Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Majestic Beauty Hawthorne a Good Choice But Use Wood Mulch

Leave a Comment / Bay laurel, indian hawthorne /

Q. On the north side of our house we have a 10-foot wide space we are trying to landscape. Several have suggested planting bay laurel trees but we are concerned about the tree’s size for the space. When we went to the nursery their suggestion was the Majestic Beauty hawthorn tree. Will the Hawthorn tree do well in our climate and soils? A. Yes, the Majestic Beauty Indian hawthorne is fine and could work for you. Probably a better choice than the California bay laurel. Bay laurel struggles in our climate unless they are protected from late afternoon sun. Northern exposures can sometimes get hammered by the late afternoon sun.             Both plants do better with wood mulch rather than rock mulch. Use lots of compost mixed into the planting soil at planting time.             Keep wood mulch a foot from the trunk the first three or four years after planting. Use at least four inches of mulch and it should cover a distance of at least 6 feet in diameter under the tree. More information on Majestic Beauty 

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Wild Mustard is Free and Available For Your Salads All Over Town

Leave a Comment / is it safe to eat, what does it look like, when to pick, wild mustard /

Mustards are all over town right now and they appear like weeds. But what you may not know is that they are at their peak of flavor right now, particularly the younger, smaller leaves toward the center. This is the “wild” version of collard greens. They They can be harvested along walls, in empty lots, your own yard just about everywhere. They are what we call “winter annuals”. They seed of winter annuals like wild mustard germinates in the fall and puts down a “rosette” of leaves before winter cold sets in. That is the rosette you see below. As soon as we see some warm spring weather they shoot up a central spike with their small, yellow flowers. The flowers form a seed capsule which drops the seed on to the soil and which will germinate during the early fall months into the rosette and the cycle starts all over again. These “weeds” can be used to spice up your salad mix just like other greens you might use. Start harvesting in late December but get the leaves picked before it gets hot. Smaller leaves are more tender. Make sure you wash them. They will keep in the refrigerator for several days, just like lettuce and spinach would. As the air temperatures get hotter the leaves will become thicker and more leathery and the “spiciness” will increase. They will die out as the summer heat approaches and after they send out their seed stalk with small yellow flowers.

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Can I Use Compost With Worms in It?

5 Comments / armyworm, compost, cutworm, damage, decomposers, Miller moth, pupae /

Q. I have been collecting vegetables scraps for the last 6 months for composting but did not have a cover on my bin.  I have found the compost loaded with this bug or worm.  Can I use this compost? There are too many to pick out.  I’m afraid if put in soil they will kill plants but my compost is really good!! A. This is pretty common in compost. This question is one of the most common questions asked about composting on my blog.             Many of these types of insects feed on decaying foods and composts that are not quite finished composting. Once the compost is finished they are seldom a problem.             I don’t know how much compost you are talking about but if it is possible to layer out the compost the birds will come in and gobble them up.             You can cook them in the sun and they will decompose in your compost. To do it correctly the compost must be “fluffy” or loose enough to allow the heat to spread through it evenly.             Spread the compost in a layer several inches thick. It should be slightly moist but not wet. Cover it with a clear plastic drop cloth and hold it in place with some nails or staples. The edges of the plastic must be sealed so no heat escapes.             Hold it in place with some rocks, blocks or bricks so it does not blow away. Leave it in direct sunlight for about two weeks. The temperature will get hot enough to kill most of the insects. Maybe pupa of cutworm or armyworm? Pupa is the transitional stage between larva or worm and the adult. In these cases moths. The adults are moths that you will see flying around your porch light at night. As a kid we used to call them “Miller moths”. Kind of dusty, maybe an inch across. They used to fly right into the light and sometimes get “fried”. When you see these moths, the eggs they laid will hatch in a few days and it is time to put down some Bt sprays or dusts on your vegetable garden.

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Dark Brown or Black Shells on Oleander May Be Scale Insects

