Comments for Pat Welsh Southwest Garden Advice, plus garden ideas for everyone http://patwelsh.com/wpmu Just another Patwelsh.com weblog Tue, 22 May 2012 16:24:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Comment on Peach Tree Problems and Solutions: Pruning, Fertilizer, and Dormant Spray by Pat http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/pruning/peach-tree-problems-and-solutions-pruning-fertilizer-and-dormant-spray/comment-page-1/#comment-2006 Pat Tue, 22 May 2012 16:24:15 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1085#comment-2006 Unfortunately, peaches are prone to a flock of pests and diseases. The best defense is to spray in winter several times with dormant spray and also to prune the tree when it is dormant. In New Mexico the correct time to prune is early spring just before the tree begins to grow again. http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H-327.pdf. You say you can find no borer holes. Nonetheless one of the causes of oozing gum is often borers. A thick oozing gum often hides the borer holes. To cure borers organically, contact your local County Extension office to find out the emergence date of borers in your community. Then locate the hole and kill the borer inside by inserting a wire or making a vertical cut with a knife. If there are no visible borer holes, however, and if the sap that oozes emits a foul smell then the problem is more likely to be bacterial canker (gummosis.) Moist conditions and frequent rains or many days that are excessively wet or cold can exacerbate the problem. It sounds as if this is more likely to be the problem. The cure for bacterial canker is to prune out the dead or dying branches. Disinfect your pruning tools by dipping in rubbing alcohol or a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water after every cut so you do not spread the problem. (Don't get bleach on clothes. Wash gloves after finishing the job.) In fall spray with a product containing basic copper sulfate or other dormant spray recommended against bacterial canker disease. Spray once a month as part of your regular dormant spray schedule every winter. In future keep the tree healthy by fertilizing and irrigating properly during dry weather. Water when the soil 6 inches deep is barely moist (use a tensiometer to find out), then apply enough water so it penetrates from three to four feet. In winter, prune and dormant spray according to the timing guidelines offered by your local County Extension. In future, never make holes of any kind, be they deep or shallow under the drip line or anywhere under the canopy of the tree. This was an error. Disturbing the roots may do irreparable harm to a tree. The proper way to mulch with compost under a fruit tree is to lay the compost on top of the ground under the canopy as mulch and the correct way to fertilize is (before mulching) to sprinkle the fertilizer under the canopy all over the ground from a foot or two from the trunk to the tips of the branches and then water the fertilizer into the ground. In future derive advice from experts, not from friends unless they are trained Master Gardeners or known horticultural authorities. By the way, your peach tree is probably not a known variety but was grown from a seed or if the spring flowers are particularly stunning, it may be an ornamental or flowering peach. This is why the peaches are not worth eating. Unfortunately, peaches are prone to a flock of pests and diseases. The best defense is to spray in winter several times with dormant spray and also to prune the tree when it is dormant. In New Mexico the correct time to prune is early spring just before the tree begins to grow again. http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H-327.pdf. You say you can find no borer holes. Nonetheless one of the causes of oozing gum is often borers. A thick oozing gum often hides the borer holes. To cure borers organically, contact your local County Extension office to find out the emergence date of borers in your community. Then locate the hole and kill the borer inside by inserting a wire or making a vertical cut with a knife. If there are no visible borer holes, however, and if the sap that oozes emits a foul smell then the problem is more likely to be bacterial canker (gummosis.) Moist conditions and frequent rains or many days that are excessively wet or cold can exacerbate the problem. It sounds as if this is more likely to be the problem. The cure for bacterial canker is to prune out the dead or dying branches. Disinfect your pruning tools by dipping in rubbing alcohol or a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water after every cut so you do not spread the problem. (Don’t get bleach on clothes. Wash gloves after finishing the job.) In fall spray with a product containing basic copper sulfate or other dormant spray recommended against bacterial canker disease. Spray once a month as part of your regular dormant spray schedule every winter. In future keep the tree healthy by fertilizing and irrigating properly during dry weather. Water when the soil 6 inches deep is barely moist (use a tensiometer to find out), then apply enough water so it penetrates from three to four feet. In winter, prune and dormant spray according to the timing guidelines offered by your local County Extension. In future, never make holes of any kind, be they deep or shallow under the drip line or anywhere under the canopy of the tree. This was an error. Disturbing the roots may do irreparable harm to a tree. The proper way to mulch with compost under a fruit tree is to lay the compost on top of the ground under the canopy as mulch and the correct way to fertilize is (before mulching) to sprinkle the fertilizer under the canopy all over the ground from a foot or two from the trunk to the tips of the branches and then water the fertilizer into the ground. In future derive advice from experts, not from friends unless they are trained Master Gardeners or known horticultural authorities. By the way, your peach tree is probably not a known variety but was grown from a seed or if the spring flowers are particularly stunning, it may be an ornamental or flowering peach. This is why the peaches are not worth eating.

