Desert Horticulture

Are you frustrated that during the last few years early spring freezes eliminated your peach crop? Want to learn what plants are growing in your yard to take better care of them? Want to know how to prune a miniature or genetic dwarf peach tree? Learn all this and more on this episode of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Have you ever wondered how desert landscapes should differ from landscapes in wetter climates? Desert landscapes must endure hotter and drier weather and they require a whole new set of plants. We will learn why desert landscaping and landscape design are not just cacti and rock. We will compare it to Xeriscape and how it might differ from landscape designs in Colorado, New Mexico, West Texas and most of Utah. All this and more on this episode of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

This second episode discusses how to implement water conservation measures in desert landscape irrigation practices. Specifically it discusses how desert irrigation systems should be divided (valved) separately for the type of plants used (xeric vs mesic plants) and the size of the plants. Small plants should be irrigated separately from trees and large shrubs. It also discusses the use of a long metal rod (rebar) and inexpensive soil moisture sensors for determining when to irrigate and how many minutes to apply water.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) has been grown in China for 4000 years as a fruit. It tolerates a wide range of climates including our dry, harsh desert. In this interview with Rafael for Desert Horticulture, learn how this tree has been cultivated in our Mojave Desert climate with few pest or management problems. Also learn how Rafael has developed some promising new cultivars that specifically were selected for our desert due to their performance and taste.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Desert plants (xeric) use water differently from non-desert plants (mesic). Learn in this episode of Desert Horticulture how to irrigate desert plants and why terms like xeric, mesic, ET and others are an important first step when learning how to water a desert landscape.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

This episode of Desert Horticulture examines the possibility that verticillium wilt could be responsible for live die back in Desert Willow. The second question asks about soil amendments added to soil mixes such as Rock Dust, vermiculite or perlite. What are the reasons for adding them and why not? The third question compares Desert Museum Palo Verde with crepe myrtle and how they differ when managing them in the landscape and why. All this and more on this episode of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Three popular questions I was sent include improving the size of Bartlett pears, whether a pomegranate can be planted during the winter or not, and what are whiteflies and what damage do they create? In this episode I talk about the three major types of pears that can be grown in the Mojave Desert, how to get them bigger and when to pick them. I also talk about the best times to plant a pomegranate and what to be careful about. Finally, one reader didn't understand what whiteflies were, how to control them and the problems that they create. All this and more on this episode of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

The dead of winter is not the only time to prune fruit trees. Fruit trees can be pruned 12 months of the year you just have to know what you're doing and do it carefully in the desert. Find out what kind of pruning you can do outside of the winter months on this episode of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Your plants are telling you something. Maybe not in English but if you observe them they are talking to you. That dark green color of leaves after you fertilize is a good indicator of high nitrogen fertilizer, good growth tells you plenty of nitrogen was present earlier in the season. Leaf scorch might tell you the plant is in the wrong spot or planted wrong. Yellow leaf color may be due to a lack of nutrients, improper watering, or a cold winter. Plants do talk. You just have to stop and listen. Learn how on this podcast of Desert Horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Principles never change. How to apply them changes because you live in the desert. Vegetable production is the same in the Mojave Desert as it was in Michigan, Idaho, Utah or California. The APPLICATION of these principles change. Learn from this podcast the basic principles important when growing high quality vegetables in the desert.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Italian cypress is a Mediterranean plant which means it can survive in hot Mojave Desert residential landscapes. But some problems exist that can turn these plants into a brown mess like watering too often, planting them in the wrong soil, pests and even borers! These can get big! Can you control their height? Come and learn about where and if these plants should be in your landscape, how to take care of them including pruning and what to do if they are turning brown. Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Roses do beautifully in the desert for about 8 months of the year. The worst time is the middle of summer but they must be planted and irrigated correctly. Learn how to select, plant and grow roses so they stay beautiful all year long in the desert. Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Fall freezing temps are particularly wicked because they can catch plants off-guard, unprepared for a freeze. If you applied a high nitrogen fertilizer to these plants this is exactly why its a no-no. Learn what you can do to protect your plants from these potentially freezing temps.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Landscapes designed and installed for the desert should be special in many different ways if we want it to provide comfort for outside activities and still save water and keep electric costs low during the summer months. Join me in this podcast that is a companion piece for my class of the same name offered in late October on Eventbrite. I will discuss the more important aspects of home landscapes intended for the desert from the design through plant selection and irrigation. Many things can go wrong but having a landscape that you enjoy will make it a pleasure to fix it when there is a problem.Sign up for my class, "Fix Your Landscape" on Eventbrite which can be found here. Look for this as an online class beginning in 2020.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Lawns are difficult to maintain in the desert. If you don't establish it the right way in the beginning it will be that much more difficult later. This episode describes the importance of irrigation for desert lawns and learning how to do it right, fertilizers to apply and when, mowing mistakes and how to correct them and the "green ops" of desert lawn care: aerification and dethatching.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

Lawns are sometimes inferred to be the scourge the desert environment. But they are sometimes necessary. Learn when they should be considered, where they should be located, designed and installed as an integral part of a desert landscape. Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

There are two ways to produce tomatoes in the Fall in the Mojave Desert; by shearing plants or planting seed in the summer. Both will work. Something I forgot to mention is to make sure your pruners or scissors for shearing tomato plants is sharp and sanitized. Listen to this podcast and learn how to do it. All this and more in todays Desert Horticulture podcast.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

This podcast is about the relationship between fertilizers and organics in desert soils. If the organics in a soil aren't enough, fertilizers don't work as well. There is also the danger of having too much organics in desert soils. Different plants perform best with the right amount of organics in the soil. Their overall health and reaction to applied fertilizers are best when the level of organics in the soil match the plants growing there. Learn this and more on todays Desert Horticulture. Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

In this episode of Desert Horticulture I discuss the grasshopper invasion in Las Vegas and how they differ from locust invasions, the Cicada Killer Wasps and what to do about them if anything, and fruit salad trees. Think twice before you buy one. All this and much more in this Desert Horticulture podcast.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)

This desert horticulture podcast discusses different methods of controlling aphids in landscape trees, using drip tubing instead of drip emitters for irrigating trees in the landscape and how to manage shrubs like Butterfly Bush that grow better in colder climates. Join me in this episode of desert horticulture.Support the show (https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/)