Our valley does not have the nutrients that many trees require and often times we need to give our organic friends a little help with fertilizers.

The first thing is to determine whether or not your tree needs fertilizer and if so how much so it is important to know what type of tree you have.

Your local nursery is a great place to ask questions, but you might want to look at the University of Nevada Extension Office. Here is a link to their website:  http://www.unce.unr.edu/programs/horticulture/

When to Fertilize a Tree:

Ideally, growing trees should be fertilized throughout the year. The greatest amounts of nitrogen (N) based fertilizer should be applied during the early spring and summer months. Several light applications a year are preferred as the tree gets older. A soil test may be needed to determine the amounts of phosphorus (P), potassium (K). Read the label for proper ratios and application rates of N, P and K for trees.
Again, for young trees, the time to put out fertilizer is late March through early June. When a tree reaches the desired height you may want to decrease the fertilizer application to only once a year.

How to Fertilize a Tree:

You do not need to remove mulch to fertilize! Scatter or drop grid fertilizer under the tree’s drip zone but avoid touching the tree trunk with the material.
An application of between .10 and .20 pounds of nitrogen per 100 sq. ft. will be adequate.
Again, read the label. Keep solid or concentrated fertilizer off stems and leaves and adequately water the fertilizer into the soil as that prevents fertilizer burn injury to roots. Stick with the higher ratio nitrogen fertilizers unless your tree is determined to be deficient in potassium or phosphorus (soil test). N-P-K rates of 18-5-9, 27-3-3, or 16-4-8 are good bets.

Organic Fertilizers:

Organic fertilizers come from plant and animal sources. These fertilizers have a slower release of nutrients as they need to be decomposed by soil microorganisms. They are easy on plant roots but take longer to become effective.
Organic fertilizers are harder to find than inorganic fertilizers and often more expensive but they are the least harmful and less exacting when applying. The best organic fertilizers are cottonseed meal, bone meal, manure and chicken litter. Read the label (if packaged) for application methods and amounts to use.

Inorganic Fertilizers:

Inorganic fertilizers are inexpensive and are the most frequently used fertilizers for trees. Inorganic nitrogen based tree food sources are sodium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate.
General purpose fertilizers are complete with N-P-K which is usually defined as the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the mixture. You can use these excellent fertilizers but don’t overdo. Use high-ratio nitrogen products unless a soil test suggests a lack of other nutrients. Inorganic fertilizers can come in slow-release, liquid or water-soluble for foliar application.
Read the label for application rates.

Remember Organic Soil Amendments:

The greatest value of most organic materials is in the change they bring to soil structure. Remember that chemical fertilizers have no positive physical effect on soil structure.
Peat moss, leaf mold, pine bark, sawdust, and stable manure can improve the soil while adding nutrients. These amendments increase the fertilizer and water-holding capacity of many soils. Mulching with these amendments aid in root development.

The Australia Willow  is also pretty common shade tree in Las Vegas, but does require more water. It can get up to around 40′, it has a deep taproot and won’t be invasive around sewers, pipes, etc., and it once it is established, does not need much water. A few other suggestions are the Bottlebrush tree (needs a little more water, a little messier), Crepe Myrtle, Texas mountain laurel (about the right size). If you are looking for a fast growing shade tree, try the Dalbergia Sissoo (Indian Rosewood). It is bigger than the other trees, but a great tree, nevertheless.

As for shrubs,  Texas ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens), Mexican bird of paradise, and Yellow oleander (Thevetia peruviana, could also be a small tree) are great too.

It is still recommended that you check with your local nursery to see how well the shade tree will manage here in Las Vegas.

Here are guidelines to help ensure that the tree you buy and plant this year will be part of your landscape in the years ahead.

• LOCATE LOGICALLY – Trees need room to develop root systems underground and branches above ground. Don’t plant trees that will grow too large in small areas. Also avoid planting under power or telephone lines or too close to buildings.

Site suitability will determine which, if any trees to plant. The designated site may be in the lawn, near a patio, along a street or sidewalk, in a garden, in sun or in a shaded spot. Soils may be clay, sandy, saline, compacted, wet or dry, gravelly or even full of old building rubble. Whatever the situation, you will need to determine if the site is suitable for growing a healthy tree.

Consider planting for energy conservation. Deciduous trees will shade the west, south and east sides of the home in summer, and evergreen trees along the west and north edges of the lot will provide winter windbreaks.

