Q. About one month ago my landscaper recommended watering
six days a week for 20 minutes because he thought one of our Japanese
blueberries and Podocarpus (Japanese Yew or Yew pine) were not getting enough water. They were planted about six
months ago during the winter months when it was cool and now they are not
looking healthy.
A. If you follow me here or on my blog you know I’m not a
big fan of planting Japanese blueberries in our desert climate and soils. Maybe
one or two as specimens but not a bunch in a straight line and used for
privacy. I don’t like Yew pine either for similar reasons, but I seldom get
questions about yew pine. I get more complaints about Japanese blueberry failing
in home landscapes than any other plant except maybe bottle tree.
Wrong Exposure
People
buy both Japanese blueberry and yew and put them in the wrong places in a
landscape, fail to amend the soil properly at planting and surround them with
rock. Someone is doing a good job selling them as privacy hedges near a wall.
That’s a mistake in my opinion and I wish it would stop.
Watering
I am
assuming you are watering these plants three or four times a week and your
landscaper is suggesting watering daily. Watering three or four times a week
will be enough water for these plants during the summer if they receive enough water
each time. Daily watering any types of trees and shrubs is a mistake. That’s
not an opinion. That’s a fact. Don’t go there if you don’t have to. Your plants
may not be any better off after this change if they were planted in the wrong
place at the start.
I
suspect that both types of plants were planted in the wrong location in the
landscape. Both plants like shade in the afternoon when temperatures are above
100° F. They struggle if planted in full sun in our desert climate. They will
look bad during the hot summer months when planted near hot walls. Remember
this when you are evaluating your plants.
Amend Soils
Both
plants prefer highly amended soils at the time of planting. They are not true
desert plants, so they will require extra TLC. If these plants are surrounded
by rock they will begin to struggle in 3 to 5 years. If you do plant them, make
sure the soil is amended with a good quality compost at planting and surround
them with 4 inches of woodchips on the soil surface rather than rock.
What to
do?
emitters or size of emitters around those plants. Increase the amount of water
delivered to them so that it wets the soil to at least 18 inches deep. This can
be done without increasing the minutes needed. The soil should be wet out to
the dripline of the plant. Irrigate them deeply 3 to 4 times a week, not shallow
irrigations daily. The only plants in a landscape that require daily
irrigations during the summer are lawns, raised beds and annual flowers.
If you
think these plants should be moved to a different landscape location, replant them
during the fall and winter months. Remove 1/3 of the tops after they are moved.
You can successfully move plants that were growing up to two or even three years
in the ground if done correctly.
Do you have any alternative trees you would recommend for South Texas that would make for similarly good privacy screens as with the Japanese Blueberry or Yew?