Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.
Q: I planted a sweet lavender plant last year and it grew great until this August and then suddenly died. It was getting about 2 gallons per watering via two emitters. I would like to replace it with another lavender. It gets morning sun and afternoon shade. What variety of lavender would you recommend we try?
Branch dieback in citrus, particularly lemon, is very confusing. Most likely it is a disease issue called “shoot and twig dieback” of citrus.
This is the Mojave Desert. Las Vegas and the high or middle deserts can have cold winters, unexpected early spring frosts and winds. Depending on the type of citrus, fruit trees can survive cold temperatures ranging from the mid to low 20s all the way to no freeze at all.
Selecting a fruit tree that gives you improved tolerance to freezing winter temperatures may be a better idea in the long run
Darryl McDaniels, a founding member of the rap group Run D.M.C., highlighted education and called the ABCs “the greatest rap of all time.”
One way to find out if an unnamed plant is xeric is to water it less often during the cooler months. If it starts looking bad to your eyes or dies, then it is most likely not xeric.
Native plants have a very wide and established root system. Big native plants look beautiful but are exceedingly difficult to move from the wild primarily because of their established root system.
Smaller plants do the same job as larger plants and use less water. If you already have large trees and shrubs, prune them smaller.
In Clark County, a fruiting olive is not permitted by county regulation. If you live outside of Clark County, then growing fruiting olives is acceptable by regulation.
Q: Our sweet bay laurel trees face east and are watered by a drip irrigation system on a separate line for trees only. Obviously, these trees are not doing well. They were originally 24-inch boxed trees planted in 2013. Our HOA contends they are close to the end of their lives, and they will be removed. Any ideas?
Nematodes are a rare occurrence in young plants. It is normally not something that happens to recently planted trees unless you have nematode-infested soil.
The three most common problems for lawns are irrigation, disease and insects. The easiest to diagnose are insect problems.
Apriums, like apricots, need lots of heat to ripen and sweeten to their highest quality. They did not get it this year.
The general recommendation is to not have rocks greater than golf ball-sized so that lawn grass roots have a place to grow. Trees and shrubs have similar guidelines.
Strong winds are particularly damaging in the spring when leaves are new and tender. Strong winds equal increased water lost by plants. The sudden death of leaves right after strong winds signals a need for water.
