I wanted to post an email from a reader who happened to run across this blog. Morris:    Just sitting, eating supper in front of computer and enjoying reading online newspapers.  I live in northwestern Ontario out in the bush and this is some tough winter this year.  December 31st at 8 am the temperature was -60F according to Environment Canada.  We have been alternating blizzards with around the -40F mark. Loved reading how you should protect your citrus plants.  Up here the only protection is in the store or frig.  For a brief moment You aloud me to dream and remember summer.  Thank You !!! 

Q. I happened upon your blog the other day.  I am curious if you’d have any info on education programs on site for learning to build gardens and grow food on desert land.  I study permaculture and green design in the Northwest and would like to eventually acquire some desert land to transform. A. Horticulture in the desert is very different from other types of horticulture. I started in Wisconsin, through Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Nevada and now in the tropics. It is taking me time to figure out the tropical side. Those that practice horticulture in wetter, temperate, more hospitable climates and never experienced it in the desert may think that it is all the same but it is not. I don’t know of any education programs online for studying it but knowing the basic principles helps. Those never change but how to apply them does.             I would start with some books you can get from practitioners in Arizona and Nevada on gardening. You can subscribe to the Yahoo discussion group, desert horticulture and pose some questions or just eavesdrop. There is a lot to learn and I wish there was an easy way to do it but it will take just getting started and do it. Here are some books you might look at. A word of caution. I have not looked at any of these so I would see what others have said about them. Perhaps other readers have their favorites. If you do, please comment!  George Brookbank’s books out of Tucson AZ Linn Mills and Dick Posts book out of Nevada Good sources of how to grow things in the desert from Cooperative Extension in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas (make sure it is WEST Texas). California has not yet recognized that desert horticulture is different 🙂

Notice that during the month of November we had virtually no freezing temperatures in one of the colder parts of the valley. Rainfall for the month was significant with over 1 1/2 inches. Remember that rainfall can be very isolated in southern Nevada with rain falling in some parts while not in others and the amount can vary significantly across the valley. Winds did not seem significant enough to cause much damage to plants. Located at the UNCE Orchard in North Las Vegas near the intersection of North Decatur and Horse Drive. The Watchdog 2900ET weather station is located near the northwest corner of the south orchard, approximately 2.5 meters above ground, at the top of the tree canopy.  Reported by Mike Barrett.

Do you know of any lists of plants that are more resistant to radio frequency and how would I find them? I know this sounds like an odd question but I need to know. I am a former Master Gardener. A. That is a question I do not know the answer to and have never been asked that before. If you find out, I would love to know. If you are reading this and you know anything about this topic, please make a comment. Let’s keep an open mind…..

Q. With all the beautiful rain that we had recently, what should we do regarding future watering? Has it been enough water to just stop watering until after the first of the year? National Weather Service Wettest Day of 2013  A. Rains come in all forms. This one was rather unique in that it came down over a nice, long period of time giving it a chance to soak into our landscapes instead of running off the surface and into the streets.              Landscapes are supposed to be contoured to force rain off landscapes and into the streets. Once water enters the streets they act as “storm sewers” and help remove water from properties. If landscapes are not contoured correctly it is feared that water might accumulate on the landscape and flood homes causing damage.  Storm Drain System in the Las Vegas Valley              For gardeners who are interested in “harvesting” water on their property, this rule may seem to be counterproductive but it is meant for the “general good”. There are ways to store water and improve the effectiveness of rainfall such as dry stream beds and pools but you must be careful when doing this. I will post some ideas on my blog as examples.             As a general rule we consider about 40% of our rainfall to be what we call “effective”. This means that 40% of the rain, four tenths to every inch, actually gets into the soil where it is stored rather than running into the streets. This rain event however was more “effective” than most.  What is Effective Rainfall?              Another problem was that the rain was not evenly spread throughout the valley. This makes it hard to make a general statement about how long to turn off irrigation systems throughout the valley. For shallow rooted plants like flowers and turfgrass they will still need a couple of irrigations the rest of this year. Deeper rooted plants, such as trees and large shrubs, can probably get by.             Unless you know your rainfall amount, I would count this rainfall as a single irrigation event, skip one irrigation and then continue irrigations unless we get more rain. The savings will still be significant.