]]> Comment on Coconut Queen Palm by Pat http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/trees/421/comment-page-1/#comment-2005 Pat Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:54 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=421#comment-2005 Please check your sources as well. My source is no less an authority than the late, great, Thomas A. Everett of the New York Botanical Garden who describes how "...these great fruits, which when fresh are heavier than water, sometimes roll into the sea, become partially rotted and then float, on occasion for long distances, to be washed up on distant shores, notably those of the Maldive Islands, India, and Indonesia. They were familiar to man long before their origin was known.... Their scarcity, peculiar shape, and mysterious origin inspired a variety of tales. Some thought them fruits of a giant submarine plant. ...It is recorded that Rudolph ll, of the Hapsburgs, offered, unsuccessfully, four thousand gold florins for one.....Not until 1768 was the plant that bore them discovered..." (Quoted from "The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture" by Thomas A Everett. Vol. 6, page 2053.) Please check your sources as well. My source is no less an authority than the late, great, Thomas A. Everett of the New York Botanical Garden who describes how “…these great fruits, which when fresh are heavier than water, sometimes roll into the sea, become partially rotted and then float, on occasion for long distances, to be washed up on distant shores, notably those of the Maldive Islands, India, and Indonesia. They were familiar to man long before their origin was known…. Their scarcity, peculiar shape, and mysterious origin inspired a variety of tales. Some thought them fruits of a giant submarine plant. …It is recorded that Rudolph ll, of the Hapsburgs, offered, unsuccessfully, four thousand gold florins for one…..Not until 1768 was the plant that bore them discovered…” (Quoted from “The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture” by Thomas A Everett. Vol. 6, page 2053.)

]]> Comment on Coconut Queen Palm by guido http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/trees/421/comment-page-1/#comment-2004 guido Mon, 21 May 2012 04:05:07 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=421#comment-2004 Lodoicea did not wash up on any shore, since it does not float like the coconut. Please check your sources for information. Lodoicea did not wash up on any shore, since it does not float like the coconut. Please check your sources for information.

]]> Comment on Peach Tree Problems and Solutions: Pruning, Fertilizer, and Dormant Spray by Bhaskar http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/pruning/peach-tree-problems-and-solutions-pruning-fertilizer-and-dormant-spray/comment-page-1/#comment-2001 Bhaskar Sun, 20 May 2012 16:05:26 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1085#comment-2001 Dear Pat: I am trying to save a large peach tree that provides a lovely green shade in my garden in New Mexico. In the 11 years that I have been at this house, it has always provided a rather curious variety of peach that is hard and without any taste. Over the last two years a gum disease has taken over. Initially it was oozing from the top branches and now it has gone to lower branches. In the last two weeks I have seen traces on the trunk close to ground level. In the past, I took suggestions from a friend and made five deep holes at drip level and filled them with compost and natural fertilizer. This along with some watering helped last year but this year the gums have come back with a vengeance. I do not see any insects or borers when I scrape off the gum areas. In the internet I have read about a number of fungicide treatments but do not know which to try. I wonder if you may have any suggestions on how I can save this lovely green tree in my garden. I want to thank you in advance! Dear Pat:
I am trying to save a large peach tree that provides a lovely green shade in my garden in New Mexico. In the 11 years that I have been at this house, it has always provided a rather curious variety of peach that is hard and without any taste. Over the last two years a gum disease has taken over. Initially it was oozing from the top branches and now it has gone to lower branches. In the last two weeks I have seen traces on the trunk close to ground level. In the past, I took suggestions from a friend and made five deep holes at drip level and filled them with compost and natural fertilizer. This along with some watering helped last year but this year the gums have come back with a vengeance. I do not see any insects or borers when I scrape off the gum areas. In the internet I have read about a number of fungicide treatments but do not know which to try. I wonder if you may have any suggestions on how I can save this lovely green tree in my garden. I want to thank you in advance!

