Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Saguaro Leaning is Usually an Irrigation Problem

Leave a Comment / cactus, giant, irrigation, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, planting /

Q. Our saguaro is about 10 years old.  In the last year or so four arms have popped out mostly on one side.  Now the saguaro is beginning to lean and we have propped it up. What do you suggest we do? Even though this picture is not from the submitter I wanted to post it for my friends who are viewing from other countries or part of the USA. Saguaro is not native to the Mojave Desert but to the Sonoran to our south. Even though they can be a bit sensitive to the Mojave winter cold they have done quite well in the lower elevations of southern Nevada. If people will stop putting burlap coats on it for the winter….. A. I would guess your irrigation is too close to the trunk. This concentrates the roots there and doesn’t allow root development further from the trunk for support.             In the wild, saguaros roots are about 30 inches deep near the trunk and spread a distance equal to its height at depths averaging only about 10 inches.  This matting of shallow roots spreading from the trunk is important in keeping the cactus erect.             I would prop it up as you are doing and immobilize the base so it cannot move. Then I would apply water at increasing distances from the trunk. These should be shallow and infrequent irrigations at distances from the trunk equal to at least half of its height.             You can do this by planting other desert plants that require similar types of irrigations in these areas. Water supplied to these plants will help to irrigate the saguaro. You can also do this by handwatering in these areas once a month with a spray nozzle.

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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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Star Jasmine Problems Mostly Soil, Mulch and Cold Related

14 Comments / bronzing of leaves, Las Vegas, leaf drop, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, scorching leaves, yellow leaves /

Q. What can I do to correct all the issues afflicting the star jasmine this winter? Problems with star jasmine. Most of these are caused by poor soil conditions and winter cold. Perhaps it might be not watered with enough water. A. The easiest is to not plant it. Hard to say exactly but generally I would call the problems in general, stress. The stress could have come from freezing temperatures, lack of water, poor soil or poor soil amendments such as high salts and lack of organic matter. Great place to put a star jasmine for aroma and welcome greetings to visitors.             The plant is some eastern and southern China and which means it is not from a desert and not really a desert plant. We have to adjust everything around it for that reason. It is not going to like desert soils or rock mulch for that reason. Star jasmine used as groundcover in rock mulch. I guarantee that plant HATES it there. Developed iron chlorosis due to rock mulch and poor soils.             Soils must have lots of rich soil amendment (compost) and it will really appreciate wood mulches. It does well as a groundcover but I think it is best as a north or east-facing trellised vine. Particularly near a window that can be opened in the Spring. When star jasmine is growing well and in good health the leaves should be a vibrant green.             The flowers are very fragrant so it should be planted in locations where the fragrance can be appreciated. It is an old-fashioned plant. Southerners might know it by the name “Confederate jasmine”.             It handles the cold winters well if it is not in rock mulch. At real low temperatures the leaves may get that bronzy, yellowish color that plant leaves can get when it is cold but will handle temperatures to 10F pretty easily. Citrus leaves will bronze in winter the same way.             Flood the soil with water to remove possible salts and let it drain. Add compost to the soil surface around it and water it in. Replace rock mulch with wood mulch but keep the mulch away from the stems to prevent collar rot.             Fertilize in the spring with a good quality fertilizer for flowering plants like roses. Shear off the old growth and let it regrow in good health. One time I had to cut a star jasmine used as a vine way back to get it to flower for me in a north exposure.

