Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Rosemary Not Flowering

Leave a Comment / rosemary not flowering /

Q. I have an upright rosemary about four feet tall. It was sheared once on the top and the sides. It has never bloomed. Is there such a variety that never blooms or am I doing something wrong with this plant? A. I have never heard of one not blooming. Most reasons plants do not bloom are planting them into low light levels (shade) or shearing them just prior to bloom. Normal bloom periods are spring and fall but in warm areas they might bloom all season long. Rosemary is a prolific bloomer in the spring and fall if it receives enough light Pruned during the summer months if you want the blooms. Pruning in the spring or fall cuts off the flowers. Make sure it receives plenty of sun and do not plant in the shade. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers but use fertilizers recommended for other flowering plants such as roses.

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Prune Rosemary Now If It’s a Bush

Leave a Comment / Pruning rosemary /

Q.  When is the best time to prune a rosemary bush? Our rosemary bush has grown too large.  I would like to reduce it to about one-half of its current size. Also any suggestions about how I should prune it would be greatly appreciated. A. If you are pruning it once a year, now is a good time. If you are pruning it as a hedge or you have to keep it under some sort of size control, then prune it once a month. If you are pruning it to use it for herbs, cut it back now, let it regrow and harvest the new, succulent growth before it flowers. You have a few alternatives. One method cut it to the ground and let it regrow from one or 2 inch long stems. Prune it now or just before new growth begins. Another method requires more care.Trace the longest branch of the shrub inside the plant and remove it where it joins a main branch. Leave no stub. Select two or three other long ones to the inside and make the same kind of cuts. Do this every couple of years when it starts to get too large. Your third alternative is to replace the plant with something that doesn’t get so large.  After pruning, fertilize it as you would normally to encourage new growth. One fertilizer application a year is all that is needed unless you are growing it as an herb that requires frequent harvesting. If you are harvesting frequently, fertilize lightly every 6 to 8 weeks with a balanced fertilizer containing nitrogen and phosphorus. Or apply your favorite compost to the base of the plant and you’ll get more spectacular results.

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Overgrown Privet Is a Goner

Leave a Comment / Japanese privet, Pruning privet, Texas privet, wax leaf privet /

Q. I have a neglected privet that has overgrown its space. When and how far back should I prune it and keep its shape? My neighbor cut one back several years ago and it never came back at all.  Thanks. A. I may have some bad news for you. I looked at the picture and I am guessing most of the leafy growth is out towards the edges of the plant and on the inside will be bare branches.  If your pruning cuts are made back to the inside of this plant where there is no leafy growth, re-growth from these cuts will be either slow or they won’t regrow. Regardless, this plant is going to look bad for a long time after these pruning cuts are made.  This is really a case where you have a plant that was just too largeat maturity placed in a spot that was just too small.  Really your best alternative will be to replace it if you want to look nice. It is possible to make some deep cuts and it may regrow but these cuts will have to be done just to the outside of some buds and done very carefully

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Dog Urine and Lawn Problem? Follow me and find out.

Leave a Comment / how to stop damage from dog urine /

I had a question submitted to me regarding dog urine on a lawn and how to stop the damage. It can be found here…. (mouse right click on the link below to read it) https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2016/01/follow-your-dog-with-bucket-of-water.html?showComment=1453057549113#c1132371346234404759 I recommended following the dog with a bucket of water. I received an email about a product called Dog Rocks…. You can follow the emails in the comments at the bottom of this post. http://dogrocks.org/ (mouse right click on this link to learn about it) I was contacted by the CEO Dog Rocks USA LLC & Dog Rocks UK Distribution Ltd and she agree to supply it if we would try it. I contacted the person with the question to me and he agreed to try it provided it was supplied by the manufacturer. I agreed to post the results…positive or negative…after trying it. The CEO is following up on this trial and I will be in the loop. Follow me and find out the results later in the summer of 2016.

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Oleander Does Not Need Iron Fertilizer after Pruning

Leave a Comment / Dwarf oleander, iron chlorosis and oleander, red oleander /

Q. You mentioned pruning oleanders about a month ago. Should they be pruned in January or February? Do they need iron? My dwarf oleander does not bloom as good as my white oleander. What can I do to help them bloom better? A. It is best to prune oleanders during the winter months because they produce flowers on new growth. Avoid pruning them in the spring after new growth has started or you will cut off all the potential flowers. Oleander can be pruned close to the ground using a technique called rejuvenation pruning. This does not work well on all shrubs, just those that sucker easily from the base. I’ve told people to cut oleanders to the ground, a method called rejuvenation pruning, and they will come back very nicely with some applied fertilizer and water. You can’t do this to all shrubs but oleanders respond nicely. Shrubs that tend to sucker from the base respond well to this type of pruning. Dwarf red oleander doing well in rock mulch in Las Vegas How late in the winter to prune, December, January or February, depends on how long you want to look at short stubs sticking out of the ground. If looking at stubs is objectionable, then delay this type of pruning as late as possible but before new growth begins. On oleander this is usually early February. Oleander seldom needs iron so you should never have to apply iron fertilizer to this plant. Some varieties of oleander don’t grow as well as others here. Some oleanders are more sensitive to freezing temperatures than others. Some oleanders don’t tolerate desert soils as well as others. Soil improvement might be needed by this oleander. Prune the red oleander to the ground in early February. Then, apply two, 5 gallon buckets of compost around the base of the plant followed by a three or 4-inch layer of wood chips on top of the compost. Finally soak the soil around the plant with water. Do all of this in February. A great website to visit to learn more about oleanders is the International Oleander Society

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Containers for Fruit Trees Need to Be Appropriately Sized

