Q: All the large pines on my property have branches that are turning brown in some form or another.
Home and Garden
Right now is the time to prune grapes. Prune citrus now if there has been damage from cold weather. If your citrus is young, prune it to tree form, removing side shoots to about the height of your knees. I delay pruning citrus and grapes until I am sure most of the cold weather has passed, which is mid- to late February.
Q: Recently you recommended applying compost to lawns. I am confused if you mean steer manure. How often do you recommend doing this? When should I do my first application? My lawn is approximately 1,000 square feet. How much compost should I buy?
Q: We have seven large olive trees on our property. In the past, we used two different local tree services to spray our trees to minimize the amount of olive production. One company told us we needed two applications in early spring, and the other said we only needed one. Both came at a very high cost, and the results left much to be desired. Every day we had to sweep up hundreds of olives. Do you have any suggestions as to what might work and the timing of when the trees should be sprayed?