]]> Comment on Weed Control by Pat http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/weeds/weed-control/comment-page-1/#comment-2000 Pat Sat, 19 May 2012 03:15:09 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1710#comment-2000 Your question outlines perhaps the most difficult scenario I have ever before been asked to answer as a horticulturist and agriculturist: How to remove weeds on ten acres of ground in Sunset climate Zone 19 with little money to spend or water to spare. Your problem appears to be three-fold: You need to get rid of the weeds, obtain more water, and also make some money to cover the expense. With ten acres of decomposed granite land there should be a way to make it pay, instead of being a place to pour money into and get nothing out of it. After reading your question I went for a walk up and down hills near my home and wondered what I would do were I in your shoes. I also wondered why your land is covered with weeds instead of chaparral? You may not even know its history, but my guess is that years ago, perhaps in the 19th century it was grazed by cattle who killed or ate all the native plants and once it was bare it filled up with weeds. It might even have been used for growing crops and depleted of everything except the rocks and decomposed granite soil, which as a matter of fact is a rich source of potassium and phosphorus. All it needs is nitrogen and water in order to grow good crops. If this land were mine and I had enough money to purchase a machine that could mow weeds on such rough land I would not use the money to buy that machine. Instead, I would purchase a breeding pair of goats. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/2002-06-01/Want-Milk-Get-Goats.aspx Goats require water to drink but you have have enough for them. They eat anything and will be delighted to eat your weeds and give you milk in return as well as manuring your stony soil so it holds water better and will gradually become more productive. You can either drink the goat milk, which is extremely healthy, or you can make goat cheese of it, which is easy to make and will give you a small home business.http://www.shesimmers.com/2010/05/how-to-make-fresh-goat-cheese-at-home.html. There are a number of books and magazines that describe in detail the various ways of making goat cheese. Organic Gardening magazine last year devoted an entire issue to this subject. As your flock of goats grows in size you can sell the cheese at your local farmers market or simply to your neighbors. You do not mention if your property is fenced, but if not, you would need to tether the goats and move them often as they will be chomping away and running out of weeds to eat. Additionally, you will be expecting some young ones and the size of your flock will thus increase. You will need books and instruction on raising goats, but goats are well adjusted to your climate and are easier to raise than sheep.http://blackmesaranchonline.com/animals/goat101/getting_started-text.htm You will get much better milk and cheese if you feed your goats good hay or pellets, but the point is, start slow and eventually you will be able to afford a fence, better food for the goats, a pasture, a deeper well that will give you more water, or a second well, all on the profits from your goats. You can even eat some of the meat. Before you have enough money for a pasture and water to irrigate it, you could plant your land with white California beans. These sprout with the rains and grow without irrigation. They will improve your soil and also feed your goats,—and yourselves as well— tiding you over to more prosperous times. There is one source of revenue from goats that I have failed to mention. You can rent them out as a flock to get rid of undergrowth and reduce fire danger in canyons and under trees. They eat all foliage and some twigs lower than 3 feet. They have been used effectively on Palomar Mountain and other parkland for this purpose. I have often thought that Southern California cities with bad fire danger caused by a build-up of dry undergrowth—thick tinder for fires in canyons should use flocks of goats to clear out the undergrowth