This is a presentation I made to the South Valley Rose Society in Las Vegas, NV, on November 17, 2011. Open publication – Free publishing – More control

Q. My tree is 30’x 25′ and it is in a lawn area. We follow the SNWA guidelines for watering our lawn. Very little die back has occurred on this tree, and the only fertilizer it gets is what it steals from the lawn. Tree dieback after the lawn was removed and rock landscaping replaced the lawn. A. Watering enough for a lawn is not enough for a tree planted in the lawn if you are not overwatering the lawn. Watering a lawn is enough for the lawn only if you are watering it correctly.             When you put a large tree on it then you must deep water the tree as well as water the lawn. Different types of trees require more or less water than others. Tree water use is dictated by the size of the tree and the type of tree. Size is most critical. The only time trees do well in lawns is when the lawn is overwatered. The reason trees did well in lawns in the previous years is because lawns were overwatered. New growth is often a different color from the older growth             As the price of water has gone up, people have chosen to conserve more and follow lawn watering guides more closely. This has caused some trees to be underwatered even though they are in lawns.             Lawns are big fertilizer hogs, particularly nitrogen. If you apply fertilizer to the lawn then the lawn is what is going to get the fertilizer due to its extensive fibrous root system. Trees should be fertilized separately from the lawn with applications in the rootzone, just below the rootzone of the lawn so that the lawn does not burn.             You can judge if the tree is growing enough by looking at its new growth this past year. It will be a different color than the older wood. Or you can see where the previous year’s growth stopped. On a tree that size you should get 12 or more inches of new growth each year. If not, then something is wrong. It might be a lack of water or lack of fertilizer or both. Modesto ash decline             I don’t know the type of tree you have but make sure you do not have Modesto ash decline if the tree is Modesto ash. I sent to you a picture of Modesto ash decline and have posted it on my blog. It is common here but does not hit every Modesto ash. I have been working with this problem for over 25 years with other professionals and no one has been able to determine its cause. This is why I no longer recommend this particular ash tree.

Q. I know that this is not the time of year to fertilize plants, but I have a few questions regarding that subject now that it is on my mind. Do you have any suggestions for good way to apply fertilizer to plants that are in rock mulch? It’s somewhat of a hassle to move the rock from around the plants, apply granular fertilizer, work it into the soil, and then replace the rock. I’ve used Miracle-Gro for foliar feeding, but they recommend that you feed the plants every 7 – 14 days. Is there another liquid option that only needs to be applied once or twice a season? A. Let’s cover a few options that you can use to fertilize plants in rock mulch.             The liquid drench method. You can take a fertilizer which is soluble in water and dissolve it in a bucket of water and apply it to the root area where it is irrigated. This works very well with iron products that should be applied to the soil provided the product dissolves or is suspended in water.             The dry fertilizer drench. Apply a dry fertilizer to the rock mulch between the plant and its source of water. Take a hose with a nozzle and wash it into the mulch. Make sure the fertilizer is not applied too close to the plant or the fertilizer might damage or even kill a plant. One type of fertilizer stake with a plastic cap for driving the stake into the wet ground with a hammer.             The fertilizer stake method. Take a fertilizer stakes and either push them or hammer them into the soil after an irrigation and in the area close to the source of water. Of course you will use the plastic cap that comes with the stakes when you hammer them into the soil.             Foliar applications of fertilizer. This works quite well but as you mentioned it is short-lived compared to a soil application. Make sure you use a wetting agent with the foliar spray.             Install a fertilizer injector. These can be very pricey. Remember that with an injector the fertilizer is applied in proportion to the amount of water that is given to a plant. Those plants which receive more water, receive more fertilizer. It is important to have an irrigation system which applies to water correctly if this is to work well.

Q. We have a pomegranate tree which grows fruit but not to the size of those that sell in stores or larger, they are very small.  This tree is growing on a slight hill and gets watered for about 20 to 30 minutes a day, plus my wife gives it an additional 2 gallons of water almost every day during the summer months.  What can I do to get larger fruit and more of it? A. Increasing the size of your pomegranatefruits is more about pruning, watering and fertilizing than anything else.  Larger fruit will be produced on older wood so pruning a pomegranate to be more like a tree than a shrub will help.              During fruit formation it is very important to make sure pomegranate receives adequate water.  Water shortages during fruit development will result in smaller fruit at maturity or split fruit before the fruit matures.  Irrigations should not be daily but they should be applied in larger quantities but less often. One fruit has already formed. The flowers arising from the same point of attachment are removed to cause the remaining fruit to get larger.             Fertilize pomegranates lightly or in moderate amounts in February.  More fertilizer does not translate to more fruit or larger fruit.  But adequate amounts of fertilizer will.  Mulching with organic mulch around the tree will help. We do some thinning of the trees when the fruits are about the size of walnuts. The only thinning done is when the fruits are arising from the same point of attachment. Then they are thinned to just one fruit. This has to be done all through the flower and fruit development period and not just thinning once but several times.

