Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

When and How to Prune Lantana and Oleander?

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Q. How and when should we prune our lantana and oleanders? This is a Lantana I saw pruned by a local company. Leaving this much wood remaining will make it very “twiggy” at the base. You can actually prune it much closer to the ground in this. You can see from this close-up that I took last February that suckering can occur much lower on the stems of Lantana. Don’t be afraid to cut it close to the ground. Leave about 1 inch for suckering. A. Both of these plants are pruned during the winter months since they both produce flowers on new growth during the summer months. After pruning, apply a high nitrogen and high phosphorus fertilizer to push new leaf and stem growth and dark green color. The phosphorus will help to promote flowering. Flowering will not occur until the top growth is large enough and comes into balance with the existing root size. This is sometimes referred to as the root to shoot ratio.  I would delay pruning them until late winter (late January) unless you don’t mind looking at “dead” space (the space is not occupied by anything). For lantana it normally freezes during winter months and you have a choice whether to leave the dead top of the plant in place or cut it down to the ground, leaving one inch of stems remaining to support the new growth beginning in February. You can prune oleander close to the ground, just like Lantana. Cut it back to within 2 to 3 inches of the soil surface. This is the time of year to do it up until about the end of January when it begins to push new growth all by itself.             Because the roots are fully grown, alive and healthy you will see very rapid growth in the spring. Fertilize the pruned plant in late January or early February to encourage new growth and flowers. Use a fertilizer that supports flowering plants such as a rose fertilizer blend or other fertilizer for flowering plants. You can see from this picture that new growth is beginning to sucker from the base just like Lantana. Apply a fertilizer near the base of the plant close to a source of water. Use the same fertilizer as the Lantana. A rose type fertilizer is fine. Oleander will regrow very quickly when cut back close to the ground, fertilized and watered. This was one month after pruning. Nitrogen in the fertilizer will push leaf and stem growth along with dark green color. Phosphorus in the fertilizer will push flower growth and flower size.             Oleander is pruned at the same time of year as lantana because it also blooms on new growth, not older growth. You can chose to remove 1/3 of the plant by cutting these largest stems to the ground for renewed growth at the base or you can cut the entire plant to the ground and let it regrow. Your choice. Either way you will see luxurious growth and lots of flowers next year. Again use a fertilizer that supports flower growth and apply it early in the spring. This is an example of a fertilizer that will push leaf and stem growth and dark green color. You would apply this immediately after pruning and water it in. A 10 pound bag sells locally for $7.95 This is an example of a fertilizer that it increases the number of flowers and their size. It should be applied about 4 to 6 weeks later. A 10 pound bag also sells for $7.95 .

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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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What To Do to Fruit Trees Now

2 Comments / desert, how much to water fruit trees, Las Vegas, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, nevada, when to fertilize, when to prune /

Q. What should we be doing to our fruit trees right now? A. You should be finishing your winter pruning now. Bloom on some fruit trees started early this year and if you haven’t finished it you can still go ahead while it is in bloom. Be careful of the bees.             Hold off on pruning grapes until later in February when the chance of freezing temperatures has passed.             Fertilize your fruit trees now if you haven’t. Use a balanced fruit tree fertilizer high in phosphorus. If you miss this application you can use three or four liquid applications to the leaves (spray) a week apart in the coming weeks.             If you suspect you will have yellowing due to an iron deficiency, apply the iron chelate EDDHA to the base of the tree with your irrigation water. Trees susceptible to iron problems include peach, nectarine, plums, apricots, almonds, apples and pears.             Before or immediately after bloom, but not during bloom, apply dormant oil to limbs and trunk making sure you spray the undersides of the leaves, not just the tops.             Irrigations should be once a week as soon as you see new growth. Newly planted trees can receive 5 to 10 gallons. Trees that are up to ten years old should receive 20 to 30 gallons each time you irrigate. Irrigations should be applied to at least half of the area under the canopy.             Prepare for thinning fruit trees of excess fruit in about a month. Summer pruning will occur in about April. Watch for my postings on future activities and when to do them.