and make their communities safer. The great benefit is this does not kill the plants, it just cleans out the understory. Your question outlines perhaps the most difficult scenario I have ever before been asked to answer as a horticulturist and agriculturist: How to remove weeds on ten acres of ground in Sunset climate Zone 19 with little money to spend or water to spare. Your problem appears to be three-fold: You need to get rid of the weeds, obtain more water, and also make some money to cover the expense. With ten acres of decomposed granite land there should be a way to make it pay, instead of being a place to pour money into and get nothing out of it. After reading your question I went for a walk up and down hills near my home and wondered what I would do were I in your shoes. I also wondered why your land is covered with weeds instead of chaparral? You may not even know its history, but my guess is that years ago, perhaps in the 19th century it was grazed by cattle who killed or ate all the native plants and once it was bare it filled up with weeds. It might even have been used for growing crops and depleted of everything except the rocks and decomposed granite soil, which as a matter of fact is a rich source of potassium and phosphorus. All it needs is nitrogen and water in order to grow good crops. If this land were mine and I had enough money to purchase a machine that could mow weeds on such rough land I would not use the money to buy that machine. Instead, I would purchase a breeding pair of goats. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/2002-06-01/Want-Milk-Get-Goats.aspx Goats require water to drink but you have have enough for them. They eat anything and will be delighted to eat your weeds and give you milk in return as well as manuring your stony soil so it holds water better and will gradually become more productive. You can either drink the goat milk, which is extremely healthy, or you can make goat cheese of it, which is easy to make and will give you a small home business.http://www.shesimmers.com/2010/05/how-to-make-fresh-goat-cheese-at-home.html. There are a number of books and magazines that describe in detail the various ways of making goat cheese. Organic Gardening magazine last year devoted an entire issue to this subject. As your flock of goats grows in size you can sell the cheese at your local farmers market or simply to your neighbors. You do not mention if your property is fenced, but if not, you would need to tether the goats and move them often as they will be chomping away and running out of weeds to eat. Additionally, you will be expecting some young ones and the size of your flock will thus increase. You will need books and instruction on raising goats, but goats are well adjusted to your climate and are easier to raise than sheep.http://blackmesaranchonline.com/animals/goat101/getting_started-text.htm You will get much better milk and cheese if you feed your goats good hay or pellets, but the point is, start slow and eventually you will be able to afford a fence, better food for the goats, a pasture, a deeper well that will give you more water, or a second well, all on the profits from your goats. You can even eat some of the meat. Before you have enough money for a pasture and water to irrigate it, you could plant your land with white California beans. These sprout with the rains and grow without irrigation. They will improve your soil and also feed your goats,—and yourselves as well— tiding you over to more prosperous times. There is one source of revenue from goats that I have failed to mention. You can rent them out as a flock to get rid of undergrowth and reduce fire danger in canyons and under trees. They eat all foliage and some twigs lower than 3 feet. They have been used effectively on Palomar Mountain and other parkland for this purpose. I have often thought that Southern California cities with bad fire danger caused by a build-up of dry undergrowth—thick tinder for fires in canyons should use flocks of goats to clear out the undergrowth and make their communities safer. The great benefit is this does not kill the plants, it just cleans out the understory.

