Cactus Fest will be valuable source of information

You can sure feel fall in the air. Isn't it refreshing? Even your landscape is breathing a sigh of relief. The coolness helps us regain an interest in adding plants and sprucing up the yard before our brief winter season comes, said Susan Kent of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Southern Nevada.

Kent suggested decorating your patios with dish gardens and exotic plants. Of course, her favorites are desert plants such as cactuses and succulents.

Whether we are adding to your "interiorscapes" or extending your outdoor living spaces, consider the environment where your plants will live and what you want to achieve and feel in those areas. Sorting through all this is not always easy.

To get lots of first-rate help and plant material, come to the Cactus Fest show and sale put on by the Cactus and Succulent Society. It's over at Turner Greenhouse, 4455 Quadrel St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

You will see exotic and native plant materials at their best and go on informative "walks and talks." Learn to use the Joshua trees, ocotillos, yuccas and saguaros that add strength, desert grace, texture and color. These plants have interesting root structures and water requirements, so learn how to grow them right.

Learn about shrublike plants including agaves, aloes, opuntias and echinopsis. They develop beautiful blossoms and fill in corners to make excellent focal points. Kent loves to dapple them along sides of a riverbed or form intrusion barriers. The golden barrel, Arizona fishhook and "hairy old man" also appear along with sentinels such as the San Pedro and Silver Torch.

Container gardening and gardening in shaded areas with plants from Africa, including Madagascar, also are popular and add to both indoor and outdoor living enjoyment -- and there are thousands of plants available.

Serious collectors, as well as designers and homeowners, will be able to make judicious selections. Experts will be doing potting demonstrations throughout the day. Get to know the right plants for the right purposes and experts will help with plant selection and understand design and technique.

Come on out to the Cactus Fest. In addition, you will be able to browse garden art, plant-related paintings, beautiful hand-thrown pottery, gourd work, perhaps a regional book or two, and some jewelry. Go to the group's Web site at csssn.org to get a detailed schedule of programs and speakers, times of potting demonstrations and a partial list of vendors.

Fall gardening classes: Fall in Las Vegas is the perfect time to get your garden in shape. Master gardeners will offer four free gardening classes on Wednesdays, beginning at 7 p.m. this week at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lifelong Learning Center, 8050 S. Maryland Parkway. You'll learn how to winterize your garden on Wednesday, design a desert landscape on Oct. 10, care for your interior plants on Oct. 17 and get tips on hiring a landscaper on Oct. 24. Register for all classes, or pick the session you plan to attend. To reserve a space, call 257-5555. Only preregistered individuals will receive handouts.

Mesquite meal -- it's a grind out there: Many desert plants we include in our landscapes produce edible seeds and pods such as the mesquite. Join Laura Isenberg of the Springs Preserve, who has done extensive work with mesquites and their edible seeds and pods. Let her show you a healthy alternative to your diet as she shares different items she has prepared to tickle your taste buds. This program will be at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 6. The cost for the program will be $11 for nonmembers and $9 for members.

Wine and food pairing workshop: If you've ever experienced the pairing of wine and food, you know how magical it can be. Bob Morris of Nevada Cooperative Extension has put this kind of a workshop together to help you. If you want to be part of it, contact him at 257-5509 or e-mail morrisr@unce.unr.edu. It is Oct. 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lifelong Learning Center. Seating is limited, so call early.

Q: What is the light-colored grass that is growing faster than my lawn? It shows up in patches.

A: This nuisance weed is yellow nutsedge, also called nutgrass. During the summer it grows rapidly, especially when getting a lot of water. Nutsedge is difficult to control. Dig one up and you'll find tubers that look like small white kernels on fleshy underground stems. This plant is a plague because it reproduces by tubers, seeds and stems. Those underground tubers winter over, storing food, and are drought-tolerant. Pulling this weed up won't work, because the tubers stay behind to come again next year. Mow the grass often to prevent it from seeding and next spring. Start with an effective weed killer, but you must keep at it.

Q: How do I get rid of the gophers in my lawn?

A: Gopher traps are the best way to control them. Purchase two gopher traps from a feed and tack store and place them in opposite directions in the gopher tunnels to get them coming from either direction. Find the tunnels by probing a foot away from the mounds and place the traps in the tunnels and then cover the holes with cardboard. Wire traps to stakes to allow for safe and easy trap recovery and to prevent predators from removing them. Check the traps daily. If you fail to catch one within three days, move the traps to a new location.

Q: What is happening? The bark on our Chitalpa tree is splitting to expose the inner wood.

A: Splitting is a common occurrence with Chitalpas and is brought on by water stress. Let the tree heal itself, because trees develop their own defense mechanism.

Q: Someone left us a tortoise. Can we give it to the Springs Preserve or what shall we do with it?

A: Call the Clark County tortoise pickup service at 593-9027. They'll care for the tortoise until it has an approved home. Read about adopting a tortoise at www.tortoisegroup.org. The Springs Preserve cannot accept animals.

Q: Why is my saguaro cactus cracking around its base?

A: Dave Turner of Turner Greenhouses suspects the string used to identify the plant was not removed and caused the cracking.

Taking this a step further, many trees are struggling because bands tied to stakes are too tight. Remove them for proper expansion of trunks; otherwise they become weak and break in winds.

Linn Mills writes a gardening column each Thursday. You can reach him at linn@reviewjournal.com or at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve at 822-7754.