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Bob Morris

Pecans too big, water intensive for desert

BOB MORRIS
April 23, 2012 - 11:17 pm
 

Question: We want to plant a pecan tree. Would you please recommend one for Las Vegas? If we plant one, can we cut it way back and keep it small like we did our other fruit trees?

Think twice about it. Pecans are big trees that require lots of water. If you want to proceed, then pick a Western variety that is self-fruitful and low chill .

Pecans are so big that cutting them back may result in a tree that is about two-thirds of its mature size, maybe 60 to 100 feet tall, but you will not get it much smaller than this. The reason you can keep trees such as almonds and pistachios small is because they are not big trees to begin with. The larger fruit trees, such as apple and pear, are usually put on dwarfing rootstocks.

Pecans are not on any dwarfing rootstock, so it will be hard to keep it small. Pecans tend to get anywhere from 70 to 150 feet tall and can have a trunk of 6 feet in diameter.

Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.

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