2 Comments / ants, brown apricot scale, control, insecticide, lecanium scale, oleander sticky, scale, sugar /

Q. I have a serious infestation of hard shelled black insects on my oleanders. I have a tree-like hedge of oleanders on both sides of my home. One of the oleanders is heavily infested but the problem is spreading rapidly to all the others. When I discovered the problem this weekend the oleander was black with thick black shelled insects about the size of an apple seed with sticky honeydew dripping down the trunk and stems. My neighbor thought they were black aphids so I power sprayed the oleanders with water and used a soapy water rinse. Unfortunately, the bugs seem to be adhered and need to be picked off. They are not on the leaves but are on the stems and trunks and climb higher than I can reach. I am attaching photos and would appreciate any advice you can give me. Will the 100o+ weather kill them? I removed the most heavily infested branches but that barely made a dent in the insect population so I wonder if I have to remove the whole oleander tree. A. This is one of the many scale insects. Scale insects are not terribly common in southern Nevada. They are difficult to control because the insect is living under a protective “shell” it created.             Because the insect does not move around once it creates its “shell” they don’t attract attention. Frequently they come to our attention because of the sticky sap they excrete is shiny and attracts ants.             Oftentimes the question becomes how can I control ants, not realizing the ants are there because of other insects like scale and aphids. The ants can move the scale insects around so it is best to control them as well.             If you don’t have very many of them you can treat each scale with alcohol and a cotton swab. But usually there are too many.             The usual recommendations for controlling scale insects is to either spray a horticultural oil on top of them in early spring to suffocate them or use a conventional insecticidal spray. a conventional insecticide when the insect is no longer protected by its hard outer covering, the scale itself. Never spray an oil when a plant is in bloom. Usually two winter or early spring applications are called for. One of the many horticultural oils for suffocating insects. Particularly good on soft-bodied insects like aphids, mites and the like but they will also kill beneficial insects so use it where and when it is needed and not indiscriminately. These insects are not hard to kill when they are not under those shells. The females release young scale insects without the scale (called crawlers) around May. It is at this time the insects are most vulnerable. It is also the time when it starts getting hot and the spraying oils in the heat is not recommended. I have done it very early in the morning with no problems to the trees but you must do it early in the morning. When in doubt, spray a small area of the plant first and wait 48 hours to see if the plant reacts negatively to it. If it doesn’t, go ahead and spray in the summer as well but do it in the cool morning hours right after sunrise.

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Clover-Looking Weed with Yellow Flowers is Very Difficult to Control

Leave a Comment / herbicides, iris, Las Vegas, lawn, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, oxalis, shrubs, weed control /

Q. I have oxalis clover look-alike as a weed. How can I control it? I am ready to use chemicals at this point having tried to rid it by digging and pulling with no success. Having it in my grass is bad enough but now that it is in my iris beds I want to kill the dang stuff! Oxalis looks like clover but has yellow flowers that resemble a daisy with only five petals. A. Oxalis is very difficult to kill. It may require repeat applications but one of the keys is to try to kill it when it is “happy” and is ready to grow and multiply. This is usually spring and fall. Go to your favorite nursery or garden center (you may have to look at several such as Lowes, Home Depot, Star and Plant World). Go to their weed killer section. Look at the active ingredients. Look for the following in the active ingredients list. The important chemicals to find on the label are either Dimethylamine salt of dicamba: 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid (it may be just called dicamba or Banvel) somewhere on the label. The alternative would be an ingredient called triclopyr, (chemically called 3,5,6-Trichloro-2-pyridinyloxyacetic acid) These chemicals are usually combined with other weed killers for better synergism (efficacy or improved performance). In cases of herbicide synergism 1+1 = 3 times more effective. So you may see 2.4-D listed as the first chemical (Dimethylamine salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) or you may see 2,4-DP (mecoprop or Dimethylamine salt of (+)-(R)-2-(2 methyl-4-chlorophenoxy) propionic acid) listed as well on the label but the names in RED are the most important for oxalis control. I am sorry for the detailed technical response but this is really technical stuff to get you the right chemical. There are so many different manufacturers and labels with the same stuff in it, it is impossible to list them all so giving you the ingredients to look for is much easier. Next is the method of application. These chemicals will not damage a lawn if you apply at the right concentration but they WILL damage other plants. So you must spray them directly to the weeds and not overspray onto other plants!  Make sure you wear waterproof gloves when mixing and applying and wash thoroughly after an application. They are not THAT toxic but it is always a good precaution. Never spray on a windy day. Spray when weather is warm but not hot because the plants are better able to “absorb” the spray.  Mix about 1 tsp of ivory liquid detergent per gallon of spray to the finished mix and thoroughly stir it. Do not add it before you add water or it will just give you a lot of weed killer bubbles. This detergent helps the week killer enter the leaves.

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Thanks to Hunter for Advanced Irrigation Control at the Orchard

Leave a Comment / hunter irrigation clock, irrigation, Las Vegas, Mojave Desert, nevada, north las vegas, watering at the orchard /

A really big thanks goes out to Hunter Industry and in particular Nate Gould out of Phoenix, Arizona. Nate offered to provide the UNCE orchard in North Las Vegas with a state-of-the-art Hunter ACC Irrigation Clock. This definitely brings the UNCE Orchard into the 21st Century! Hunter Irrigation’s ACC Irrigation clock. Top of the line for all of the UNCE Orchard’s irrigation needs. Nate helped us install it so we that really cut our installation time down. (Advanced Commercial Controller) to help us better manage our irrigations for the fruit trees and vegetable plots. Our volunteers can communicate with the clock remotely so if we have an irrigation problem we don’t have to keep running back to the clock.

