Desert Horticulture

Testing of home landscapes can be expensive. Sampling and testing of desert soils doesn't  have to be done every year. Usually every three to five years is enough. Learn how to establish a baseline desert soil test of your landscape and how often testing should be done. All this and more in this episode of Desert Horticulture.

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Desert horticulture is a unique form of horticulture that must be tweaked for desert soils, increased sunlight intensity, increased temperatures,  low humidity and other factors. It's frustrating when solid local horticultural advice been given and people check its accuracy on a general horticulture Internet sites, not knowing whether this advice is good or bad. When seeking advice stay close to home and from a reliable source.  Sometimes advice is based on marketing. Sometimes it's just bad advice. Only you can determine if the advice is applicable to your situation or not.  Find out more on this episode of Desert horticulture.

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Desert soils can be very low in organics. This is why amendments are added to landscapes. Amendments will benefit the soil structure or soil chemistry or both! Learn what it means to amend the soil and differences in soil amendments and what they can and can't do. Learn how composts differ in how  rich in nutrients and why, how they are made and which to use and when.  All in this episode of Desert Horticulture. 

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Iron, manganese and zinc is in short supply in desert soils. Particularly iron. Learn how applications of iron should differ, from soil to liquid leaf (foliar) applications, depending on the time of year. Not only that but its effectiveness varies depending on the type of product used, how it is applied and when it is applied. Learn this and more in this episode of Desert Horticulture.

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Fire blight disease is one of the most virulent and aggressive diseases that fruit trees and landscape plants can get. This past year we've had an outbreak of this disease. Some fruit trees and landscape plants are more susceptible to it than others. In particular Asian pears, Quince and some European pears as well is apples can get it. Walk your landscape and Orchard in the spring months when new growth occurs. If you've had fireblight in the past walked your landscape frequently to check on this disease. Learn more about this disease by listening to this episode of Desert horticulture.

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Summer pruning is a confusing management practice. It starts around late spring or very early summer and may continue all summer long. Its purpose is twofold: keep the tree smaller and reduce the winter pruning workload. Summer pruning focuses on removal of new growth only from existing productive trees. Summer pruning allows the tree to invest new growth where it senses light and a "hole" in the canopy needs to be "plugged". When fruit trees are meant to stay small, summer pruning can be a valuable management tool. Learn all about it on this episode of Desert Horticulture.

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I'm not a huge fan of growing citrus at the middle elevations in the Eastern Mojave desert but it can be done. Citrus production is best done in southern Arizona and at lower elevations, warm parts of Southern California such as Riverside and Orange counties and along coastal regions such as the Galveston area of Texas. Citrus in our part of the world is best treated as a hobby; some years you get a good crop and other years you don't. Because of global climate change and Covid, citrus is become very popular for home gardens. This episode of Desert Horticulture focuses on what kind of citrus to buy, wear and how to plant these small to medium-sized fruit trees.

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Wind can cause two types of damage to plants; visual and nonvisual damages. The most pernicious of the two are the nonvisual damages which reduce production and the quality of the fruit and vegetables and plants produced. This episode of desert horticulture discusses how we can design windbreaks that don't use any water or choose to divert winds away from the crops were producing. All this and more on today's desert horticulture.

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I will conduct hands-on pruning classes beginning Friday, Dec. 10. All classes begin at 9 am, cost $20 per person and will be held at the Ahern Orchard downtown Las Vegas (700 Clarkway Drive for gps). 

Separate classes will be given for apricots and plum (pluots, Dec 10), peaches Dec 17 and 18, apples and pears on January 7 (2022), pomegranates, figs and Jujube January 14, wine and table grapes on January 21 and fertilizers (plus iron) on January 28. I will be posting "how to" guides on my blog for those who cant make it. But nothing beats "hands on"!

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There is one palm that is sometimes called the "Desert Palm" and its not the Queen Palm but the California Palm. Although it can survive desert extremes, Queen Palm might not be the best choice when it comes to palms looking their best when grown in the desert.  Learn of Queen Palms shortcomings in desert environments and what you have to do to keep it looking its best in this episode of Desert Horticulture.

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