedule right after the petals fall from the flowers. Do not spray flowers in bloom...ever. Follow label directions on your sprays. Obey the re-entry period that the label states even though the sprays I mentioned are "organic". However, the most effective spray in the group is the spinosad. Spray the fruit to protect it. Add a wetting agent to the spray to get better fruit coverage.

Amazing CanadaGreen Grass Not So Amazing for Las Vegas

Q. Do you know anything about a grass seed called CanadaGreen I saw for sale in a magazine? It says it sprouts and covers the area in ten days and can survive from 120F to 40 below zero. Is it any better than our local selections available at stores here?

 

 

A. I did a little bit of background check on this grass. You can say anything about anything you want when you are marketing but if they don’t tell you what kind of grass is in the bag then you have no way of knowing if it will work in Las Vegas.

            So, not knowing the grass, I did find a review by someone who bought some seed and quoted what was in the bag. State seed laws require that you must state the percentages of grasses on the label of a product, its germination percentage, percent weed seed, etc. However, an advertisement doesn’t have to.

            This seed is nothing special. It contains 53.2 % creeping red fescue, 23.4 % annual ryegrass, 14.1% perennial ryegrass and 4.4 % Kentucky bluegrass. The reason it comes up fast is primarily the annual ryegrass. You can find the same mix of grass seed, called Shade Mix or something about shade, at your local hardware or grocery store.

            Annual ryegrass is considered a “nurse grass” by some because it comes up quickly and provides some protection for the slower germinating grasses. Many people consider it a weed. It is an inexpensive grass, used by blow and go guys in Las Vegas for overseeding bermudagrass for winter color.

            It is an annual grass and does not handle heat very well and, when used for winter overseeding, dies in early summer when temperatures hit 100+F. Besides that, it is really not very pretty at all. It is light green, never gets dark green and looks rough when you mow it.

            Creeping red fescue will not survive Las Vegas summers. It is considered a shade grass and will die the same time as the annual ryegrass does. Does great in Western Oregon!

            The third is perennial ryegrass and it might survive the summers in Las Vegas depending on the variety of perennial rye. Some are heat tolerant (Palmer and Prelude for instance) while others are not (Manhattan and Pennfine for instance). If it is not a heat tolerant perennial rye, it will die when it gets hot. If it is a heat tolerant rye, then you have a 14% winner!

            Kentucky bluegrass is very slow to germinate and can take about a month to sprout. A good grass for northern climates but is questionable in the hot south like us.

            Don’t waste your money. You can find plenty of grass seed locally that won’t work here. At least if you buy it locally, and it dies, you will support local purveyors.

These reviews are from Amazon.com, purchasers of CanadaGreen grass seed.

The Truth About Canada Green Grass Seed, March 11, 2011

Joe Mama "Jim Bob" (USA)

I recently purchased this item thinking it was a special type of seed.
This is a regular shade type grass seed mixture.
It contains:
53.2 % Creeping red fescue
23.4 % Annual Rye grass
14.1 Perennial Rye grass
4.4 % Kentucky Bluegrass
These numbers were on the bag as required.
This is close to the same ingredients in most shade mixtures you can buy at any hardware store. I recently saw a shade mixture with almost identical amounts of these seeds for about $3.00 a pound at my local hardware store. Also the commercials and ads says you can just spread it by hand but the bag tells you to till the soil to a depth of 2" , rake it in and then use a roller. Not as easy as it seems in their ads.
I wish these important mixture percentages were listed before I purchased mine from Amazon. Hopefully it helps you in your buying decision.

S. Marsh (Dover NH)

We planted the seeds from the directions, watered daily had beautiful sunshine everyday & not 1 sprout of grass to be seen even 2 weeks later. Have contacted the company several times & have had no success in getting an aknowledgement or a response...they said they guarantee that you will have a full lawn in 10 days - well not from this product !

Shay0124 (Houston, Texas)

This grass did grow quickly. I saw growth within a week - soft and pretty. However, it cannot take the Texas heat and promptly died within three weeks despite proper watering. This product may do very well in other parts of the country that do not consistently have temps over 90 degrees for many months.

M. A Eggleton

After 25 days since we sowed the Canada Green seed according to their
directions we have had ZERO (0) germination indicating bad seed. We contacted
the supplier on three occassions asking that "good" replacement seed be
sent so that we could meet the fall seeding period. We were told by the supplier
"We do not replace seed"

Philip C. Thompson

This grass seed must be mostly a type of annual grass. I planted this grass in three different places. It came up quickly, and I was pleased, but now, the following Spring, the areas are now bare dirt. In other areas of the yard I planted 5-way Tall fesue from Rural King. Those areas are thriving and nice and green.

The grass seed is a big waste of money, I had to go back and replant all the areas that I originally planted with Canada Green Grass Lawn Seed.

This stuff stinks, so don't be a sucker and buy Canada Green Grass Lawn Seed.

