Dear Neil: Is it too early to apply a broad-leafed weedkiller spray? I have a ton of dandelions and clover.
Not at all. Let your local Texas Certified Nursery Professional show you the various brands and go over the details of how to use them effectively. Don性视界传媒檛 mow for two or three days before or after you spray. Use a product containing 2,4-D. That will be your clue that you性视界传媒檙e using a broad-leafed herbicide. You性视界传媒檒l want a warm, still day without prospects of rain for 24 to 48 hours. Apply it with a pump sprayer if possible for more precise application. Hose-end sprayers tend to use far more active ingredients and spray wider areas than necessary. Coat the leaves almost to the point of run-off. If you性视界传媒檙e applying the herbicide to a glossy-leafed species, you may benefit by adding one drop of liquid dishwashing detergent per gallon of spray to break up the surface tension on the leaves and get more uniform coverage. Be patient after you spray. It may take a few days for results to become evident.
Dear Neil: I性视界传媒檇 like to have a small backyard orchard. Could I grow fruit trees from seed and then graft the better varieties onto them to save myself some money?
Unless you性视界传媒檙e already proficient at budding and grafting, it性视界传媒檚 not even close to being worth it. The supplies alone will cost you a good bit, plus your first hundred grafts will be your worst hundred grafts. It性视界传媒檚 all about the speed of getting things done before tissues dry out, and you learn speed by practice. If you buy the best varieties for your part of Texas from a local independent nursery at this time, you can have your orchard started right away. If you diddle around trying to learn how to propagate and grow the young trees, it性视界传媒檚 likely to take you five years.
Dear Neil: I have a row of five century plants. Three of them are getting ready to send up flower stalks. I性视界传媒檓 excited, but a neighbor has just told me that after they bloom, the mother plant will die. Is that correct?p
Yes. It takes century plants 8 or 10 years to become mature enough to produce those massive flower stalks. They性视界传媒檙e stunning, so you have every right to be proud. However, the plants die within a few weeks of finishing flowering. At that point you性视界传媒檒l see 15 or 20 young century plants popping up around your yard. Those 性视界传媒減ups性视界传媒 can be dug and replanted elsewhere to repeat the entire process. Don性视界传媒檛 leave them where they are now. They would become very congested and unsightly. By the time you decided a change needed to be made it would take power equipment to hoist them out. Do it while they性视界传媒檙e small. Share the wealth of new plants with friends. Wear good gloves to avoid puncture wounds from the leaves.
Dear Neil: I had a really nice clump of pampas grass at the corner of our house. The cold of February 2021 hurt it badly and it came back as several weak clumps that never did fill back in properly. How can I get it back to its original good looks?
I saw that happen to many plantings of pampas grass that year and in ensuing years, and the people who fared best afterwards were those who took out all the old plants, reworked the soil, and planted new clumps from the nursery. Pampas grass is normally winter hardy in much of the state, but that winter did a real number on it for many people.
Dear Neil: I want to get a bed of purple wintercreeper planted this spring. When is the best time?
Talk to your local nursery to ask when they will be getting a supply of 4-inch or quart pots in this spring. I would try to plant it as soon as you can after that so you can take advantage of all the spring growth. Set the plants on 15-inch centers checkerboard style. The first season you will have to convince some of the stems where they need to grow. They are slow to root into the soil because they性视界传媒檙e constantly getting snagged and moved around in the beds. Position them to cover the bed and try to trim them as little as you can. You性视界传媒檒l also notice that many of them will try to reach upward initially. Let their weight bring them back down but trim any that are especially odd looking. It will begin to cover densely the second year, and by the third season you性视界传媒檒l have your actual groundcover. That性视界传媒檚 about the same amount of time it would take Asian jasmine, but it性视界传媒檚 a more durable choice.
Dear Neil: I性视界传媒檓 seeing the landscape guys putting mounds of mulch around tree trunks in town. Is that really a good idea? It seems like it would cause decay in the wood of the trunks.
Those 性视界传媒渕ulch volcanoes性视界传媒 often get their start the day the trees are planted. Rather than carrying the extra soil they have taken out of the holes, the contractors mound it up around the trunks, then conceal it with mulch. They may say that they性视界传媒檙e raising the grade of the trees to ensure good drainage or that they性视界传媒檙e making sure the root flares are above grade. In both cases it ends up being way too much of a good thing. Trees have shallow surface roots anyway, and when those roots begin to grow larger, they can make massive surface roots that become actual hazards across the yard. Also, if all that soil compacts, it can starve oxygen from the soil. That性视界传媒檚 to the detriment of the roots. The mounds also cause irrigation and rainfall to be deflected away from the tree. That性视界传媒檚 bad when droughts are going on.