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Italian Cypress Will Work as a Windbreak on 1 Acre But….

Leave a Comment / designing a windbreak, establishing a windbreak in the desert, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, planting a windbreak /

Q. I have used Italian cypress in moderate climates with very good success but now I will be moving to the desert in Pahrump on one acre and want to put in about 30-50 of these for windbreak. Is there anything special I need to consider planting these in a desert climate? Italian cypress if planted close enough can provide good wind protection…but at a cost. Living wind barriers use water. Balance the benefit you get from a living windbreak vs. its cost. Windbreaks are effective up to about five times their height. Place windbreaks close to where you need them. Too far away is a waste of time, water and money. A. Pahrump gets colder than Las Vegas and will dip down to 10°F. They have trouble growing plants which have less cold tolerance than Las Vegas. The relative humidity can drop to as low as about 10% at times but regularly is between 20 to 30%. Much like the rest of lower elevations southern Nevada, some light intensities can be about 20% higher than in other parts of the United States. Italian Cypress will work but I also am going to attach a document I wrote on windbreaks for southern Nevada. People in Pahrump love to plant these windbreaks along the edge of their properties but, in my opinion, if windbreaks are not planted in the right locations and the correct distances from the areas to be protected, you are just wasting your money and water. They make a nice wall and perhaps a visual barrier and that’s it. I hope you are young man because by the time they get large enough to be of any value as a windbreak at those distances it will be many years. Watering them on drip irrigation will work. Be sure your size your drip irrigation mainline, sub lines and laterals large enough to handle the irrigation you will expect in the next 20 years. Adding emitters to existing lines to deliver more water as plants get larger will not be a problem. But if you under size your irrigation water delivery lines by not planning for the future now and they are too small to accommodate the increased water use as these plants get larger, then you will be redoing it in a few years. Drip irrigation requires maintenance. This includes flushing lines on a regular basis and using appropriate filtration or you will have nothing but problems. You can inject fertilizer into drip lines. Expect about 12 inches of growth each year. Windbreaks modify the wind to a distance equal to about five times their height. Pahrump was a major southern Nevada farming community in the past and has good soils in many locations. Be sure to amend your soil surrounding these plants at the time of planting. I usually recommend about a 50-50 addition of soil amendment to raw desert soil at the time of planting. Our desert soils are extremely low in organic material. They will also perform better and have fewer problems if you can surround them with several inches of wood mulch. Keep the mulch away from the trunks about 12 inches for the first five years. Rabbits do not like Italian Cypress but if they are hungry enough and the population explodes due to recent fires, they will be damaged or destroyed by rabbits. I want to gently remind you that we do live in the desert. And even though there may be only the cost of pumping the water in your mind there are other “costs” as well. I like to call these social and environmental costs. Pahrump’s water basin is already overdrawn (more water is used than is replenished to the aquifer) and we need to consider this when we are designing our landscapes and gardens. We need to find a fine balance between our quality of life and respect for where we live. Living Windbreaks for Desert Dwellers

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Should a License Be Required to Carry a Hedge Shears?

2 Comments / bad pruning, butchering, hedges, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, pruning, pruning shrubs, topping /