]]> Comment on Weed Control by Teresse Barker http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/weeds/weed-control/comment-page-1/#comment-1999 Teresse Barker Fri, 18 May 2012 13:39:54 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1710#comment-1999 May 18th, 2012 Thank you Tricia and Pat for airing and answering some of my concerns about my newly acquired 10 -acre property and home in Pala, California. It also is overrun by weeds and more weeds. In summer they are so dry and a real fire hazard. We have a water well but it is low to medium producing. We are trying to find an alternative to weed whacking every six months or more at almost a thousand dollars each time. Besides mulching, I don't know what else to do to make the property more safe and useable. I think we eventually need to invest in some sort of machine that can cut weeds while going over rocks and stones in our decomposed granite soil. I think if we had the financial ability, we would cover our acres in some sort of gravel or stone and leave only patches of bushes and trees. Until then, we sure could use some direction and hope. Thank you for any help you might be able to give. May 18th, 2012

Thank you Tricia and Pat for airing and answering some of my concerns about my newly acquired 10 -acre property and home in Pala, California. It also is overrun by weeds and more weeds. In summer they are so dry and a real fire hazard. We have a water well but it is low to medium producing. We are trying to find an alternative to weed whacking every six months or more at almost a thousand dollars each time. Besides mulching, I don’t know what else to do to make the property more safe and useable. I think we eventually need to invest in some sort of machine that can cut weeds while going over rocks and stones in our decomposed granite soil.

I think if we had the financial ability, we would cover our acres in some sort of gravel or stone and leave only patches of bushes and trees. Until then, we sure could use some direction and hope.

Thank you for any help you might be able to give.

]]> Comment on Problems Growing Squash in Containers by Pat http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/pots-plants/problems-growing-squash-in-containers/comment-page-1/#comment-1998 Pat Mon, 14 May 2012 20:31:40 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1921#comment-1998 Cucurbits often make a great many male flowers before the female flowers appear. (Female blossoms have little immature fruits beneath the flower. Males just have a stem. This may be the problem. The other possibility is that you have both sexes of flowers but you don't have any bumble bees. In that case flowers often fall off. See my video on this problem and its solution, which is to hand pollinate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qv1_dkQLiQ Cucurbits often make a great many male flowers before the female flowers appear. (Female blossoms have little immature fruits beneath the flower. Males just have a stem. This may be the problem. The other possibility is that you have both sexes of flowers but you don’t have any bumble bees. In that case flowers often fall off. See my video on this problem and its solution, which is to hand pollinate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qv1_dkQLiQ

]]> Comment on How Far to Plant Peppermint willow (Agonis) and Australian willow (Geijera parvifolia) from walls and paving by Pat http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/trees/how-far-to-plant-peppermint-willow-agonis-and-australian-willow-geijera-parvifolia-from-walls-and-paving/comment-page-1/#comment-1997 Pat Mon, 14 May 2012 02:20:31 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=2030#comment-1997 Planting a young tree, or sapling, out of a can into an extablished lawn or planting it bare-root into a lawn puts the newly planted tree at a huge disadvantage. Trees planted into existing lawns often grow very slowly. Sometimes they die. Here is why: Lawns are heavy feeders. Depending on variety, once they are established their roots extend a foot or two or even more into the ground and they grab every bit of nitrogen and moisture they can obtain. If you add fertilizer on top of the ground to feed the lawn and the tree at the same time, the grass will rob every bit of that nitrogen before it gets down to the tree roots and the tree will get none. Tree roots also live in the top 2 or 3 feet of soil so they will be fighting for their life against the lawn roots which are far stronger and more aggressive. Tree roots do not head straight down to China as is commonly supposed. Instead they attempt to move out sideways and in this case they will encounter a mat of vigorous grass roots or at best they will encounter dry, depleted soil beneath the grass. Secondly, planting into a patch of grass surrounded by pavement is another problem. No water can penetrate through paving to water the tree roots (if the roots of the tree ever managed to extend that far.) All too often people do not water a patch of grass surrounded by pavement enough to allow water to penetrate deeply. No fertilizer is available under pavement either. Additionally our native soils here in Southern California