• CHOOSE CAREFULLY - For what reasons are you planting the tree? You may want privacy, increased property values, a windbreak, shade, fall color, flowers, fruit or a bird habitat. Perhaps you want to create a sound barrier. Combine this information with knowledge about the site.

This is a good time to visit your local Cooperative Extension agent. You can ask for fact sheets titled “How to plant trees and shrubs;” “Small deciduous trees for privacy and color;” and “Large deciduous trees for street and shade.”

You’ll want to consider that fast-growing trees often are weak and subject to storm damage. Think about the mature size and shape of trees and learn whether their roots might invade sewer lines, lift and crack sidewalks or make bumpy lawns. Learn which trees are likely to harbor insects or diseases.

• DIG DILIGENTLY BUT CAUTIOUSLY – Before digging, contact your utility company to mark the location of any underground lines. You could be liable for damage done to such lines.

To prepare the site, mark a circle or square at least 3 times the diameter of the tree’s rootball. Excavate the area with a pick and spade. In clay soil, dig to a depth 2-4 inches shallower than the height of the rootball. In sandy soil, dig to a depth equal to the rootball. Leave the bottom of the hole firm and undisturbed.

To the excavated soil, add 25 percent, by volume, of a coarse organic amendment, such as sphagnum peat, compost or aged manure. Mix it well with the excavated soil; this becomes your backfill.

• PLANT PROPERLY – Try to plant trees when the weather is cool, cloudy and humid, but not windy. If you can’t plant right away, keep the tree in a cool, shady, protected spot and keep the roots moist. It helps to soak bare root trees and shrubs in a bucket of water overnight before planting.

Remove any plastic or metal containers from the rootball. Place the tree upright in the center of the planting hole. If the tree is in a fiber pot, tear off the sides. If the roots of a containerized tree are potbound, “tease out” some of the roots and shallowly slit the rootball’s sides with your finger or a knife.

For balled and burlapped trees, cut any rope tied around the trunk and pull the burlap away. Cut any reinforcement wire, removing as much as possible, but be sure the rootball stays intact.

Shovel backfill into the hole; continue until roots are covered and most of the backfill is used. Don’t tamp the soil with your feet.

• FERTILIZE FRUGALLY! – Don’t put fertilizer into the planting hole; it may cause root injury. Next spring, fertilize young trees lightly.

Root stimulator solutions have negligible value. You can use them, but they aren’t necessary for transplant success.

• WATER WELL – Water the soil at relatively low pressure, using the hose or a “bubbler.” Let the water, not your foot, settle the soil. If the soil settles below grade, add more backfill. When done, the planting area should be well-soaked and moist backfill should barely cover the top of the rootball. Watering frequency depends on the soil, not the calendar. Dig with a trowel on the edge of the planting area. Soil that feels moist and holds together when squeezed doesn’t need water. Overwatering drives air from the soil, causing root suffocation. Frequent, light watering promotes shallow root development. Mulching will reduce watering frequency.

Send your trees into winter with a good supply of moisture by watering them thoroughly in fall. Water during extended warm, dry periods of winter to prevent drought damage to roots. This is especially important for trees planted the previous year.

• PRUNE PRUDENTLY – A newly planted tree needs only minimal pruning. Prune out only dead, diseased or injured branches. Research shows that transplanted trees establish quicker when as much foliage as possible remains. If you do prune, don’t use pruning compounds on pruning cuts.
• STAKE SENSIBLY – Trees can be staked too tightly or for too long. Don’t stake small trees or those not in the wind’s path.

Large evergreen trees, planted in a windy site, will need staking. To stake, do not use garden hose and wire. Instead run wire through grommeted staking straps or use wide strips of carpeting.  This way, the straps, not the wire, passes around the trunk. A year of staking usually is sufficient.

Rigid staking of a tree is counterproductive; research shows trees don’t develop normally if they’re not allowed any sway.

• MULCH MEANINGFULLY – A forest tree provides its own mulch with several inches of leaves on the ground. We can imitate this by mulching the planting area with 3 to 4 inches of wood chips, chunk bark, straw, pine needles or shredded leaves. Don’t use plastic beneath the mulch; water or air can’t penetrate it. Fabric-type weed-barriers are preferable.

One thing you won’t see in the forest is manicured lawns around a tree. Research shows that newly planted trees are at a disadvantage when they must compete with grass for water, air and nutrients. Keep grass from the planting area for at least one year. If you mulch around trees, instead of planting grass, you also prevent possible trunk damage by lawn mowers or string trimmers.

