Learn how to incorporate mesquite into your diet

Looking for a way to spark up your cooking while adding healthier choices into your diet? Try mesquite!

Join Laura Eisenberg, horticulturist for the Springs Preserve, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at 333 S. Valley View Blvd. and discover the many reasons why mesquite is becoming a popular and beneficial dietary supplement.

You will learn the basics of harvesting, grinding and cooking with this traditional American Indian food. Participants also will be able to taste food from bygone days from recipes prepared during class. Seating is limited, so call 822-7786 to reserve your seat.

PUTTING NEW LIFE INTO STRESSED PLANTS

Yes, it's sizzling outside, but luckily we can escape into our air-conditioned homes for relief. Our plants are decisively rooted in our parched desert soil with sun and heat glaring down on them. To help them through these rough times ahead, here are some pointers for survival.

Dry soils: If our soils become dry, they become hydrophobic or shed water rather than letting it run down through the rooted area. To conquer this, apply a mild soap solution. Mix up a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent in a gallon of water and soak the soil under the plant's canopy. The soap breaks down what's known as surface tension of the soil, which repels water, causing it to shed off without being absorbed. One application overcomes the difficulty and keeps soil moist.

For sun-loving plants that require lots of water, like roses, make sure they have enough drip emitters to water roots. One emitter may be enough to start a one-gallon container plant, but once roots have grown a season or two, you need to add more emitters.

Irrigation: Always make sure plants are getting enough water. Vegetables and flowers need watering daily and sometimes twice daily, along with patio plants in containers. Newly planted trees and shrubs need daily watering until becoming established. And if you are watering plants like mesquite and jojoba, space those turns farther apart.

For established trees and shrubs, watering depends on their type. Nondesert varieties like juniper, euonymus and privet need a deep watering three times a week. Native and desert-adapted varieties such as mesquite, palo verde, desert willow and acacia can survive on weekly waterings and maybe twice a week irrigations if it gets real hot. This time of year we go into our monsoon season, and if we get lots of rain, curtail watering established trees and shrubs.

Stress: Wilt is the most common symptom of moisture stress on plants. Small plants and new plantings of all types wilt the most. If you notice plants drooping during mid afternoon, hose them off with cool water. It drastically reduces moisture loss from leaves and it cools plants. As a result, plants once again begin drawing more moisture from the soil than they lose through their leaves. Water pressure within plants returns, causing vegetation to perk up. But remember to let the garden hose run until cool water comes out; never hose down plants with hot water.

Scorched plants: If leaves are scorched brown and stems and branches are dry and brittle, it may be too late to save plants. Perhaps it was in the wrong place. Moisture-loving plants in dry places and shade-loving plants in sunny spots all spell disaster. Don't waste time nursing those plants back that are too far-gone.

There still may be some life in summer-scorched plants, and here is how to know. Check stems and branches for life. Scratch stems with your thumbnail, starting at the ends and moving down the plant. If scratching reveals brown, dry wood, keep moving down the stem. When you reach live wood, it will be green or cream colored and moist. Remove the dead stuff, just above a side branch, side shoot or dormant bud.

If you replant the same species, find a shady spot under a tree's canopy. Planting on the north side of your home or other structures such as fences or walls will not provide sun protection. The sun is nearly directly overhead, so shadows cast from walls will be almost nonexistent. Actually, east sides of structures offer better protection. You'll find significant shade cast to the east from mid to late afternoon.

Protection: Shading plants also reduces moisture loss. Purchase shade cloth and row cover fabric from garden centers and home supply stores. Cover plants directly, or construct a simple frame to hold the shade cloth. Position the frame overhead or to the west side of plants you plan to protect. And reposition patio plants to get afternoon shade or move them under a tree to help.

Pruning: Avoid pruning plants during the summer. It encourages new growth and may need extra water for the plant as new growth appears. Also, removing too much foliage exposes branches to bright sunlight and scalds the wood to become an open invitation for borers to enter the plants.

Nature's cover: Mulch is a must for summer relief of plants. They all benefit by having a blanket of organic matter such as compost or bark mulch under their canopy. A two- to three-inch layer will insulate the soil from getting too hot and drying out. After applying mulch, pull it back away from the trunk to prevent a disease called crown rot from killing your plants.

Taking plants home: Just as you never leave pets in a closed car during the heat, the same goes for plants. Never let them sit in a car, even with the windows down, for more than 10 minutes. When planning a trip to your nursery, make it early before temperatures soar or make the nursery that last stop in the late afternoon before heading home. Once home, give plants a drink.

Fertilizer: Hold off on feeding plants until fall. It's too hot, and the sun intensity is too great to feed plants. The salts in fertilizers can burn plants if they are stressing for moisture. If you do fertilize, always follow with a deep irrigation to move nutrients into the rooted area.

Humidity: If we have rain during the next few weeks, the humidity goes up and becomes uncomfortable for us, but plants love it. Humid air provides plants a break from the normal drying effects of our climate. Because plants lose moisture through pores in their leaves, the more humid surrounding air helps to reduces moisture loss. And the more water held within a plant means less moisture stress, even when temperatures mount.

With increased humidity also comes the potential for fungus diseases. This is especially true of plants watered overhead, such as lawns. If you need to water foliage plants, do so early, as morning sun quickly dries off foliage. Never water at night; the high humidity brought on by rains may prevent foliage from drying until morning. This allows diseases time to start growing.

Pests: Finally, never apply chemicals to plants when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. If you must spray, do it early in the morning, when temperatures are cooler. Better yet, try spraying with a strong jet of water. The jetting water controls many common garden pests, such as mites.

Linn Mills writes a gardening column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.