contain mighty little if any nitrogen. We need to add it. So even if you tried to feed the tree—something that is noticeably absent from your query—or even if you perhaps fed the lawn hoping the tree might grab some (which of course it was not able to do), it certainly could not obtain any by the time its roots reached the pavement. Thirdly, creating a sump by putting gravel in the bottom of a planting hole does not cure bad drainage. A layer of gravel in the bottom of a planting hole simply creates an under-ground swimming pool for roots. As soon as you water the plant, the gravel will fill up with water and then sit there indefinitely. The tree roots will eventually reach the water and promptly rot. This may explain the sudden death of your second tree, even if it does not explain the death of the first. The fact that you tried to do something about drainage (even though you chose a method that we now know does not work) makes me think drainage might be insufficient. Building a sump has long been discredited as a way to fix bad drainage. I should also warn you that many properties in California have "a spot where nothing will grow". This was usually caused by workmen washing out wheelbarrows and tools used for concrete and plaster or washing paint brushes and paint cans onto the soil in that area during the building process. I hope this is not true of this spot on your property. The fact that a path goes round it makes me wonder if the soil is too alkaline. You might have it tested. If you do all the things below and the tree does not grow I fear you have one of those spots where nothing will grow. If this is one of those spots, there's not much you can do other that to replace all the soil with good top soil to a depth of at least three feet, but if as I hope this is not the case, here are my suggestions for make your third attempt successful: Dig out all the grass and replace it (after planting the tree) with organic mulch or ornamental river rock. Alternatively, remove a circular patch of grass 4 feet in diameter surrounding the planting hole. If the grass creeps back later after the tree is well established this will not matter. Dig a planting hole 4 to 8 inches wider than the width of the root ball of the tree and to the same depth as the root ball of the tree (no deeper!) Planting trees too deep is one way to kill them. Test the drainage. Here is the method: Fill the planting hole with water and letting it drain out. Then fill with water a second time and this time place a yardstick across the top of the hole so it touches the level of the water and make a note of the time. Come back a few hours later and measure the distance from the stick to the top of the water. If the water in the hole drops at the rate of at least one quarter inch an hour, drainage is sufficient. If not, find another planting hole or alternatively build a raised bed. Your raised bed does not need to be very high. Here is how to build, fill and plant it: Four inches is tall enough and four feet square is wide enough. The easiest way is to build it out of redwood. Purchase lumber that is 8 inches wide to allow 2 inches on top for irrigation and mulch and two inches to extend down into the ground. The top of the bed should be level. Fill the raised bed 4 inches deep with top soil, making sure to mix some of this with the top few inches of native soil so you do not simply dump it on top, thus creating a hard horizon in the soil. Then dig straight through the earth in the raised bed into the soil below to make your planting hole. The top of the root ball should be at the top of the soil in the raised bed (that is 4 inches above the surrounding soil outside the raised bed), with two inches above that inside the raised bed for watering and later mulching. If the soil is heavy clay and it is compacted due to alkalinity, throw about half a coffee can full of gypsum in the bottom of the hole and combine it with the soil in the bottom of the hole. This will improve drainage. Place 3 or 4 slow-release landscape fertilizer pills or packets, such as Nutri-Pack,http://johnsonsway.com/nutri-pak-vs-tablets.php so they will surround but not touch the tree roots around the edges in the bottom of the hole. These will feed the tree for the amount of time stated on the package. Now remove the tree from the can and place it into the hole. Refill the hole with the native soil that came from the hole and press it down with your hands, not your feet or you will over-compact the soil. (Never amend a planting hole with compost or planting mix, unless planting something like a camellia that needs special soil or unless your soil is something akin to beach sand.) Make a watering basin. (In the case of a raised bed, it will serve as the watering basin.) Soak the hole deeply by laying the hose running slowly on top of the ground and allow the water to slowly penetrate the ground to the bottom of the hole and beyond. If drainage is good fill the planting hole with water more than once. Water every day for three days, three times a week the following week, twice a week the week after that, once a week for the next year or two. Once the tree is fully established you could can stretch out irrigations