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Prune Crapemyrtle in Winter or Early Spring

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Q. When is it best to prune crapemyrtle?  I’ve heard before winter, and again just before spring.  The last two years I trimmed back the branches (it is only about 5’ tall, about 1/3 of the way in late February.  What is right?  We live in Aliante. Crepemyrtle being evaluated at UNLV Center for Horticulture and Water Conservation in North Las Vegas. It is fertilized with an all purpose soil applied fertilizer, foliar applied Miracle Gro and EDDHA iron chelate along with a wood surface mulch. A. General rule of thumb on all flowering trees and shrubs is that pruning which affects flowering is always best done just after bloom so that the plant will have a chance to set flower buds for next season. If the pruning does not affect flower production, then prune in the winter.             Large limb removal should be done during the winter on all trees. If you are shearing it or in some way removing a lot of the ends of young branches then wait and do it just after it has finished flowering.             Large, heavier flower clusters and out-of-control growth results when branches are cut back severely. Flowers that result from these types of cuts can be so heavy that they bend branches toward the ground.  For this reason, do not cut the branches back to stubs every year.             Crapemyrtle blooms on new growth like oleander and pomegranate so it can be pruned in the spring and it will still flower normally throughout the summer. Summer shearing will affect flowering.

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Dont Prune Big Branches in the Heat

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Q. My plum tree is 10 years old and I dumbly cut some secondary branches two or three months ago. The tree was infected or inhabited by some bug that had dozens of points with sap dripping for a few years now. It’s lost most of its leaves already. Should I cut and run? A. You can usually cut small branches from the tree at any time. But if you cut larger branches from the canopy and it opens the tree and the interior limbs to direct sunlight during the summer months you could be in big trouble. Plums are very sappy trees. they produce alot of sap when injured. Here a limb was cut when the tree was actively growing and it exudes sap as a reaction to being wounded. the sap helps cover the wound and protects it. if bugs like borers are in the damaged area there is a good chance they will be suffocated.             Never remove major branches from a tree just prior to, or during, the summer months. Larger branches should only be removed in the winter.             Your plum is not tender to winter cold but if a tree is tender to the low temperatures of our valley there might be freezing damage during the winter. In cases like these you delay pruning until you just start to see new growth coming out in the spring. Here Pittosporum was cut back and sunburn resulted and dieback of the plant to shaded areas.             Cutting some branches will not cause the leaves to fall off of the tree unless there were some major problems going on. Make sure that the leaf drop did not just happen for other reasons such as the water was accidentally turned off or the source of water was plugged.             I would water deeply now with a hose and again in about one week and see what happens over the course of the winter. If the branches are dead, they will snap like a twig. If they are still alive, they will be supple and bend without snapping. If they are supple, then wait and see what happens this next spring.

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Center of Cassia Bush Died. What to Do?

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Q. I have a cassia at the corner of my house to block the street view of my air conditioning unit.  The whole center section visible from the street has died.  I’m beginning to cut out the dead limbs. I check the cuts but am not seeing any green at the bark.  Is there a chance that partially cut back limbs might still produce new growth?  Or should I cut back to the main trunk?  With no center section it looks ugly. Can I hope the living branches will fill in eventually?  Dig it out and replant with a new one?  One of the cassias and what it should look like with proper care as it is getting at the Las Springs Preserve A. Yes it is possible you had some winter kill but doesn’t sound like winter kill. Winter kill is most common on new growth, such as the tips of branches, if temperatures are just below their tolerance. If temperatures a considerably below their tolerance, then you will see death also in the older, larger diameter wood.  This is what a cassia will look like armed with hedge shears, improper watering and lack of fertilizer 5 years after planting. It is odd if it is just damaging the interior wood and leaving other parts of the plant alone. Another possibility is root rot if it is watered too often or the area is flooded. This should be fairly easy to determine by pulling the top of the plant toward you and looking at the base of the plant. In cases of root rot, trees and shrubs the plant will not be securely anchored in the soil. When you pull on it the base will move around and not be firmly anchored in the soil. In healthy plants that are not winter damaged you should be able to scrape the soft outer bark with your fingernail and see green beneath it. This is not easy to see in all plants. But at least the inner bark should be cream colored or white. So I would not cut anything back at this time. If there is winter damage then the killing temperatures already “pruned” it back. If the plant or plant parts are alive they will show you where to cut after new growth emerges. When it emerges, cut a few inches below the dead part of the limb and into the strong growth, just above a bud or at a crotch (where two stems come together). If you don’t see any new growth by mid-April, then it is dead. Whether to remove it or not is really a subjective call and not one I can direct. It is your call. With an established root system it should grow back very rapidly and will fill in the spots where there is strong sunlight.

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