Light feeding can help trees through the heat
Questions continue to pour in as the temperatures rise. Here are some I encountered:
Question: You mentioned last week to fertilize our lawns, but what about trees and shrubs?
Answer: They also need a light feeding to help them through the heat, but don't overfeed. Your next feeding will be around Labor Day. For roses and flowers, feed them monthly through the summer but at half the recommended dosage.
Q: Why did my 4-year-old strawberries stop producing?
A: They are too old and crowded. You need to thin them out each year to keep new plants coming. After a mother plant produces her strawberries, she sends out daughter plants. When these become established, you should destroy the mother plants. Next year, when the daughters finish producing and sending out their daughters, destroy them. You can expect larger berries, but the berries do become smaller as the weather heats up.
Q: We love peonies, but no one seems to grow them. Why?
A: Peonies need to pass through a cold winter to produce the peonies you dream about, and we don't get those cold winters. However, I know gardeners who plant them in pots and grow them in areas such as Mount Charleston and bring them back in the spring to produce lovely peonies.
Q: Why aren't my pepper plants producing?
A: Peppers take awhile to get started. Now that it's hot they will come on. If a bush isn't producing, strip all the peppers off the plant and it'll really start producing.
Q: Why are the bottom leaves on my desert spoon cactus dying?
A: It's stressing for water. Check your emitters to see whether they are working properly. If plugged, fix them. Follow with a deep soaking to wet the soil, and avoid fertilizing until you see new growth emerging. After new growth emerges, groom the plant by removing the damaged leaves. Make cuts close to the trunk to avoid the ugly stubs. It is a durable plant and will survive.
Q: Where's the best place to plant my herb garden?
A: Plant as close as possible to the kitchen door for easy pickings. One lady built a window box under her kitchen window and opens the sliding window to do her harvesting.
Q: Is the fruit on my flowering plum tree edible?
A: Yes, but it won't be as sweet as fruiting plums. Flowering plum trees were developed for their ornamental value, not fruiting value.
Q: How can I prevent my tomatoes from cracking?
A: This is a result of irregular watering with soil dryness in between. A thick layer of mulch is the best solution to slow evaporation from the soil. A 3-inch layer of mulch will moderate this change by shading the soil surface and trapping moisture beneath it.
Q: My arugula stopped growing. Do I have to plant new ones?
A: Arugula is a cool-season herb, so heat is the reason for its stoppage. Let it reseed itself and it'll come back this fall.
Q: How can I get big tulips like I did last spring?
A: Here is the short version: Keep them watered, and in September, dig them up, put them in the refrigerator for six weeks and then replant. The key word in your question was big tulips like last year. If you don't care about size, just leave them in the ground, but expect smaller flowers next spring.
Q: Why is my compost pile stinking? We water it everyday.
A: That's way too much water. Keep your pile just slightly damp like a moist dishcloth, and turn the pile often. The excess water excludes the oxygen and causes the stench. Stirring brings things back into normal.
Q: Why are the lower leaves on my zucchini plants turning yellow?
A: It's a shortage of nitrogen. Apply it and your plants will green up from the top down.
Q: Why are there brown spots on my chitalpa tree leaves?
A: Experts are finding these spots to be characteristic of the chitalpa. The assumption is it's not getting enough water. The chitalpa is a cross between the desert willow and the popular catalpa tree from the north. That is why we suspect it needs more water. Be thankful you are not growing it in the Southeast. With their high humidity, powdery mildew plagues the tree.
Linn Mills' garden column appears on Sundays. He can be reached at
linn.mills@springspreserve.org
or 702-822-7754.
