Q. I have a golden barrel cactus that has grown to 3ft wide in a place that I cannot leave where it is. It’s a beautiful specimen, but I have to remove it. Any ideas on how to move it?  The thorns are lethal. A. Now is actually a good time to move cacti. They can be moved any time except during, and about two months before, winter weather sets in. Unlike many other types of plants they do well moved in the summer.             When we have moved these sized cacti in the past they were easy to move, taking the relocation without a hitch. We used a lot of thick gloves and old carpet remnants. We dug a trench around the cactus with a pick about 12 to 18 inches from the plant to a depth of about one foot.             We then watered the trench to loosen the soil a bit and make digging easier in that lousy soil. We then began under cutting the plant to loosen the soil and cut the roots. We stopped when the roots had mostly all been cut and the plant seemed easy to roll with leverage from a shovel.             Laying the carpet remnant to the side of the plant we were able to free the cacti and roll it on to the carpet pad. We then placed the cactus in a shady spot to heal the cut roots for two to three days before we planted it again.             Our hole was dug and amended with compost, phosphorus and large rocks removed. The hole was cleared so that it was larger than the root ball of the cactus.             After that healing period we moved the cactus to its new location and gently rolled it into its new location.  We then placed the amended soil around the roots and watered it in to remove air pockets.             We tried to get the cactus at the same depth as it was in its old location. After the soil had drained of water we came back and added more amended soil until it was at the same depth and watered it in again.             Once planted at the right depth we then watered deeply around the cactus no more than once every two to three weeks in the summer heat. In the fall it dropped to once a month and the winter only once during the winter cold.             The next spring we watered once a month and increased it to every two to three weeks during the summer heat until we saw signs of growth. We then had to make a decision whether we wanted to make it grow more or not.             If we wanted it to grow, we kept it on the same watering routine and added nitrogen every few months. If not, we reduced the watering to twice or three times during the summer and once during the winter with no additional fertilizer. I hope this helps.

Lawns are getting toasted right now. This is a truly stressful time of year for plants, particularly plants that are not truly desert plants. Temperatures are out of their “comfort zone” and they become highly susceptible to diseases because they are less capable of fighting through a problem. I warned on June 10 of 2012 and July 1 of this year on my blog that lawn diseases were“right around the corner.” If lawns are going to have problems, they will happen now. Sign up for my free newsletter through my blog and you will receive notices when things like this are happening in our community. Your email address is never shared.  

Q. I have a healthy sago that is outgrowing its space rapidly. When is the best time to relocate it? Is relocation successful usually? It is such a nice plant that I hate to risk endangering its life.   A. You would move it this fall, some time between the end of September and mid-October, or next spring. You should not have a problem relocating it. I would not put it any closer than five feet from anything you don’t want it to touch or invade like a sidewalk or wall.             Hopefully you will put it on the north or east side of a building or in a spot with a little wind and sun protection and not use rock mulch around it. Pre-dig your hole for the plant. Make sure the hole and soil for replanting are prepared well with compost and a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus.             Remove the bottom tier of fronds from the trunk. I would leave only the fronds which are at about 45 degrees from horizontal and the inner fronds. Remove the older ones that are below this point. Bend the remaining fronds up around the central bud and wrap some twine around them to hold them together if they are pokey.             Take as much of the root system you can when you move it. Cut deeply with your shovel all the way around the plant about a foot to 18 inches from the trunk. Cut the roots in a complete circle all the way around the plant at least twice making sure all the roots are cut. Cut as many of the roots as deeply as you can.             On the third trip around the plant cut in the same spots but push down on your shovel handle and begin leveraging the palm upwards. Move to a new spot and repeat it until you have gone around the plant, leveraging and lifting, the third and fourth time with your shovel.             The plant should almost be free now or, if you are in luck, it can be lifted by the fronds. If not, then push the plant on its side and cut any remaining roots with your hand shears to free it. Tying the fronds up should make it easier to do all this and move it.             Move and orient it so it looks nice. Don’t worry about orienting it the same compass direction as it was before. Backfill around the plant and run water in the hole at the same time you are backfilling to remove any air pockets.             Plant it the same depth as it was in its original hole, no higher or deeper. Put a small moat around the plant to contain water from the hose when hand watering. You can drip irrigate the plant but still hand water it for the next 2 to 3 weeks, filling the moat each time. Untie it and release the fronds.             In the spring, remove the bottom layer of fronds at the base of the crown just leaving juvenile fronds that are upright. You will see new growth from the center and it should regrow and fill the canopy in the first year.