• WRAP IN WINTER – Use crepe paper or other wraps on your deciduous tree trunks about Thanksgiving time; remove the wraps around Easter. Do this for the first 2 to 3 seasons. This protects young trees from winter sunscald. If you’ve purchased a tree with the trunk wrapped, remove the material now; otherwise the wrap could harbor insects and diseases over the summer.

The problem is how do you get  something in the ground that nature designed not to be touched? The best strategy for planting them is to use tools. Never try to handle a cactus with your hands, even when wearing gloves! (Pricklypears will just leave them full of glochids, and a cholla – undoubtedly the most difficult cactus to move – and will impale you.)

Shovels, tongs and even long chopsticks are useful (and often required) for handling cacti. And carpet scraps, wide cotton rope or old garden hoses make excellent slings to move large or heavy plants. Smaller cacti can be handled with a thick wad of newspaper or an old towel. (Obviously the name of the game, no matter the cactus type, is “Handle With Care!”)

How to move a cactus is only the beginning when trying to replant one in the landscape. It helps to understand how the plant “works,” too.

Cacti aren’t just remarkable in appearance. They also exhibit perhaps the most dramatic adaptation that plants have evolved for life in arid regions: succulence, or the ability to store moisture. This storage is found within the stems. And in a majority of cacti, this piled-up moisture accounts for most of the weight and mass of the plant.

Stored moisture, drawn on in times of drought, also helps in the cultivation of cacti. So when replanting a cactus, it’s wise practice to let the roots dry out completely before transplanting. Drying out allows the roots to heal and close all the tiny lesions that are unavoidable as the roots are ripped from the soil, thereby reducing the possibility of infection. And because leaving a bare-root cactus in the garage is the very same as being in dried-out soil to the plant, the cactus simply continues its business of photosynthesis by using its stored moisture. This is handy for us: It means that there’s no particular rush about planting the cactus, and that the period of drying out – whether a week or a month – has no effect on the vigor of the plant. (But it’s important that bare-root plants be kept dry and in the shade while drying out.)

When it comes to soil type – either in a container or in the ground – cacti aren’t particular, but they do demand excellent drainage. In a pot, water should flow freely through when the plant’s watered. In the ground, water shouldn’t pond around the plant, and a cactus shouldn’t be placed where additional moisture might be expected, like under a roof eave.

Cacti in the ground never need to be fertilized, regardless of where they’re grown. But plants in pots can be lightly fertilized when they’re actively growing. If you use a liquid fertilizer, use it at half the recommended strength, and apply once (or at most, twice) in spring. If using a dry or time-released formula, add it to the soil once a year, again using half or less the recommended amount.

As with any plant, once your cactus is where you’d like it to be, keep an eye out for insects and diseases.  Mealybugs and cochineal scale, with their distinctive white, cottony masses, both may occur on cacti. Vigilance counts to keep these pests under control. Strong jets of water will remove minor infestations and prevent them from overwhelming your plant. Various insects, generally called cactus bugs, may also lay their eggs at the base of a plant, and their larvae will eat out the interior of the cactus. (Again, vigilance counts, and killing the adults as soon as you find them works best.)

A few bacterial diseases also occur in cacti. Black ooze or soft tissue are sure signs of such an infection. These are nearly impossible to treat, but if the problem’s caught early, remove the plant from the ground or pot, prune the dead roots, allow the plant to dry out, then replant when all signs of infection are gone. (Note: This treatment works well with potted plants, but plants in the ground are virtually dead by the time symptoms show up, so prevention is key. Don’t overwater, and be careful not to puncture or injure the plant, which just provides a pathway for bacteria.)

Whether you welcome them into your garden with a spot in the ground or in a pot, cacti are among the easiest and most gratifying of all succulents to grow. Following these simple guidelines, you’ll be rewarded with their arresting forms and extraordinary blooms for many years to come.

To help keep your sprinklers running at their best all you need is a few minutes and little white vinegar.

1. First try soaking a cleaning rag in white vinegar and rub the water sprinklers to remove residue. The vinegar naturally breaks apart the mineral content without damaging the sprinklers. If that does not work move to the next step.

2. Gently twist the sprinkler heads off (they are usually threaded like a cap on a bottle of Pepsi).

3. Soak the sprinkler heads in a bowl of vinegar overnight.

4. Rinse off the vinegar.

5. Gently put the sprinkler heads back on.

Enjoy your lawn.

