Bob Morris

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.

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.

Lumps or bumps on the trunk are probably epicormic nodules, places on the trunk covered by thin bark that have a cluster of buds under it. These buds will sometimes grow into shoots. On some trees removing these shoots as soon as they are seen may cause these nodules to stop producing shoots or fewer of them.

I like deals. Buying a large tree in a box and getting it planted for free is a good deal. Just have it done right.

What affects average landscape water use? If the irrigation system is working and managed perfectly, then three factors govern how much water your landscape uses.

As soon as a house is built, the microclimate of its landscape is created. The landscape enhances this created microclimate. How the landscape is created can enhance or distract from this microclimate.

It’s a good idea in our climate to delay the final pruning of wine grapes and table grapes until freezing, dry and windy weather has passed.

Final pruning of fruit trees for less-experienced pruners is best delayed until flowers appear. It’s a lot easier to see where fruit will be produced when actual flowers are seen.

When an ornamental shrub is pruned, the end result shouldn’t be obvious. The end result, just like a good haircut, should be a plant growing in its natural form. Pruning plants this way is a lot less work and done much less often.