Brandon Sterne (Concrete, WA)

I ordered 5 bags and spread it all in newly tilled ground. I watered regularly and still not one single blade of grass has grown. Perhaps it grows in Canada but not Washington State!! Would not waste my money again.

Brian K. Credille

I bought Canada Green Grass through Amazon last fall (2006). Prior to overseeding with it in my front yard, I core aerated and dethatched and then put the seed down heavily. I covered it with straw and it came up great with a few bare patches left before winter came.

This spring, I am amazed! It is growing into an incredibly thick and beautiful turf! It looks wonderful! I have done this process before with other seed mixtures, but never with this kind of result. The only question mark is how it will do once we have our very hot and very dry spell here in Missouri this summer. But the thickness and density of the turf is what has amazed me the most.

C. Lewis "LWC" (South Carolina)

This review is from: Canada Green Grass Seed (Sports)

Canda Green performance was less than adequate - poor germination rate and as a result a sparsely covered lawn area. I planted seed purchased from a local store in an adjoining area for comparison - there was little difference if any.

North Californian (Santa Rosa)

I'm lazy - so I just lightly raked up the dead grass in the bare spots, then tossed the grass seed on the mostly bare patches of ground, covering them well, then got a 40 lb bag of potting soil and lightly tossed a thin layer on top to hide the seed from the birds and to hold moisture. Then set the sprinklers to run daily for 2 minutes a shot at 5 AM, noon & 4 PM to keep the area damp.

In a week the seed sprouted and I've now cut it for the first time and it's really filled & blended in well.

Prep is important, and I didn't really expect this simple technique to work, but it did. Super easy & quick.

I sowed the seed within a few days after it arrived so it was fresh & kept it out of the light. It was fall in North California, so not hot and not cold. The area is fairly shaded by trees also.

Ryan Nelson

This review is from: Canada Green Grass Seed (Sports)

seams to be growing well so far, Just needed plenty of water and it took a week and a half for the first sprouts to show up, just do reserch to make sure it will grow in your location.

 

 

Spur or Cane Prune My Grapes?

Q. Every year my grapes on my Thompson seedless grape vine are small, about the size of a large pea. The taste is wonderful but I would like to get the berries larger. I understand that grape growers use a chemical to make them larger but I would rather not use chemicals if I don’t have to.

A. Getting better berry size on grapes means you have to reduce the number of total berries on the vine. The berries are small because there are too many berries for the size of the plant.

Grape bunches are triangular in shape.  To get larger berries in a bunch,
remove some of the berries from each bunch. This way each berry gets
more of everything from the vine and get larger. To remove berries, you
can pinch the bottom third off of the bunch when the berries are very small..
the size of a BB. This tends to make the bunch round when it is harvested
rather than triangular. Did you ever seed round bunches of grapes in the store?
This is why.

            The first step is to reduce the total number of grape clusters on the vine. Grape clusters are produced on last year’s growth. If you look at your vine, you will see that last year’s growth will be a lighter brown, or sometimes a reddish brown, compared to older growth.

            Once last year’s growth has been identified, then it must be cut back to reduce the total number of bunches the vine has to produce. If the grape is trellised, it is much easier to see where to cut. If the grape is left sprawling, then it is more difficult.

On a trellised vine, we normally want last year’s growth about 12 inches apart. If you haven’t finished your grape pruning, you still have time. You should be finished before you see new leaves emerge.

            There are two ways of pruning grapes; spur pruning and cane pruning. Spurs are created by cutting back last year’s growth so that only one or two buds remain. This means last year’s growth is reduced to an inch or less in length.

This is a grape spur. This spur had two buds. You can see the growth from
the buds. This will produce two or more bunches of grapes. If you are really
daring you can prune to leave only one bud and shorten the spur even more.

This type of pruning, spur pruning, is done to most grapes. However, if you spur prune a Thompson seedless grapevine, it is very possible you may lose most of your fruit. This is because the first ten buds or so on last year’s growth will not produce grape bunches. They are fruitless. In Thompson seedless, spur pruning cuts off buds that produce grape bunches.

Thompson seedless, along with Black Monukka, should be cane pruned, not spur pruned. Canes are just extra-long spurs. Where spurs are pruned so that only an inch or less of new growth remains (one to two buds), canes are pruned long enough so that you have ten to twelve buds remaining on this super long spur.

This “extra long spur” is no longer called a spur anymore. It is now called a “cane” due to its length. Once the grape plant begins to flower in the next couple of weeks, you must then reduce the total number of grape bunches. This is called “balancing the fruit load”. Balancing the fruit load really means reducing the total number of grape berries so that the leaves can produce enough sugar and energy to make the berries that remain, larger.

The number of berries are reduced primarily by two methods; reducing the total number of grape bunches and reducing the size of the bunches. When the berries are very small, the size of a BB, bunches are removed so that the remaining bunches are large and spaced about ten or 12 inches apart.