so you are watering deeply in warm dry months once a month, none in winter unless the weather is hot and dry. If planting in clay you might be able to water less than this. The situation you outlined suggests to me that part of the problem was either too little water or too much. Fertilize 3 times a year for the first 2 or 3 years. After that, fertilize the entire root zone once a year in March with all purpose balanced fertilizer. This should be sufficient until the tree is full grown. Eventually in most cases no fertilizer will be needed after a tree is full grown. However, in a case such as yours where the tree is surrounded by pavement, fertilizer may always be needed. Planting a young tree, or sapling, out of a can into an extablished lawn or planting it bare-root into a lawn puts the newly planted tree at a huge disadvantage. Trees planted into existing lawns often grow very slowly. Sometimes they die. Here is why: Lawns are heavy feeders. Depending on variety, once they are established their roots extend a foot or two or even more into the ground and they grab every bit of nitrogen and moisture they can obtain. If you add fertilizer on top of the ground to feed the lawn and the tree at the same time, the grass will rob every bit of that nitrogen before it gets down to the tree roots and the tree will get none. Tree roots also live in the top 2 or 3 feet of soil so they will be fighting for their life against the lawn roots which are far stronger and more aggressive. Tree roots do not head straight down to China as is commonly supposed. Instead they attempt to move out sideways and in this case they will encounter a mat of vigorous grass roots or at best they will encounter dry, depleted soil beneath the grass. Secondly, planting into a patch of grass surrounded by pavement is another problem. No water can penetrate through paving to water the tree roots (if the roots of the tree ever managed to extend that far.) All too often people do not water a patch of grass surrounded by pavement enough to allow water to penetrate deeply. No fertilizer is available under pavement either. Additionally our native soils here in Southern California contain mighty little if any nitrogen. We need to add it. So even if you tried to feed the tree—something that is noticeably absent from your query—or even if you perhaps fed the lawn hoping the tree might grab some (which of course it was not able to do), it certainly could not obtain any by the time its roots reached the pavement. Thirdly, creating a sump by putting gravel in the bottom of a planting hole does not cure bad drainage. A layer of gravel in the bottom of a planting hole simply creates an under-ground swimming pool for roots. As soon as you water the plant, the gravel will fill up with water and then sit there indefinitely. The tree roots will eventually reach the water and promptly rot. This may explain the sudden death of your second tree, even if it does not explain the death of the first. The fact that you tried to do something about drainage (even though you chose a method that we now know does not work) makes me think drainage might be insufficient. Building a sump has long been discredited as a way to fix bad drainage. I should also warn you that many properties in California have “a spot where nothing will grow”. This was usually caused by workmen washing out wheelbarrows and tools used for concrete and plaster or washing paint brushes and paint cans onto the soil in that area during the building process. I hope this is not true of this spot on your property. The fact that a path goes round it makes me wonder if the soil is too alkaline. You might have it tested. If you do all the things below and the tree does not grow I fear you have one of those spots where nothing will grow. If this is one of those spots, there’s not much you can do other that to replace all the soil with good top soil to a depth of at least three feet, but if as I hope this is not the case, here are my suggestions for make your third attempt successful: Dig out all the grass and replace it (after planting the tree) with organic mulch or ornamental river rock. Alternatively, remove a circular patch of grass 4 feet in diameter surrounding the planting hole. If the grass creeps back later after the tree is well established this will not matter. Dig a planting hole 4 to 8 inches wider than the width of the root ball of the tree and to the same depth as the root ball of the tree (no deeper!) Planting trees too deep is one way to kill them. Test the drainage. Here is the method: Fill the planting hole with water and letting it drain out. Then fill with water a second time and this time place a yardstick across the top of the hole so it touches the level of the water and make a note of the time. Come back a few hours later and measure the distance from the stick to the top of the water. If the water in the hole drops at the rate of at least one quarter inch an hour, drainage is sufficient. If not, find another planting hole or alternatively build a raised bed. Your raised bed does not need to be very high. Here is how to build, fill and plant it: Four inches is tall enough and four feet square is wide enough. The easiest