Soil

Healthy soil is crucial to the success of your garden. Tilling and preparing the ground however can be a pain, especially if you don’t have the right tools. With a raised bed garden, the soil and mulch that you use to fill it will become less compact over time. This cuts down on prep time in the future and makes maintaining your garden much easier.

Heat

Finding the right time of year to plant your garden can also be challenging. Many plants won’t grow well until the weather warms up, but if you plant too late in the year it could negatively affect your harvest. Raised beds warm up faster and soon than the surrounding earth. Planting your seeds and young plants in the warm soil will give them a head start over plants in a traditional ground garden.

Components of a Raised Bed

Frame

A raised bed consists essentially of a frame that you fill with soil. You can construct this frame yourself, or if you’re looking for a faster solution you can reuse objects such as old door frames (both metal and wood) and tires (the black rubber helps absorb heat from the sun). Really anything will work; you just need to get your garden above the ground so it can be heated by the sun. Bricks, concrete blocks and even rocks can also be used. As with the tires, materials that absorb heat and feed it back into your garden will promote the growth of your plants. Some materials last longer than others, but ultimately they all go back and become part of mother earth, which just adds to the quality of the soil you are trying to create in the first place.

Soil

Another advantage of raised bed gardening is that your gardens are never walked on. This makes maintaining the soil much easier because it isn’t being constantly compacted while you work in the garden. Think about digging or plowing a garden and then harvesting and weeding that garden, all the while being in the very beds the plants are growing in. Contrast that with a raised bed that is walked around and but never in. Imagine how much softer, lighter and looser the un-trodden soil will be.

There is no need to ever dig a raised bed garden. Once you’ve selected a suitable frame, fill it with topsoil or potting mix or whatever, and let the processes of decomposition and micro fauna (worms) breaking up the existing soil begin. Year after year the soil improves and becomes more friable more workable with no extra digging on your part. Even the roots of the plants themselves serve to break up the soil and the ground below your raised bed and do your digging for you.

Note: Adding compost and mulch to your raised bed will also help in breaking up the original soil.

Conclusions

Raised garden beds have many advantages. Less work, better soil, healthier plants and an earlier harvest just to name a few. It will change the way you garden and many of these benefits can’t be appreciated until you try it yourself. Place a raised bed next to a traditional in ground bed and witness the miracle.

With the entire world becoming more aware of the finite resources of our planet, conserving water has been elevated to a prominent position of importance. Due often to inefficient delivery systems, the amount of water needed to keep our yards green might be excessive.

Sprinklers

The most popular method of watering gardens, lawns or landscaping is to put in an automatic sprinkler system, which is now relatively easy and inexpensive for even the beginner landscaper. The drawback to any sprinkler system is the amount of water which ends up, not in the soil feeding the plants but rather evaporating into the atmosphere or just blowing away in the wind. It’s like throwing money and energy into the air and watching it disappear.

Drip Irrigation

A drip irrigation watering system on the other hand puts the water right where it is needed, directly into the soil at the roots of the plants. In some cases this system uses as little as 10% of that water consumed by conventional methods. This being said, drip systems still won’t work in every case (e.g. your lawn). When you’re using sprinklers watering at night while the air is cooler and not watering during windy conditions can make a big difference in conserving water.

How it Works

Drip irrigation is achieved with the use of flexible tubing and drippers of various sizes at the ends, for either individual plants or small beds of flowers or vegetables. The tubing is much less expensive than pipe or hose, but can’t take the pressure coming from a standard water system either, so a pressure reducer is required at the spigot or the beginning of the line so that fittings and hoses will remain intact. The size of the initial water line is determined by the size of the area that needs to be watered. As the main line gets to a section of landscaping to be watered by drip, a smaller line can be run for that particular section, and from that smaller line drip lines can be added as needed to the individual plants themselves. One of the great advantages of a drip system is that more lines can be added at any time without cutting pipe or gluing fittings. Simply punch a little hole in the drip line using a drip line hole-punch, pop in a small line connector and you are ready for another drip line and dripper for a new plant.

The next piece of equipment required is a sediment filter. This will protect the small openings of drippers from sediment buildup and prevent clogging. Connected to the sediment trap is the larger size pipe which will carry the water to the rest of the system.