What was not forseen in the advent of desert landscaping was the dramatic change in pruning techniques brought in by the landscape industry. Hand pruners and loppers were gone. Hedge shears were in. I was heavily involved in bringing good desert landscaping into Las Vegas in the 1980’s.  It was part of my job. One of the big advantages touted for desert landscaping was the reduction in maintenance by about 30% because lawns were either removed or shrunken in size. Lawns represented the most maintenance in a landscape. What was not forseen was the dramatic change in pruning techniques brought in by the landscape industry. Hand pruners and loppers were gone. Hedge shears were in. Nice looking, formal hedge. This is where the hedge shears should be used. The top of the hedge should be slightly narrower than the bottom. This gives the larger diameter wood at the base a chance to maintain leaf cover for a longer period of time and allows for better light reception at the base. Hedgeshears Logic. I have never understood the logic of using a hedge shears to prune anything but a hedge. But they are. Commercially it fits the “blow and go” logic of the current landscape industry. Manually operated hedge shears by Corona. I like Corona shears of most types, and even their hedge shears, but it is over-used in commercial and home landscapes. Even Corona would not endorse the extent to which it is used. You carry a hedge shears around and you use it to make everything look like a ball. The “trimmings” from the shrubs are picked up and hauled off to the landfill (at least in Las Vegas). Landscape shrubs about three years into hedge shearing. They have started to become “twiggy” and their multiple trunks are becoming exposed. If there is anything to “blow”, the guy carrying the gas engine-driven, cacophonous blower comes in some time later and finishes the cleanup. Landscape workers will start “blowing” on commercial properties where noise problems are not much of a problem, in the dark with headlamps, at 5 am or earlier. Some used have “night vision” capability. Arguably, these are the “Rambo” landscaper types (aka like the camos). One headlamp preferred by landscape workers Landscape in the early stages of hedge shearing. Some of these can still be corrected. The big advantages for landscape service companies using hedge shears is that it requires carrying only one piece of equipment, very little training required so almost anyone can do it, the results of hedge shearing are immediately seen by the customer and it requires numerous repeat shearings during the season. Disadvantages. The disadvantages to the customer are not seen at first and sometimes not cared about. Plants that produce flowers on new season growth, like Texas Ranger and oleander, have their potential new flowers removed. The plants are neatly “hedged” but flower production is later in the season than normal and usually very sparse because new growth is continuously removed. Second, most plants pruned with hedge shears are pruned into an unnatural shape. This means more work is needed to keep them in this shape (repeat shearing during the season). Third, the aesthetics of these plants are ruined in about five years. Shearing makes them “leggy” so that you see alot of bare, thick stems at the base and they lose their leaf cover. Basically they get ugly. At this point most plants cannot be “corrected” and they must be replaced. If replacing plants every five years is in your business plan then hedge shearing is for you! This is what eventually begins to happen to shrubs that are continuously hedge sheared. Large stems at the base get larger and larger and lose their “ability” to produce shoots that can carry leaves. Fourth, bare wood on the stems at the base is open to damage from sunburn and infestation by borers (if they are susceptible to borers). Correct pruning of shrubs that are not to be used as a formal hedge is near the ground, removing 1 to 3 of the oldest stems if there are only a few of them. More than this may be removed if there oodles of these stems. Plants will show you where to cut them if you just look. This is oleander for example. At the base of oleander there are some “suckers” aka watersprouts, emerging from some short stubs that were left from last year’s pruning. This is a very good sign that if you were to prune oleander stems low to the ground that they will sucker and send up all new shoots. This is a closeup of the base of the very same shrub. Notice the cut stub left from last years pruning cut. This person had the right idea but cut the wrong stem!. Leave the young ones. Cut the oldest ones the same way and let them sucker up to fill in the bottom. Do this on one or two of the oldest stems every other year and you will fill the shrub with blooms top to bottom and you will not see any of the base of the plant. Two cuts = ten seconds. Pickup time = ten seconds. Do not use the hedge shears on this plant. If there are alot of stems then follow the 1/4 rule. Remove about 1/4 of the oldest stems every 1 to 3 years depending on how juvenile you want your shrub to be and how tall you want it. This type of pruning is needed from 1 to 3 years depending on how vigorously the shrub grows. level and pruning is every two to three years. If you are not sure what will happen to the plant cut just one stem back near to the ground and see what happens. If it suckers up, do a couple more. It will not be too late. You could do this easily until about March or even April. Cleanup is easy. You collect

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Still Afraid to Prune Your Lantana?

Leave a Comment / lantana, lantana camara, lantana montevidensis, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, pruning /

You may have either the purple lantana or the multi-colored lantana. Most of it died back during the winter. But where to cut? What if I cut it back too far. Will I kill it? Even in February you still have time. This is lantana that has been cut back. Notice how the new growth (late January or early February just after a warm spell) is growing now. It is growing from “joints” along the stems we prefer to call “nodes”. These are places which can have alot of plant tissue that can regrow after the plant has been damaged. In this case it is “damage” either by winter cold or by pruning. Cut lantana back close to the ground so that you leave at least  two “joints” left sticking up out of the ground. Lantana is now starting to regrow from the base now in early February. It is not obvious. If you look closely at yours you will see some new growth emerging very close to the ground. The plant will “tell you” where to cut. Cut 1/4 to 3/8 inch above a node. If you are in a cold and windy part of town you will experience winter dieback of the plant closer to the ground so you will have to prune it with fewer “joints” left.

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Nevada’s First Bottle of Olive Oil All Produced in Nevada

Leave a Comment / amargosa valley, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, nevada olive oil, roger gehring /

Last year produced the first bottle of Nevada olive oil. The olives were harvested in the fall of 2012 and bottled later that year. The olive oil is produced by Roger Gehring at his vineyard, School Lane Vineyard, in Amargosa, Nevada. For more information on where to get this exceptional olive oil contact Roger Gehring at [email protected]

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