November 2017 – Page 2 – Xtremehorticulture

Mojave Desert Six Pines Available

Q. I want to plant pine trees like I saw at the Hughes Center near Sands and Paradise. They have foliage near the ends of the branches and have a round shape rather than conical or a Christmas tree shape but I don’t know what they are. Elderica or Mondel pine With its Christmas tree like shape A. They might be attractive when they’re small, but most pine trees are large when mature, don’t fit in small to medium-sized landscapes and are not compatible (design-wise) with one to two-story homes. They might be fine for commercial landscapes and parks but not around homes on small residential lots in the desert. Aleppo pine in its youth I think the trees you saw were still relatively young, 20 years or less, planted too close together and not given enough water. This is why they were round in shape with needles only at the ends of the branches. Pine tree availability at nurseries is somewhat limited compared to other parts of the country. I believe the pine tree you saw that interests you is an older Mondel or Afghan pine which becomes rounded as it matures and attains a height of 40+ feet. Aleppo pine at maturity near parking lot Another commonly sold pine here is Aleppo which resembles Mondel pine in its youth. Both trees when younger are pyramidal or Christmas tree-like in shape. Mondel becomes more rounded with age and Aleppo pine becomes “gangly” and informal in shape. Aleppo pine can reach heights of 60 to 70 feet. Japanese black pine with its very distinctive silhouette A third large pine planted here in the 1980s and making a comeback now is Chir or long-needled pine. It is a very graceful, pyramidal pine less tolerant of cold winter temperatures. All three of these large pine trees should not be used in small residential landscapes particularly with single-story homes. Chir pine Which used to be called Pinus longifolia and you can see why because of its long needles. This pine tree fell out of disfavor during extremely cold winter where many of them were severely damaged or outright killed. It’s making a comeback and a beautiful distinctive pine. So-called “smaller pines” may not actually be smaller when mature. Italian stone pine, a pine tree with a rounded shape all through its life, is a slow growing pine that may be acceptable in smaller residential landscapes for a number of years. However, it can reach 50 feet when mature. It can also provide edible pine nuts, the chef’s pignoli. Picture of stone pine Our state tree, single leaf pinion pine, would be a good choice for desert landscapes if you could find it. But it to can be large as well, 50 feet or more, when irrigated and given time. It also produces edible pine nuts. Picture of pinion pine A pine tree popular with landscapers and architects over the years is the very distinctive Japanese black pine. It has been touted to be tolerant of alkaline soil but is a “specimen” pine with a unique shape that makes it popular in “designer landscapes”. However, I have never seen a Japanese black pine perform well here in our climate and soils. You see it used further north in arid states. further north in aired states You don’t find many older ones around town which may speak volumes about how well it is suited for our location.

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Fruit Tree Leaves Okay on the Ground, Fruit Not

Q. We have fruit trees planted in an area we have covered with wood mulch. We always clean up the fallen fruit. Can we leave the fallen leaves on the ground or do they need to be cleaned up? Western Box Elder bug ready to feed on dried apple still hanging on the tree, pecked by a bird. This insect feeds on decaying plant material but if it can get inside an old fruit through a bird peck, it will. A. It is always a good idea to clean up fallen fruit because of pest problems. It is also very important to remove dead fruit from trees after harvesting. I like to see fruit picked up from the orchard floor at least weekly. If you don’t, it can lead to numerous insect and vertebrate pest problems. If you are composting this fruit, either bury it in the compost pile or put it in a sealed containers where pests can’t get to them. This is a picture of the confused sap beetle on the University of California IPM website. Very common pest found in orchards where the old fruit is left on the ground or hanging on the trees. The simple control measure? Pick up fallen fruit from the orchard floor and dispose of it right away. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r261300111.html One common insect problem with nearly all soft fruit when it’s ripe are fruit beetles. They get into decaying fruit on the orchard floor where their populations multiply rapidly. These beetles then infest soft mature fruit hanging on the tree waiting to become “tree ripened” or disposed fruit laying on top of the compost pile. Picture of a pest of old fruit left on the ground or not removed from the trees, the dried fruit beetle. How to get them under control? Sanitation. Pick up fallen fruit and remove old fruit from trees. Fig fruit in particular is a big source of this problem. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r261300111.html If this is a problem with your fruit trees, improve orchard sanitation by picking up fallen fruit and remove old and damaged fruit hanging from the trees. An entry point for dried fruit beetle inside figs is the “eye” or hole at the bottom. Some figs have closed “eyes” and others are open. These rascals like the open ones so they can climb inside and cause havoc. Leaves from most fruit trees are not a problem if left on the ground to decompose. That’s not true however in the vegetable garden and possibly other parts of the landscape. Leaves and stems will decompose much faster if they are chopped or shredded first. If it were me, I would shred leaves and stems and leave them on the orchard floor to decompose but not the fruit.

