African sumac is considered somewhere between mesic and xeric in its water use. It’s not a true desert tree, but it can handle both a desert landscape and non-desert as well.
Bob Morris
Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.
I have had some reports of poor fruit production with Gala grown in the desert, but I have not found that to be true.
There are natural products that you can apply for controlling grubs of June beetles, including insect-devouring — but plant-friendly — nematodes.
Rose of Sharon is a hardy and fun deciduous shrub for our climate. It’s considered mesic in its water use and not meant for desert landscapes.
If young trees are given a lot of nitrogen fertilizer then new growth will be pushed at the expense of flowering.
Desert climates are notoriously low in humidity, particularly as the day gets warmer, so we enjoy fewer plant diseases and worry about them less than in places with humidity.
Without flowering it’s impossible for a fruit tree to produce fruit. If the tree flowered in previous years but not this year, then it is either something you did that contributed to its lack of flowering or something inherent to those varieties of fruit trees.
Plants like mesquite, palo verde and acacia are xeric in their water use. They use less water than alternative trees and shrubs and are controlled with applications of water.
Once a landscape design is finished, the amount of water it needs is fixed. You won’t be able to change the amount it needs, by much, without removing plants or changing them.
Weed control is the No. 1 pest problem for farmers. Pests include insects, diseases and weeds, not just insects.
The three worst weeds to control in home landscapes are common Bermuda grass, nutgrass and palm seedlings. Controlling common Bermuda grass and nutgrass organically requires persistence — knocking them back as soon as they appear until they finally start surrendering around late summer.
Dormant oil sprays are applied on warm, windless days during the winter to trees and shrubs after they are pruned. That’s when insects susceptible to these sprays are most vulnerable.
Pollen alert. That’s what we see on our advisories in the early spring. Pollen season might last until May. Right now we’re in mulberry season.
Why doesn’t my Meyer lemon tree produce any fruit? I was reminded of this question when I estimated the fruit production this year in a Las Vegas orchard.
The difference between Southwestern desert plants and other types of plants used for landscaping is the timing, or when the water is applied.
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