 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Hosts Spoken Word Poetry YouTube Competition (LAS VEGAS)— The Western Folklife Center and its 30th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering today announced the launch of a spoken word poetry competition, Expressing the Rural West: Poetry of the Next Generation, on YouTube.com. Poets between the ages of 18 and 35 are invited to submit videos which include an artist introduction and do not exceed four minutes in length. Submissions may not contain curse words or explicit imagery and must be original compositions. Content should have a rural focus and poems should be performed and not read. Poets must be currently living in one of the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Cowboy Poet at Alamo Dinner Event in Lincoln, County, Nevada Poems will be judged by the public as well as by a committee of two professional poets and two staff members of the Western Folklife Center. There will be a winner of the public vote and a winner of the juried competition. The winner of the public vote will receive two free 3-Day Deluxe Passes to the 30th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and a free Gathering poster. The winner of the juried competition will be given a performance slot at the event and must be able to travel between January 29 to February 2, 2014. Travel and lodging will be paid by the Western Folklife Center. Upload your video on our Expressing the Rural West—Poetry of the Next Generation competition channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/2014poetrycontest. Public judging will end on December 19 and our judges will select a winner by Dec. 21.                                                                   ABOUT WESTERN FOLKLIFE CENTER AND THE NATIONAL COWBOY POETERY GATHERING The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering turns 30 years old in 2014, and the nation’s greatest celebration of the American West, its people, culture and traditions, will turn its focus to the future of the region. From Jan. 27 to Feb. 1, 2014, in Elko, Nevada, the Gathering will present poetry, music, fine western gear, films, workshops, dances and discussions with a clear focus on encouraging the next generation and working together to ensure the sustainability of the occupational and artistic traditions of the rural West. The theme of the 30th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is “Expressing the Rural West—Into the Future!” Through performances of poetry and music, thought-provoking films and fruitful discourse, artists and audiences of all ages will share their art and their opinions on meeting the challenges of rural life in the modern West. In particular, the next generation of cowboy artists will present their work and discuss their brand of ranch life—with one hand on the reins and the other on the cell phone. More than 50 poets, musicians and musical groups from the U.S. and Canada will perform on seven stages at four different venues. The 30th Gathering line-up includes cowboy poets Baxter Black, Paul Zarzyski, Waddie Mitchell, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Joel Nelson, Doris Daley, Pat Richardson, Randy Rieman and many others. Music is as integral to the Gathering as poetry; the musical line-up includes Ian Tyson, Michael Martin Murphey, Riders In The Sky, Don Edwards, Dave Stamey, Jeffrey Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, Caleb Klauder Country Band, Martha Scanlan and more.  For a full list of participating artists and much more information, visit  www.westernfolklife.org.

Q. Can you suggest some trees that could be planted in the Mesquite, Nevada, area? A. I am not trying to avoid your question about a recommended tree. However I do not like to recommend trees to homeowners because the selection of trees is not purely logical, it can be emotional as well. I do not know what trees you like or do not like and I do not know what is available to you. Trees out of scale with the house. They shade the roof okay but we really want to shade the west and south facing walls where the insulation is not as thick and has a lower R value.             Because trees can require a lot of water, tree selection can also have a huge impact on our natural resources. If you can come up with four or five trees that you like I can help you from that point.             Try to base your selection on the size, whether you want deciduous or evergreen and whether it should flower. The size of the tree should be in scale with your house. If your house is single-story, it should be no more than 20 to 30 feet tall when it is mature.             Big trees use more water than little trees. If your water bill concerns you or might concern you in the future, use smaller trees and use fewer trees. Trees in the desert should shade South and West facing walls or windows on those walls when possible.             Woody plants are deceiving in their water use. They don’t use much at first when they are small but when they get bigger their water use goes up proportionately. Just what that proportion is depends on the type of tree it is. There is no clear cut answer for that.             If they are being used for shade it is best to select deciduous trees, trees that lose their leaves in the fall. If the trees are going into desert landscaping, it would be best to select desert trees. If the tree is going into a lawn area or an area that we consider to be high water use such as a sitting or patio area than you do not need to use desert trees. Make sure your trees are hardy in Mesquite to at least the mid teens in the winter. I hope this helps.

