Bob Morris

The general recommendation is to not have rocks greater than golf ball-sized so that lawn grass roots have a place to grow. Trees and shrubs have similar guidelines.

Strong winds are particularly damaging in the spring when leaves are new and tender. Strong winds equal increased water lost by plants. The sudden death of leaves right after strong winds signals a need for water.

Black spots on a pluot could be either from the sun (sunburn on the fruit) or, more likely, a nutritional problem.

Bunch diseases attack only grape bunches. At the beginning of summer is when we notice disease problems on the berries of grapes such as the so-called bunch rots.

A first-time soil test establishes a baseline and tells new homeowners at the beginning what’s adequate about their soil chemistry and what’s missing.

Generally, the varieties of fruit trees that flower earliest produce the earliest fruit. If there is a frost while the flowers are open, it will produce less fruit or maybe no fruit at all.

We are nearing the end of any soil applications of iron fertilizers that work. Once early spring through early summer has passed, the only thing that cures leaf yellowing is the leaf sprays applied directly to yellowing leaves.

EDDHA can be a miracle iron application with yellowing citrus when all your other efforts fail.

Agave weevil control is done from about the middle of April until the middle of May.

Fireblight, or fireblight disease, is one of the few bacterial plant diseases that threaten cultivated fruit trees and ornamentals.

Minor pruning cuts requiring hand pruners are done anytime you see a problem. You can do them now if you want. Just not large limbs.

If you want to improve drainage for cactuses then plant them higher than the surrounding soil. This type of cactus requires deep but infrequent irrigation.

As we water plants infrequently, the roots extract water and grow into deeper layers of soil. Deep rooting of plants is the main reason good gardeners say, “Water plants deeply but infrequently.”