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Think Twice Before Purchasing Timber Bamboo for a Residence

Leave a Comment / Caring for timber bamboo, Desert climate / xtremehorticulture

Q. A local nursery has timber bamboo available-for-sale. How far from a brick wall should they be? How far apart should they be? Should they go on a planter box? Do I need a barrier for the roots? Timber bamboo at a residence kept under control A. I have giant timber bamboo growing on our family farm in the Philippines. They grow close to a small stream of water bordering our large farm property. In the tropics, they are quite useful for construction. I am less enthusiastic about them for smaller residential properties. I am even less enthusiastic about them for the desert. Put them in parks or large commercial properties where water is cheap. Bamboo is probably the most utilized plant for different construction purposes in the world. It is highly versatile. You need lots of room to grow timber bamboo. Bamboo is in two basic categories; clumping and running. Most of the cold weather bamboo are running which means they spread underground several feet before they pop out. Clumping bamboo has very short underground rhizomes so they pop out very close to the mother plant. Clumping bamboo is preferred for residential properties. Timber bamboo is clumping. But hold on. Timber bamboo is massive and extremely powerful. It will heave walls, driveways, patios easily. They require very large amounts of water that’s why ours grows next to a small stream. Timber bamboo planted in Las Vegas Nevada near the back wall of an apartment property. I took this shot several years ago. It is probably gone because of destruction to the wall and the parking lot. It should not be planted in small spaces. Timber bamboo comes in several species and there are some very cold hardy ones that can easily handle our winter temperatures. That is not what I’m concerned about. I am concerned about how aggressive they are. In the tropics they can grow to seventy or 80 feet tall. In the desert they will be considerably shorter because of the low humidity, high temperatures and lack of available water unless you are flooding them. These plants will become a nuisance in about 3 to 4 years after planting. You will have to stay on top of them and remove suckers and keep the underground rhizomes in check. I would not use them in the desert. If you decide to plant them, I would give at least a 5 foot “no grow” area surrounding them. This means you should remove “suckers” coming from the rhizomes that pop up in this area. That will help to control it spread somewhat. Close-up of the same plant and you can see how it spreading underground by short rhizomes producing “culms” or suckers. I would plant them no closer than 15 feet apart and expect them to grow to 40 feet in height. The clumps will grow larger in diameter over the years. Sometimes called heavenly bamboo, it is not even closely related to bamboo. This is Nandina domestica poorly managed. You will not control them with shallow root barriers. Use root barriers are at least 2 feet deep. Their roots and rhizomes are shallow but a 1 foot deep root barrier will not be enough to keep them contained. Install root barriers after three or four years. An option is to trench around the clump every 2 to 3 years, cut the rhizomes and remove them. Expect to increase your budget for water.If given enough water, they are extremely fast growers.

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Controlling Corky Spot on Pear at a Second Home

Leave a Comment / Brown spot on pear, Calcium deficiency / xtremehorticulture

Q. What if I can’t do 5 consecutive weekly sprays to control brown (corky) spot on pear? My problem Kiefer pear is at a second home and I am not usually there that long at a time. A. Five sprays at least one week apart as the fruit is enlarging is recommended. Get as many applications on as you can, at LEAST a few days apart, as the fruit is enlarging. Use food grade calcium chloride and not deicing salt or salt used in water softeners. You are going to eat this. If you can’t be there when the fruit is enlarging, then it will be a problem. You cannot spray the fruit after it is large or when it is very small and expect to correct the problem. Try substituting calcium fertilizers such as calcium nitrate during your Spring application of fertilizer. You might try applying gypsum to the soil in spring since it also contains calcium. Organic approaches would be to apply organic labeled gypsum, shells, dolomite and marl. These sources of calcium must be very finely ground, like flour, to be effective the same year it’s applied.

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Pahrump Fruit Tree Selection Similar to Kingman and St. George

Leave a Comment / Arizona, cold air drainage, fruit tree selection, Utah, windbreaks / xtremehorticulture

Q. We recently moved to Pahrump. Nevada, What recommendations would you give for fruit bearing plants other than pomegranate and fig? We get some cold nights in Jan and Feb. I posted this climate information from the Internet for Pahrump, Nevada, USA. I was disappointed. The weather can get much colder than this in the winter (down to 10F easily) and hotter in the summer 110F plus. Its saving grace is its elevation which makes it colder than Las Vegas 75 miles away. Plus it does not give much information on the wind which can be brutal during low temperatures and high temperatures. It is on the doorstep to Death Valley. A. For sure apples and pears, most of the plums will be fine. Take a look at the possibility of sweet and tart cherries and apricots. Although your weather might be too dry for a good fruit set. There is an active gardening group in Pahrump with many of the active with Cooperative Extension horticulture there https://www.facebook.com/Pahrump-Master-Gardeners-420253654687416/ Contact them for more specific advice. They have an active Farmers Market during growing times of year https://www.facebook.com/PahrumpFarmersMarket/ You should relate closely to…gardeningwise…. Kingman, Aarizona, and St. George, Utah, as well. Both cities have active gardening groups closely tied to their respective Cooperative Extension offices in Kingman and St. George. Fruit trees that flower earliest should be planted on slopes. Fruit trees that flower later can be planted in the lower elevations. Remember microclimates and cold air drainage can be a game changer. I can make general recommendations for that climate but it varies even more with your local microclimate. There will be colder areas and warmer areas in the valley due to wind and cold air drainage. Cold air is like water…it drains to low spots. Low areas will have late frosts in the spring and early frosts in the fall. In those areas season extenders such as low and high tunnels aka greenhouses without heaters or cooling pads…would be advised. Select fruit trees in these areas that delay their flowering in the spring as much as possible. The area protected on the leeward side of a windbreak can be divided into three sections designated here as A, B and C. The area a closest to the windbreak has wind of modified the most, a short distance equal to about 1 to 2 times the height of the windbreak. Area B is modified but less; up to about five times the height of the windbreak. And the sea is modified even less up to about eight times the height of the windbreak. This is why windbreaks should be planted close to the area needing protection. Consider windbreaks to protect the gardening areas. These windbreaks should be very close to your planted area and NOT planting tall trees along the perimeter of the property as so many people hsve done out there. Its a waste of water. The wind is broken up to a distance of about five to eight times its height. Big trees require more water so planting on the perimeter uses alot of water and you get very little benefit from them. To me it looks like a prison, although prettier than fencing.

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