Q. I am writing you in regards to a problem I’m having with my fruit trees in the spring when the winds are here.  I have a tree that grows 5 kinds of citrus fruit; Pink Lemonade, Bearss Lime, and 3 varieties of oranges (Washington Navel, Honey Mandarin, and Valencia).  I also have two other trees, a lemon and an orange, but do not know their variety.  My problem is the winds in spring when they lose their blossoms which then causes them not to bear fruit.  These trees are planted near the south wall in my backyard.  How is it best to prevent the loss of the blossoms in the spring due to wind?  How is this done in your orchard? A. I do not believe that wind is blowing the flowers off of your trees.  In order for that to happen, you would need it gale force winds.  It is more likely that there was a dip in temperature causing a little bit of freezing damage.              All of these trees you mentioned cannot withstand cold temperatures.  Just the slightest freezing temperatures will nip them and cause them not to flower or drop their flowers. The most cold tolerant in the group is probably the Pink Lemonade which is most likely Eureka lemon which may withstand 26° F.  Just the slightest freezing temperatures will nip them and cause them not to flower or drop their flowers if nipped during flower formation.              All of these trees must be in a warm microclimate if they are to produce any fruit in the Las Vegas Valley.  And even if you have a warm microclimate, the chances of production will be iffy due to late spring freezes.             The best advice I can give you is to provide some wind barrier to the area of the yard where they are planted. Wind combined with low temperatures can make freezing damage worse in the spring.

Q. In March of this year I planted a 2 foot tree with few leaves.  It now has grown to 4 feet with a wide spread of branches. It is planted in an 18 inch pot in the southeast section of my yard.  Will this tree continue to grow in a container?  If so, should I transplant it to a larger container? I grow citrus trees in containers and in the ground successfully.  This is my first attempt to grow a peach tree. A. I am not sure that putting a full sized peach tree in a container is a good idea. It is going to get REALLY big in there unless you can get a huge container.  A better selection would probably be one of the miniature peaches like Bonanza, Bonanza II, Eldorado, Garden Gold or Pixie. There are others but I do not know how they might perform in our climate. The fruit is okay, not great and that has been the problem with miniatures.             I do not think a standard sized fruit tree will live as long in a container and will probably have to be replaced sooner than one in the ground. But if you do not have the room then go for it but put it in a very large container. The larger the better.

I will be holding the first pruning workshop of the season at the UNCE Orchard in North Las Vegas at 9 AM on Saturday, November 12, 2011. This workshop will talk about how to lower fruit trees to make them more manageable from the ground and hopefully eliminate the need for ladders. We typically begin this type of pruning before leaf drop in the fall because we have so many fruit trees to do. The homeowner can wait until after leaf drop in midDecember. The Orchard volunteers are asking for a $5 donation to help support educational programming at the orchard. You will learn: how to sharpen, adjust and sanitize your pruning instruments how to make the right kind of cut and where for all fruit trees Bring your pruning tools and you can help the volunteers lower some trees after you learn how. RLLM aka Extremehort [email protected]