Q. I have attached a picture of my African Sumac.  The tree showed several branches with dead leaves so we started cutting back to a point where there was moisture and some green in the bark. Should we continue cutting to make the resulting tree symmetrical or leave it alone and hope the tree recovers from our efforts? African sumac from reader A. I know there was not much you could do but the form of the tree is pretty much gone. African sumac sucker from cut shoots easily. Most of the suckering would occur within about 18 inches below the cut. You will probably also see some suckering further down on the limbs and trunk but it will not be as heavy. With the cuts made in September and October you might see some new growth over the next couple of weeks. Because the growth will be soft and succulent this time of year and perhaps not harden off very much for the winter, that growth may freeze back if we have some very low temperatures. I would not make any more cuts this time of year. You do not want to encourage that kind of growth now. However, I would suggest you consider waiting until the next spring growth and see what is alive and what is dead. When you can determine which of those large trunks are alive in the spring, go ahead and cut them back to the height where you would like to see new growth. From the look of your picture I would suggest you look at somewhere between three and 5 feet off the ground. You should start to see a lot of suckering below these cuts in the spring when there is normally no growth. Because this growth is not coming from existing buds on the tree, no growth may be delayed a few weeks compared to other plants that have not been pruned. As you see this suckering on the limbs, remove suckers that are too close together and those that are going perfectly vertical. Why did the limbs start dying? Think of any changes that were made to the landscape in the past 12 months. In my opinion, there are perhaps three possibilities. The first to involve a lack of water or too much water. Both of them can cause limb dieback. If your soil is kind of heavy and does not drain water very well it’s possible that standing water could suffocate the roots and eventually cause limbs to dieback. There is not much you can do about this if it was from those heavy rains earlier in the year or some earlier flooding event. I see you have wood mulch surrounding the base of the tree. Has that mulch been applied fairly recently? Mulches can really affect the moisture content of the soil and keep the soil moist much longer than if it is desert soil exposed to the open air. I assume you were watching your watering but if your source of water was plugged for a period of time when it was really hot, that could cause limb dieback as well from drought. African sumac does not handle a lack of water very well and it does not handle too much water very well or poor drainage. The third is possible disease problems. Again, at this stage there is probably nothing you can do about disease problems except what you are doing now and keep the tree as healthy as you can. I do not know of any specific disease or insect problems that will cause this to African sumac. I wish I could be more helpful and give you a specific answer but I can’t.

Q. Thank you so much for the recommended fruit tree list.  When we were out at the orchard, we talked to one of the grape pruners who liked the O’Henry peach.  It seems to be quite high in chill hours.  Does it do well here?  We have an Elberta, which harvests in August, and the fruit is always small and on the mushy side.  Other than that question, I think we have our list picked out. Early Elberta peach at UNCE orchard in north las vegas A. You may be doing something wrong with the Elberta peach. Our July Elbertas, Early Elbertas and Lemon Elbertas all do well. About a 4.0 on a 5.0 scale. O’Henry has only been in a few years and it is a bit early to tell yet. I would focus on an early peach and get it off the tree, a mid season and then you have your late season. But all our Elbertas are good peaches and not small if you thin them and not mushy if you get them off the tree when you should. Get an early one. O’Henry is not early and near the same time as Elberta. http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/growing-fruits-and-nuts/selecting-varieties-and-rootstocks/fruit-and-nut-harvest-chart

Q. Because of the wind the other night the tops of two Italian Cypress trees broke off about 11 feet off the ground. Do you think this was caused by lack of water? We have 18 of these trees by the back fence. We planted them in 2005 and we have been watering them for nine minutes, three times a day, six days a week in summer.             As they grew I didn’t increase the watered until about 3 years ago when I found out they needed more water. So now I use a hose and water each one about 15 minutes every 3 weeks in Summer.  I’m hoping you can see by the picture, there seems to be a growth around the area where it broke off.  Do you think this was caused by lack of water? Italian cypress with possible borer damage. Borer weakened the limb and it snapped easily. A. I can see the picture quite well, thank you. I don’t need to know the watering schedule or amounts. Other people have told me that they think they had borers in Italian cypress. I had never seen borer damage in Italian cypress in my 30 years in Las Vegas.             Well, I think you have it. This growth you are pointing out in the picture, I think is growth we typically see AFTER borer damage has occurred. Borers don’t typically kill a plant overnight, or even in one season, unless the plant is very young and the damage is extensive. Usually plant decline from borer damage can take several years.             Plants can survive and look like nothing is wrong for several years during annual borer attacks. Having borer damage depends on a lot of things; how healthy the plant is, how fast it begins recovery after the attack, how heavily it was attacked, etc.             In short, it is possible that your plants were more susceptible to borer attacks because of a lack of water during the summer.             There is a product for borer control but it would have to be applied once, annually, to protect the trees. It is a good product and you can find it at your local nursery.             In the meantime, if the disproportionate sizes bother you I would go ahead and lower them all so they are the same height. They should do just fine if they are pruned all the same way and I don’t think it will be very noticeable after a season of growth. 25 year old Italian cypress with the top removed