Q. I believe I am dealing with some fungal outbreak on my new lawn. About a month ago I started to see faint circles of stressed lawn. They range from 24 to easily 48 inches wide. They are certainly not dog urine spots. I know the difference.  Also confident it’s not a watering problem. All spring and early summer the lawn has been healthy and looking great. But now these circles are appearing everywhere.  Am I going to need to just throw in the towel and start over? A. This is most likely a fungal disease called Summer Patch. Buy a lawn fungicide at your local nursery that either says it controls Summer Patch or (less likely) as well as necrotic ring spot disease.             Fungicides are primarily preventive so making an application now during this hot weather will arrest the disease from going any further but not reverse the damage done. Look for a turfgrass fungicide that states it will control Summer Patch disease, Fusarium diseases or “frog eye” on the label. Follow the label precisely in application. If the label states it also controls Necrotic Ring Spot as well, so much the better.             This is a “hot weather” disease of lawns and favors soils that stay wet and don’t drain readily. Since this is a hot weather disease, you can always expect it to occur when temperatures are rising and become particularly aggressive during the “summer monsoon” season where relative humidity takes a bump along with high temperatures.             Next year anticipate an outbreak to start in June and make your preventive fungicide application then or when you start to see those “faint circles” appearing.             I would aerate the soil now as well. You can use a simple hand aerator that you can buy at the nursery or you can rent a power aerator from a local rental company. Don’t use the shoes with the spikes on the bottom. They are a gimmick.             Remember this problem area in the future. Prior to the onset of hot weather, aerate to improve water drainage from the area around grass roots. Mow the lawn at its minimum acceptable height (usually 1 1/2 inch for tall fescue) to improve air circulation in the stand of grass.             Avoid excessive applications of nitrogen fertilizers but keep the lawn fertilized “adequately”. This will usually mean about half the label rate mentioned for lawns on the fertilizer bag.             This is particularly true if you are mulching the clippings back into the lawn with a mulching mower. Returning the clippings to the lawn with the mulching mower has no bearing on this disease in a lawn.

Q. I have ‘Vee’ shaped cross marks on my tomatoes (especially from Celebrity tomato) starting from the stem and reaching out and down about 1/4 the side.  I always thought these were from lack of water but we try to give all extra water by letting the hose end flood each for 5-10 minutes at least once a day in addition to drip irrigation at 1am, 3am and 5am for 6 minutes each. A. I think you either are explaining either “catfacing” or “cracking” of the fruit. This is a surprise since Celebrity is known for its lack of both and was developed with one of its intentions to reduce cracking. Some of this type of prevention is by picking the right variety (Celebrity should be one!) for growing and some is garden management. Fruit cracking on Caspian Pink heirloom tomato             Two things I can think of contribute to cracking. Catfacing is a different issue. I gave you a couple of links to look at to determine what  you might have. Cracking can be down the side from the stem or around the circumference of the fruit.             Two things important in cracking are how well the tomato skin will expand without breaking (cracking) and soil moisture. Try to water in the early moring hours several hours before it gets hot.             Secondly, cover the soil with a light mulch like straw to help slow down the loss of water from the soil. Radial cracks on Caspian Pink             The last thing is something that I think most people neglect. Good soil preparation at the time of planting. If the soil is pretty heavy and not “fluffy” or what we call “crumby” (like bread crumbs kind of crumby or a cake-like texture) the roots of the plant will be forced to grow close to the soil surface.             If the majority of the roots are close to the surface where water is lost quickly during the heat the plant will go into water stress (drought) very soon after an irrigation. If the soil is prepared well so that it has a “crumby” structure then plant roots are distributed through the soil so that it can take up more water before it becomes water stressed.             Going from water stress to water abundance leads to expansion of the fruit and can lead to splitting. Having enough foliage covering the fruit can also reduce cracking so good canopy coverage of the fruit is important. Topdressing with straw mulch             So make sure you soil is well prepared to a depth of at least 12 inches when planting or plant in a raised bed with well prepared soil. Secondly, apply a surface mulch no later than when the fruit begins to set.             Third, water at the beginning of the day before it gets hot to reduce water stress. Fourth, make sure the plants are healthy and have good foliage covering the fruit. This means the right fertilizer at the time of planting and followup monthly fertilizer applications when you see fruit setting and you are harvesting. These are small applications of fertilizer or lightly foliar feed in the early morning hours.