Q. In late February I planted in containers three Hawaiian tomato plants which grew to three feet, produced an abundance medium-sized sweet tomatoes.  By the end of July plants showed signs of dying.  Being from New England I assumed it was the end of the plants life and removed from pots.              A friend told me I should have slightly cut back the plants and continued watering. These plants would have made a comeback and produce new flowers and fruit during our fall season.  Would you elaborate on this subject?  I have never heard about tomato plants producing 2 crops. A. Tomatoes stop setting new fruit as soon as temperatures get into the upper 90’s and so you will harvest these early fruits until usually in July and then it produces no more new fruit until fall again when the temperatures drop back into the lower 90’s.             I often recommend cutting tomatoes back in late summer when it is no longer producing if you have a warm microclimate in your yard. If you do not have a warm location free from strong winds you probably shouldn’t bother.             It is very touch-and-go when we do this at the orchard since we are fully exposed to cold northwest winds. Just depends on whether we have a warm fall or not. Late summer is when we begin some of our fall crops and is a good time to plant corn (bet you didn’t do this either in New England).             So here we can have two springs, one before summer and one after summer (actually fall but acts like spring sometimes). I frequently call our summer “Las Vegas winter” since this is the time of year so many things struggle due to heat and lack of humidity.             Winter can be a fabulous time for growing fall and spring crops again if you have a protected location or provide some protection if it is exposed.             Cutting tomatoes back for fall production usually begins in late July or early August. The plants are trimmed back to invigorate new growth and reign them in if getting too large. A small amount of fertilizer is applied at this time to invigorate new growth.             Foliar sprays are usually best since they don’t last very long but a small amount of quick release fertilizer (straight nitrogen) will work. Let them grow and begin flowering again and set fruit when temperatures drop.             Be careful not to overfertilize. You should get a nice fall crop of tomatoes. If there is a threat of a freeze in mid December (usually) then cover the tomatoes at night if it is to be a light freeze with a light covering like a row crop cover or old sheet. Remove it in the morning when danger of frost has passed.             If it is projected to be a hard frost pull the entire plant and hang the plant in the garage or sheltered area and let the tomatoes ripen on the vine in the garage. They will ripen more slowly if not removed from the vine allowing a more sequential ripening than if  you removed them all. Or use green tomatoes.

Q. Could you send me a couple of directions relative to pruning Persian lime and apricot?  Also, any schedule of classes on pruning that might help me.  I am a chef and have some limited time. A. I will give you my best shot at it without seeing it. Pruning is not a hard science and there are a lot of decisions that have to be made that are very specific to each tree. Apricot spurs             Apricots fruit on short flowering branches called spurs. It is important not to remove these short shoots. You will want to open the tree canopy to admit sunlight into the interior. You do this by eliminating the trunk at about 4 feet off of the ground.             This should result in about eight or so major limbs that come from the trunk. These major limbs should originate from the trunk starting at about the height of your knee and ending around 4 feet off of the ground. These limbs should radiate from the trunk, ideally, so that about two limbs occupy about one fourth of the canopy (about eight total limbs).             These limbs should radiate from the trunk in a pattern similar to spokes on a wheel so that they do not shade each other. The spacing of the major limbs coming from the trunk is such that hopefully there is at least a foot or more between limbs that originate on top of each other to prevent shading. Young apple tree showing how limbs radiate from the trunk using a birdseye view of the young tree. Yes, we prune apple trees in our moderately high density orchard in an open center fashion.             These major limbs may have fruiting spurs coming from them but their primary purpose is to support smaller limbs that have the majority of the fruiting spurs. These smaller limbs should be at a 45° angle, as close as possible, from vertical. This provides the perfect angle for creating flowering spurs.             Limbs that grow mostly up or mostly down should be eliminated at their source leaving no stubs. As you are finishing your pruning these major limbs should resemble a fan that radiate from the trunk in a fashion so that they do not shade each other, give balance to the canopy and allow filtered light to penetrate to the interior.             Persian lime is also known as Tahiti lime or a selection of Tahiti called Bearss which is nearly seedless. Regarding the lime, it should be pruned in a similar fashion but the fruiting does not occur on short spurs. Rather, the fruiting occurs on new growth, frequently in the spring after new growth begins to emerge but it can flower later in the year.             The biggest problem you might have will be protecting the tree from early freezing temperatures and the loss of fruit production because of these freezing or cold temperatures. The concept will be similar in arranging your major limbs to the apricot.             Citrus usually does not require as much pruning so after you get the major structure established on your tree, you will mostly remove growth which is growing downward, upward or crossing each other besides any broken or damaged branches, limbs or stems. I hope this helps.

Q. My husband and I spend four months away from the Valley during the summer. When we returned in late September we could not believe the number of flies in our yard…..and because we are used to leaving our doors open….in our house. We have always bragged to those less fortunate than we are and live elsewhere in the country, mainly in the East, how we have virtually no flying insects in Las Vegas. I’ve had to eat my words this fall….along with some flies. I have not been able to even sit outside and read without being bombarded in the face with these nasty insects. We live in Sun City Anthem….the far southern end of the valley. Is there something blooming/growing in my yard that flies really like? Has anyone else noticed this proliferation? A. Yours is the first report I have seen about an increase in flies this year. I do not know the products that are used for flight control, which is not an area of expertise for me. I would suggest however that somewhere, someone may be using a source of compost or manure products that are attracting flies. The best advice I can give in the safest is to find out what is attracting them and where and address the problem there. If you do not do it this way and simply spray to control flies or use some sort of sticky trap you will not solve the problem but just work on the symptoms of a problem. I hope this helps.