Q. Can you recommend a good fescue grass seed for starting a lawn? I did not have great success with a local brand that said it was made for our desert climate.   A. Most of the lawns planted in our desert climate are a blend of at least three different kinds of tall fescue. This can be read on the grass seed label. Personally, I would stay away from grass seed mixtures that contain annual rye grass, bluegrass or perennial ryegrass combined with tall fescue. This is NOT a good tall fescue grass seed for home lawns. Great for parks but not home lawns due to its coarse texture. K31 or Kentucky 31 is a great highway grass…looks good at 50 mph             With grass seed, you get what you pay for. Most of the best grass seed blends are also the most expensive. Read the label. Buy grass seed that has at least three different types of tall fescue listed on the label. Stay away from K 31 a.k.a. Kentucky 31 tall fescue grass seed for home lawns. It’s great for parks and it’s cheap but mostly because it is durable and can handle our heat. a hot cup of coffee is really hot and will damage grass but continual hot temps in hot climates can also be damaging. Las Vegas is in the transition zone for grass…grows all grasses poorly.             Make sure the problem you had did not result from how it was planted or the irrigation system. Check the irrigation system before you plant and make sure it’s operating properly. The water from the sprinklers should be thrown far enough so that it reaches neighboring sprinkler heads. This is called “head-to-head coverage”.             A seedbed needs to be prepared for grass seed at least 8 inches deep. This soil should be “firmed” enough so that when you walk on it your shoes don’t sink more than half an inch into the prepared and firmed soil. Proper soil preparation, not too hard and not too soft, is where most people fail.             A starter fertilizer and grass seed mixture is applied to the surface of the soil with the grass seed applied at a rate of 10 to 12 pounds per thousand square feet of lawn area. Apply a very fine mulch on top of the seed no more than 1/8 inch deep. This can be steer manure or fine compost.             Water long enough until water begins to “puddle” in areas. This tells you the maximum number of minutes you can irrigate until seed starts showing. Water twice a day at this stage; once a day when you start seeing grass. Increase the amount of minutes and decrease the frequency of application until you find that “sweet spot” to you are growing grass roots as deeply as you can.

Q. I recently found your blog and wonder if you have any advice for me about an African Sumac that we planted last October. It did beautifully through the winter. About a month ago, I started noticing some leaves curling up, but staying green. Now the lower branches are drooping and over half of the leaves have curled, but stayed green. Rot? Fungus? I did one treatment of ferti-lome around the base last week. No change. A. Watering too often and not watering enough can give the same results so I can see how it could be either way. The only way to know for sure is know how wet the soil is when you water again and how much water you are applying. When you water African sumac, water it with lots of water over a large area under the tree canopy and don’t water again until it is about half gone. One of the problems with tree installations by the contractors who plant for Moon Valley I have been told in the past is the size of the hole they dig for the tree and lack of amendment added to the soil when planting. This could be part of the problem for you as well. The hole provided for the tree  should be at least three times the size of the container. If this was a 24 inch box tree then it will be a big hole that is dug. The hole does not have to be deeper than the container but three times its width. I don’t know how much amendment was added but it should be about the same volume as the soil taken from the hole. What can you do now? Remember this in the future but there is not much you can do to a tree that was already planted. I tell people who buy trees to be planted by a contractor from Moon Valley is to pay them extra cash and have them dig the hole wider.  Buy your own amendment like Viragrow’s compost and provide it for them instead of the bags they bring. Water the tree in the hole AS it is being planted and flood the area planted three times, once a day. Then turn it over to the drip or irrigation system but do not water daily. Provide enough water each time you irrigate to get it down to 18 inches deep. Water the area under the canopy of the tree at least half its width. All its width is better. Use a four foot long stick of rebar to determine this by pushing it in the soil until it is difficult to push. Water again when the soil in the upper four inches is starting to dry out. You can use a $10 moisture meter to determine this. Water when it reads “5-6” in three locations under the tree canopy where you watered. https://www.buzzsprout.com/245292/1459687-how-to-water-plants-in-the-desert

Learn some of the basics about why landscapes have problems. Sometimes its how the landscape was designed, plant selection or irrigation. Save water and money on your power bill by following taking some simple advice.

Maintaining a lawn in the desert is not easy. Learn the fundamentals of desert lawn care: irrigation, fertilizing, mowing, aerification and dethatching.

Lawns are sometimes a necessary part of a desert landscape. And when you are finished with it, the soil is improved and its easy to replace. Learn how to establish one in our desert climate.

Aptenia, or Hearts and Flowers, is a succulent that looks good with a little bit of shade and not in full sun unless the soil has been amended well. Q. This spring we re-landscaped our yard to include six groundcover plants called Hearts and Flowers groundcover planted in full sun. They did well in the cool, rainy spring.  As the weather got warmer, most of them turned brown starting at the center of the plant and extending outward.  They are watered with two each, 2 gallon per hour emitters for 30 minutes three times a week. A. It sounds like it just got too hot for them in that location. These plants are short-lived in the desert. Hearts and flowers are succulents and not as tough in full sun as many cacti. They grow best in the cooler months of spring and fall. They originate in the warm and dry parts of South Africa in locations that have summer monsoons.             Hearts and Flowers will grow in full sun out in the open if it is not a southern or Western exposure with reflected heat. Plants will handle heat better if they are planted in soils amended with good compost but prefer light shade in the afternoons. The best place to put them is morning sun with some light shade in the afternoons or on the east facing side of a wall. Typically, they have very few pest problems.            

Q. As much as I love them, the geraniums are just too high maintenance for me this year. Gave up on them. Can you recommend something, in addition to Lantana, that is colorful and low maintenance? A. Like vegetables, flowering plants have a time of year when they perform best. Lantana is generally a summer flowering woody perennial while geraniums flower best in our climate, even though they are perennial, during the cooler months of October through March. The usual planting dates may vary somewhat with the weather, but it should be around early to mid – October. Commonly Found Geranium Alternatives Some common alternatives for geraniums used as annuals during the winter months include Snapdragons, Pansies, and Petunias planted with Alyssum and Lobelia. Even though they aren’t true winter annuals, they grow best during the cooler weather of mid fall through early spring. Start Fall Flowers from Seed Some fall flowering plants for fun that you can start from seed include  Alyssum (L) Bells of Ireland (T) Calendula (M) California Poppy (L) Candytuft (T) Cornflower (M) Gilia (L) Godetia (L) Iceland Poppy (M) Larkspur (T) Lupine (M) Nemesia (M) Nemkophila (L) Pansy (L) Phlox, Drummondi (L) Pinks (L) Stocks (M) Snapdragons (M) Verbena, Sand (L) Verbena (L) Viola (L) L=Low   M=Medium Height   T=Tall Many of these will self-sow themselves year after year. Big in the Back Pay attention to their mature size. Taller plants go in the back of the planting area and smaller plants go in the front. Before planting any of these non-desert flowering annuals, mix a decent compost into the soil before planting if it’s going in a bed. Amend the Soil Each Year and Fertilize Regularly  A 1-inch layer of compost mixed into the soil 6 to 8 inches deep annually at planting time, just like a vegetable garden, is enough. If the compost is a dark brown or black amendment “rich” in nutrients, don’t add any fertilizer at planting time and for the first 2 to 3 months after planting. If the compost is not rich, mix in a high phosphorus fertilizer with the compost just before planting. Deadheading Deadhead these plants regularly. Removing spent flowers produces more flowers and extends the life of the plant. Fertilize these winter annual flowers lightly with a high nitrogen fertilizer once a month.