Drippers come in all sizes and are measured by how much water they let through in gallons per hour (in some cases this may be much less than a gallon). There are many different sizes enabling you to water high usage plants and low usage plants at the same time for the same duration, ensuring all hydration requirements are being met.

Note: If you already have a sprinkler system in place, it may be convenient to connect drip attachments by using the existing plumbing.

Conclusion

Once a novelty, drip irrigation is now becoming much more common. There are many manufacturers and different product lines to serve your needs. These products are available at all major home improvement stores and most hardware stores, gardening centers and nurseries.
With easy availability, low cost and potential water savings as well as monetary savings, now is the time to consider doing your part for water conservation, putting away the sprinkler heads and replacing them with drippers.

When to Prune

The ideal time to prune is in late winter. If necessary you can also prune into the spring and early summer. Pruning in the fall is a bad idea, because it stimulates growth when your trees are supposed to be getting ready for winter. If the trees don’t have enough time to complete this growth before winter it can cause cold damage.

Tools

It is important that you have access to proper tools for pruning

Hand Shears: Use these for removing small branches and twigs. Since you’ll use these most often, ensure that they are well cared for.

Loppers: Loppers have long handles for increased leverage and usually used to remove branches larger than 1” in diameter.

Folding Saw: This tool is used when removing branches larger than 3” in diameter.

Pole Pruners: These consist of a blade attached to a long pole and are ideal for reaching higher branches.

Pruning

If you’re working with a newly planted tree it’s best to give it 2 years to become established before you begin pruning. It is still important however to remove dead or decaying branches. In the tree’s 3^rd year of growth you may begin pruning in earnest. Removing dead branches is still a good first step.

As you begin pruning remember that the goal is to open the trees canopy and increase air circulation. Branches that are growing towards the trunk of the tree should be removed to allow room for outward growing branches. If you find buds directed away from the trunk these may be good candidates for new branches. Removing branches above the buds will allow them to grow.

When removing branches you first need to locate the branch collar. This is the wrinkled part located where the branch connects to the rest of the tree. Make sure that you cut above the collar. This contains all of the necessary cells for the tree to heal itself so try not to damage it.

Another important point to consider is that the ideal apple tree has only one central leading branch.  If you see another beginning to grow, remove the weaker of the two. This will ensure that your tree remains strong.

Another tip: If your tree is lacking the lower scaffolding branches you can force them to grow using the following technique. Locate a bud low on the tree and cut 1 mm above and below the bud. Then cut the notch between these nicks completely out making sure to cut though the bark and into the green. This will cause a branch to grow on the spot.

Thinning Fruit

When your tree begins to grow apples you will occasionally encounter an over abundance of fruit. This will cause your tree to produce small apples. Thinning the apples early on will ensure that your tree grows normal sized apples. Generally speaking the apples should be spaced about 6 inches apart along the branch. Remove extra apples favoring larger healthier looking fruit.

Call the local utility company and have them mark the locations of underground cables in your yard. Following this, determine the dimensions of your yard and the sprinkler coverage required. Based on this information plot the location of each sprinkler head and also determine where pipes will be needed to feed water to your sprinklers. You may want to use flags to mark the locations of your sprinkler heads.

Step 2: Anti Siphon-Valve

Because the water that supplies your sprinkler system comes from you main water supply it is important that you have a way to prevent brackish water and lawn chemicals from working their way back into that water supply. To accomplish this, install an anti-siphon valve.

Step 3: Trenching

The next step is to dig trenches where you’ll run your pipes. Dig a trench 6” to 8” deep. Sides of the trench should slope at a 45-degree angle. If you place sod and one side of the trench and dirt on the other, filling the trench back in will be much easier in later steps. Renting a trenching device such as a vibratory plow can make the trenching process much faster and easier.

Step 4: Plumbing

Run your pipes along the trenches and attach them according to manufacturer specifications. Use a t-joint when connecting to the main water supply. Once your pipe has been laid, attach your risers.

Step 5: Sprinkler Heads

It is important that you select sprinkler heads that fit the irrigation requirements of your lawn and landscaping. Before installing the sprinkler heads, flush clean water through your new plumbing to remove any debris. Insert your sprinkler heads into the risers ensuring that the heads are flush with the surrounding sod. Once your sprinkler heads are installed you can fill in the trenches with dirt and sod.

Step 6: Timer

A timer will control when and how often your sprinkler system is activated. Tap into the main water line and install according to manufacturer specifications. Test your new sprinkler system.