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Things To Do With Fruit Trees Now

Leave a Comment / Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, peach calendar, what to do with fruit trees /

While pruning the last couple of days I saw some things  to do that I wanted to bring to your attention. I saw an increase in borer damage to even small limbs now. I think that is because of a lack of borer removal and not whitewashing. It is also possible it could be due to lack of water if they have gone through drought. Borer damage to peach I saw peach twig borer damage from last year in small shoots that were still attached to the tree. That means populations were very high and not controlled. Peach twig borer damage from last year on young growth. The twig borer burrows into soft, young stems causing the stems to dieback. Populations of this moth build during the summer months after with each successive generation. When fruit is out and getting soft they will attack soft fruit causing wormy peaches and almonds.  I will cover these more in detail as the season progresses.  Nectarines need to be sprayed immediately after petal fall for thrips. Use spinosad in rotation with other labeled sprays. Things to be done at the orchard: ·     Fertilize all trees and vines ·     Borer removal with knives. Eliminate loose bark down to healthy wood. ·     Whitewash upper sides of scaffold limbs for borer prevention ·     Purchase pheremone traps and pheremones for peach twig borer (peaches, nectarines and almonds) and codling moth (apples and pears). Set one trap each for monitoring in early April. As soon as moths are caught, set two more traps in the orchard for trapping. This has worked on codling moth in the past. ·    Bt sprays need to be timed for the first wave of peach twig borer. This will reduce the numbers in future generations. If you don’t start spraying after the first flight the population will blossom into some heavy damage including infesting the fruit later. ·    Nectarines need to be sprayed with Spinosad immediately after petal fall and follow up sprays are needed for scar-free fruit. ·    Bubblers and drip emitters need to be checked for plugging monthly.

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Not Too Late to Trim and Fertilize Lantana

Leave a Comment / camara, desert, how to prune, lantana, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, montevideo, nevada, pruning, when to prune /

We generally grow two types of lantana in the landscapes in southern Nevada; the purple one and the one that is multi-colored, usually with some yellow and rose or pink flowers. Both are handled about the same way in watering, pruning and fertilizing. Multi-colored lantana (L. camara) but at this point only showing just yellow flowers but can change to orange or pink later. The flowers can vary in color.   This is the purple species (L. montevidensis) sometimes called trailing lantana or weeping lantana. It was collected and propagated for sale near Montevideo, Uruguay, hence the Latin name. Come take a tour of Montevideo and see where L. montevidensis came from Both of these plants came out of South America, around Bolivia, Peru and Uruguay area where it does not freeze where it is a widespread native. Not truly a ‘desert’ plant but tolerates dry or semiarid environments near the coastline. It is now widely planted all over the tropics and subtropical parts of the world where it does not freeze back in the winter. It showed some promise in the desert and arid parts of the southern US and now is quite common. Some people would say now it is over planted but it still gives a nice show of color in the summer with little care. It will freeze back here and rebound in the spring. Pruning or Cutting the Back. The purple lantana is common now and I get alot of questions about how far back you can trim them. Take a close look at this picture. I took it a short time back when I first saw green coming from a winter pruned shrub.They can get kind of lanky and loose some eye appeal as well as die back in our colder climate so many people cut them back in the winter. It is always a good idea to wait until the coldest part of the winter has past before you cut them back or the may freeze back further. Lantana pruned back. This is fine.   See how the new growth is coming from the “joints” or “nobs” on the stems? These are nodes where buds or stems were located. They are places that contain the potential for new growth. Cut them back leaving a couple of these or more between your cut and the ground. Then they will have these spots to generate some new growth for this season. Fertilizer. Just before the really start pushing some new growth (late January or even into Februray), fertilize them. Liquid fertilizers like Miracle Gro or Peters do a great job as long as you apply enough water when the plant is growing. Less expensive fertilizers will work as well but just make sure you use one that is used for flowers or tomatoes or other flowering plants. You can apply the fertilizer dissolved or diluted in water in a plastic bucket and pour it slowly around the plants or you can apply it dry just under the drip emitters. One application is normally enough until next year. Never apply it after about August or you could affect how much winter dieback you get. It normally does not need any iron added but doesn’t hurt either. Hmmm…. none say to use on Lantana! What do I do now? You like the flowers. Promote the flowers. Use a fertilizer that promotes flowers. So you can use tomato fertilizer or rose fertilizer as a substitute. What’s wrong with this lantana? Just TLC; water, soil improvement and fertilizer. AND it was planted too close to the curb. It should be back in about three feet. It’s growing toward the south where there is more light and probably the one emitter it has.

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