1 Comment / Container fruit trees, how large of the container, pots, relocating fruit trees, repotting /

Q. I have two dwarf trees, a nectarine and a peach. I would like to move them from in-ground into containers. What would you recommend the minimum size container to use?  The nectarine is about 4′ tall and 5′ wide. The peach is about 3′ tall and 3′ wide. Fruit tree to be moved from the ground into a container A. Use a container about the size of a half wine barrel for these trees. Do it any time until new growth starts, approximately the first week of February in our climate. Use a sharp shovel. People don’t normally sharpen shovels but it’s a good practice to get into. You can sharpen it with a file or a bench grinder. Cut through the roots in one push rather than whacking on them with a dull shovel. Cut entirely around the outside of the tree about 6 to 10 inches smaller than the inside diameter of the container. After making the cuts in the soil all around the outside, use a pick or mattock to cut a narrow trench just to the outside of these cuts to a depth of about 12 to 15 inches. Use your shovel for leverage and gently lift the root ball from several different directions to loosen it. 24 inch nursery box used as a container for dwarf fruit tree. A box like this may last several years before it needs to be replaced and the tree repotted Once the root ball begins to move, use your loppers to cut any roots that might be holding the plant in the soil. At this point, you should be able to lift the tree out of the hole with most of the soil remaining around the roots. Fill the bottom of the container with soil amended 50/50 with compost so that the root ball rests 3 to 4 inches below the “lip” of the container. Place more amended soil around the root ball inside the container and water it in. Prune the top of the plant by removing about 1/4 to 1/3 of the canopy to compensate for the loss of roots. The compost should give you enough fertilizer for the first growing season.

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Many Ornamental Grasses Can Be Pruned Now

Leave a Comment / Pruning ornamental grasses /

Q. When is the right time of year to trim grasses? Some ornamental grasses are quite attractive during the winter and may be cut back just before new growth in the early spring A. Most ornamental grasses are cut to within a couple of inches of the soil surface just before new growth in February. With some grasses this is done every year and other grasses it may be every 3 to 4 years. Many ornamental grasses can be pruned close to the ground since new growth comes from culms at the base. Smaller grasses can be cut closer to the ground. Larger grasses should be cut higher from the ground. Dead growth in the center may indicate the plant needs to be divided.             Remove any dead growth remaining with a rake. Fertilize the plant with a high nitrogen fertilizer, or a bag of compost, and a deep watering. They should regrow from the pruned, remaining culms at the base. Ornamental grasses need to be divided, or split apart, when the clump gets too large. It’s too large if the center begins to die out or flowering severely reduced. The plant is dug from the ground, the clump cut apart, cleaned up one of the smaller divisions replanted.

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Follow Your Dog with a Bucket of Water

8 Comments / Dog urine damage /

Q. I have two large dogs that use my backyard as their bathroom. They cause yellow spots that turn completely bare and kill the grass. Are there any grasses resistant to animal urine? Dog urine damage to a lawn is usually surrounded with grass which is darker green and taller because of the diluted urea fertilizer contained in urine A. There are no lawn grasses totally resistant to dog urine. The high concentration of “salts” in the urine is causing the damage. These salts are actually “fertilizer” salts, not bad salts such as table salt. There is just too much of it. The salts are so concentrated that the grass is burned or killed in a 6 to 8-inch spot. If you look closely at “dog damage” to a lawn, it looks very different from brown spots caused by diseases or insects. Insect and disease damage does not cause the grass to become dark green or grow faster around the edge of the damage. Dog urine does! Salts from the urine become diluted in the soil further from the “point of impact”. Once diluted enough, salts from the urine act as a fertilizer and turn the grass dark green and push new growth. The key to decreasing urine damage is the same as too much applied fertilizer. Dilution. Drenching the spot with water and diluting the salts is the simplest way to decrease damage to the lawn. I know this might be a hassle and look a little odd to your neighbors but if you follow the dog around with a bucket of water and dump it on the urine spot immediately after it is done, you have a good chance of reducing or preventing damage. Now, if you could just train your dogs to do it evenly over the lawn and turn on the sprinklers.

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Wormy Apples Pest Problems Vary with Regions

1 Comment / codling moth, pheremone traps /

Q. I have a Fuji semi-dwarf apple tree that is about 23 yrs old in Kingman, AZ. The last few years I’ve had a terrible problem with worms in the apples. I clean up all the leaves after they fall and remove any apples that don’t fall. I  I spray dormant oil right before the flowers buds emerge or sooner and spray all around the area including on the grape vines nearby. I have wood chip mulch about an 8 foot diameter around the trunk. I’ve even sprayed Neem oil once when the apples are about the size of marbles but to no avail. Now I’m wondering whether I should remove the wood chip mulch as this seems to be the only thing left to try other than continual spraying or trying stronger chemical type sprays which I’d rather not do. What do you recommend? A. Most likely this is codling moth and they attack the fruit several times during the year. Codling moth is an international pest of apples and pears. Their emergence coincides with rising temperatures and if you do not get control of the first flight they can multiply rapidly and each new generation can bet worse.  Codling moth on immature pear fruit in Afghanistan Codling moth damage on apple in North Las Vegas, NV I am getting ready to begin writing up how to use pheromone traps for eliminating codling moth, rather than pesticides, in backyard and small scale operations if codling moth is not a huge problem in the area. I may also offer some classes on how to use them. I have been trapping insect pests like these with sticky cards and traps for years. They can be a very powerful tool for insect management. If codling moth is a huge problem in your area, this might not work for you but it is worth a try. Stay posted and follow me on my blog for more information.

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