Q. Will either dwarf lime or lemon trees do well here? We consider pots but our patio faces the west and gets very hot. We have a small space for pots in the front yard which faces east. Any suggestions?   A. The principle limitation for citrus here is winter cold. Cold tolerance in citrus generally follows this progression of tolerance from the most hardy to least goes something like this: (most) kumquat, Meyer’s lemon, grapefruit, Mandarin or Satsuma orange, navel orange and lime (least). Eureka lemon tree in Las Vegas. Fruit still immature.             Once you get to navel orange the rest will not handle any freezing. You should locate citrus in the part of the yard that is the warmest in the winter and protected from cold winter winds.             If you like lemons, Meyer’s is a good choice and very popular in Las Vegas even though it is not a true lemon. I would put limes only in much protected locations.

Q. How often should I water my California pepper tree, Mediteranean fan palm and my Canary Island date palm These are the only trees I have on my property. I hand water them. How often should I be watering them with the extreme temps we are having? A. We have to take into consideration both how often and how much to water. The “how often” will be the same. Or in other words all the trees you mentioned will all be watered with about the same frequency.             How much is also going to be about the same except for their size. The larger the canopy, or size of the tree, the more water it uses. This time of year, with temperatures in the triple digits, I would be watering two to three times a week depending on your soil and if you have mulch on the soil surface. Generally speaking, a layer of mulch will save you about one extra day that you do not have to water.             Make sure, though, that you are leaving at least one day dry between irrigations. Watering too often and keeping the soil sopping wet will lead to roots rotting. If soil is piled against the trunk and kept wet, the trunk will rot.             I would suggest that you put a “moat”, depression or basin around the trees to contain the irrigation water from your hose. This depression, if it is maintained so that it stays at the same capacity around the tree, will guarantee that the trees get the right amount of water each time. Irrigation basin for watering with surface mulch applied             The depression can be a moat that is a wide donut or trench around the plants. This can be a small one when first planted but must be increased in capacity as the plant gets bigger. The depression or donut should be 3 to 4 inches deep and wide enough to contain 5 to 10 gallons of water when young and expanded to contain up to 40 gallons when thre tree is larger in a few years.             The only exception to this is the palm. Many palms have the same size canopy when they are five feet tall as when they are 20 feet tall. With the same sized canopy later in life, they will use the same or similar amount of water. So for these types of palms, one sized depression should be fine during its lifetime.             There have been criticisms with this type of watering that letting water surround the trunk might cause the trunk to “rot” or become diseased. Watering with a moat or donut around the tree is far more likely to cause problems if wet soil is left in contact with the trunk. Water against the trunks of trees when irrigating does not kill the tree UNLESS you do it too frequently and keep the trunk wet. In many cases it is worse to have wet soil against the trunk.             For this reason I prefer a depression around the tree rather than a “moat” or “donut” around it. As long as the trunk dries for 24 hourse after an irrigation, trunk or collar rot will not be a problem. It WILL be a problem, however, if wet soil is left in contact with the trunk. So don’t pile soil against the trunk that will get and stay wet between irrigations.             These depressions should be gentle, sloping depressions and not deep trenches from World War I!. When constructing these depressions, I like to start on the “high side” of the tree and use a common hoe to construct it. Pull soil to the low side when you create the depression so you can “berm” up on the low side and contain the water. The bottom of the depression should be as flat as possible.             Start creating your depression and run your hose with a gentle amount of water coming out. Craft your depression or moat so that the water begins to fill this moat as you are constructing it. Running the water will help you get the bottom of the moat level and fill the basin around the tree without moving the hose.             Buy one of those inexpensive hose water timers that you turn on like a kitchen timer. It will turn off the water depending on the number of minutes you dial in. It will save you water in the long run because, if you are like me, we tend to forget what’s cooking if we don’t use a timer.             Don’t just dig a trench and fill it with water when you are done. It will never be level unless you dig it at the same time you are running the water. This type of irrigation is called “basin irrigation”, a type of flood irrigation but you are using a hose. Fill this basin twice when you water. The basin can also be used for applying fertilizer.