way is to build it out of redwood. Purchase lumber that is 8 inches wide to allow 2 inches on top for irrigation and mulch and two inches to extend down into the ground. The top of the bed should be level. Fill the raised bed 4 inches deep with top soil, making sure to mix some of this with the top few inches of native soil so you do not simply dump it on top, thus creating a hard horizon in the soil. Then dig straight through the earth in the raised bed into the soil below to make your planting hole. The top of the root ball should be at the top of the soil in the raised bed (that is 4 inches above the surrounding soil outside the raised bed), with two inches above that inside the raised bed for watering and later mulching. If the soil is heavy clay and it is compacted due to alkalinity, throw about half a coffee can full of gypsum in the bottom of the hole and combine it with the soil in the bottom of the hole. This will improve drainage. Place 3 or 4 slow-release landscape fertilizer pills or packets, such as Nutri-Pack,http://johnsonsway.com/nutri-pak-vs-tablets.php so they will surround but not touch the tree roots around the edges in the bottom of the hole. These will feed the tree for the amount of time stated on the package. Now remove the tree from the can and place it into the hole. Refill the hole with the native soil that came from the hole and press it down with your hands, not your feet or you will over-compact the soil. (Never amend a planting hole with compost or planting mix, unless planting something like a camellia that needs special soil or unless your soil is something akin to beach sand.) Make a watering basin. (In the case of a raised bed, it will serve as the watering basin.) Soak the hole deeply by laying the hose running slowly on top of the ground and allow the water to slowly penetrate the ground to the bottom of the hole and beyond. If drainage is good fill the planting hole with water more than once. Water every day for three days, three times a week the following week, twice a week the week after that, once a week for the next year or two. Once the tree is fully established you could can stretch out irrigations so you are watering deeply in warm dry months once a month, none in winter unless the weather is hot and dry. If planting in clay you might be able to water less than this. The situation you outlined suggests to me that part of the problem was either too little water or too much. Fertilize 3 times a year for the first 2 or 3 years. After that, fertilize the entire root zone once a year in March with all purpose balanced fertilizer. This should be sufficient until the tree is full grown. Eventually in most cases no fertilizer will be needed after a tree is full grown. However, in a case such as yours where the tree is surrounded by pavement, fertilizer may always be needed.

]]> Comment on Problems Growing Squash in Containers by carol http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/pots-plants/problems-growing-squash-in-containers/comment-page-1/#comment-1996 carol Sun, 13 May 2012 23:27:16 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=1921#comment-1996 i planted yellow squash from a small plant in containers [cloth like].they are growing very large and pretty plants,and flowering well [yellowflowers]but no squash, what am i doing wrong?this is my first time thank you i planted yellow squash from a small plant in containers [cloth like].they are growing very large and pretty plants,and flowering well [yellowflowers]but no squash, what am i doing wrong?this is my first time thank you

]]> Comment on How Far to Plant Peppermint willow (Agonis) and Australian willow (Geijera parvifolia) from walls and paving by marjie grand http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/trees/how-far-to-plant-peppermint-willow-agonis-and-australian-willow-geijera-parvifolia-from-walls-and-paving/comment-page-1/#comment-1995 marjie grand Sun, 13 May 2012 15:45:22 +0000 http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/?p=2030#comment-1995 We redid our back yard and I. Planted peppermint willow in center of a small patch of grass surrounded by flagstone pavers. It died in a year. Tried again....same thing. Its fine for about 6 to 8 months and then it suffers a very fast death. Third time was not the charm either. I changed the soil going down 4 feet put drainage rocks at bottom. Put a watering tube so water gets to roots.....nothing wrked and the third tree died as well. They were all about 5-6 ft when planted. Its been two years since the last one died. Would like to try again. Help please? We redid our back yard and I. Planted peppermint willow in center of a small patch of grass surrounded by flagstone pavers. It died in a year. Tried again….same thing. Its fine for about 6 to 8 months and then it suffers a very fast death. Third time was not the charm either. I changed the soil going down 4 feet put drainage rocks at bottom. Put a watering tube so water gets to roots…..nothing wrked and the third tree died as well. They were all about 5-6 ft when planted. Its been two years since the last one died. Would like to try again. Help please?

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