This is a great time of year to head up to the Spring Mountains Recreation Area — what we locals call Mount Charleston. You will experience crisp, early-fall temperatures and maybe a good fall foliage show in the surrounding mountains. One of the best options might be Fletcher Canyon, a side branch off the larger Kyle Canyon. This is a moderately strenuous hike with an 880-foot elevation gain, but it is suitable for most older children and adults, as long as they can handle a 3.5-mile round-trip hike.
Come and visit me at the Home Improvement and Backyard Expo on Sept. 16-17 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the South Point. Bring in some plant samples or pictures and let’s talk about them. Would you like a couple of 10-minute classes? I will stay longer than 2 p.m. if anyone wants to chitchat.
There’s this baseball team of 12-year-olds from Las Vegas who went to Cooperstown, New York, for eight days last month to compete in a tournament. There were 103 other baseball teams participating, similarly composed of 12-year-olds from all over the U.S. and Canada.
I will be at the Home Improvement and Backyard Expo at the South Point on Sept. 16 and 17, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. I will be there to answer any questions you may have and to chat. I will stay longer if people have questions. Come and see me. I would love to talk with you.
Q: I contacted you earlier about my artichoke and tiny black bugs. I applied a solution of Garden Safe Neem Oil as a spray. Hosed it down a couple times so cut off the top few inches of leaves. No pests since then. The main plant is dying, and there are several suckers growing. I have been looking online for the care of the plant.
Near the lower Colorado River in eastern California, the Blythe Intaglios are giant designs, man-made long ago by engraving, tamping or scraping away the desert pavement, thus exposing the lighter gravel or soils beneath.
Due to fire laws, they had to close the doors to the largest auditorium in Sun City Summerlin, which was already packed beyond capacity, leaving several dozen folks outside.
Q: I planted a Pink Lady apple and a Fuji apple together as pollination partners last March. My Fuji died over the summer. I like Fuji apples from the store but I’m wondering if I should try again with another Fuji tree or choose another variety?
The appropriately named Grand Canyon can be enjoyed from at least two perspectives. The South Rim is more popular andopen all year. The North Rim is closed in winter, but the best time to visit there is upon us: September and early October,before most North Rim services shut down about mid-October because of early snows. In that window, weather will usuallybe clear, with a slight chill.
Q: Why does your list of recommended fruit trees have no citrus? I understand the problem with freezing during the winter, but nurseries and garden centers here sell citrus. If I could provide some sort of wind block from cold winter winds and some frost protection, would lemons or oranges have a chance or are they just generally doomed?
You can’t say enough about Summerlin. Sure, it’s one of the most successful master-planned communities in the country, just as it has been for 27 years.
Q: Your advice has helped me get a couple of dozen figs off my relatively young trees this year. However, the attached photos show where there were two figs a few days ago and now they are entirely eaten. I have a net over them so I don’t think it’sbirds, and I cannot see bugs anywhere on the plant.
Hidden Forest can be the destination for a wonderful 10-mile, round-trip day hike, or for a backpack excursion up to arustic cabin in a ponderosa pine forest. Though the trailhead lies within 50 miles of Las Vegas, its 5,860-foot elevationprovides a welcome escape from the searing summers of the valley floor. It gets even cooler as you go, for the hike has anelevation gain of about 2,000 feet. The gain is spread pretty evenly through the journey, but it’s moderately strenuous evenso.
Q: We have a very lovely and well-tended hybrid Bermuda lawn. This past fall, and now this summer, it has been invaded by a weed called oxalis. What are your suggestions for killing this weed and not damaging our lawn?
Groundbreaking ceremonies have become routine in Summerlin, thanks to the continuing economic uptick. Although some groundbreakings are for extraordinary developments, both in size and in value, few bring out the most notable public official in the state.
