Keep fruit tree trunks clear of vegetation, mulch
Question: We have a lime and avocado tree. Do I clear the sod out from underneath the trees and, if so, how much to remove?
Answer: Many gardeners may remember the spaces of clear soil under citrus when the trees were plentiful locally. The clear ground helped keep a disease called footrot from affecting lower trunks and made tree maintenance easier. A more modern approach to fruit tree care of all types, including avocados, is to keep an area a foot or two around the trunks clear of all vegetation and mulch. This appears to be enough room to prevent the trunk disease but may not be enough for easy maintenance. If more room is needed for tree care, enlarge the area of clear soil as needed. A light mulch can also be added but also keep it back from the trunks.
Q: I have a number of tomato plants. Do I need a trellis for each plant?
A: Adding a trellis or cage to each of your tomato plants is a good idea. Only the very dwarf plants may not need this extra support, but keep a few stakes handy should the plants become top-heavy with fruits. With small, determinate tomato plants that grow only 3-4 feet high, a wire cage sold at most garden centers is usually adequate. With indeterminate tomato varieties that grow 6-8 feet high, a larger support is needed made from fencing, concrete reinforcement wire or a wood trellis. Giving tomatoes of all types support helps conserve garden space, prevents diseases, keeps the fruits off the ground and makes care easier.
Q: We want to add several new crape myrtle plants. Do they grow as both trees and shrubs?
A: All crape myrtles grow as shrubs, both small and tall. Crape myrtle varieties that grow 12 or more feet high are often trained to single or multiple trunk tree forms. Some very small selections have even been used as a ground cover. It
is important to know the expected size of a crape myrtle before purchase. Obtain a University of Florida guide entitled “Crape Myrtle in Florida” from your local Extension office or online to learn the many different types and their know growth habits. Obtaining the right plant can help eliminate severe pruning many call “Crape Murder.”
Q: Aphids always show up on my vegetable plants. What is a good control?
A: As a gardener with lots of experience, let me tell you those little dark spots moving among the lettuce in salad greens is not pepper. It’s the aphids
missed when washing freshly harvested leaves to prepare a meal. Several other colors of these little, pudgy, pear-shaped insects show up on many vegetables throughout the gardening season. And by the way, they are not very tasty.
Keep checking, especially new growths, to spot these pests and apply a control. Some gardeners wash them off the plants and others apply an insecticidal soap, following label instructions. You have to hit the aphids to be effective, so repeat sprays are likely to be needed.
Q: Our gardenia shrub has grown tall and lanky. Is now the time to reduce the size of the plant?
A: Don’t touch that shrub just yet, as the flowering season is about to begin. If you look closely, new swelling buds may be forming and, in about a month or so, opening their fragrant, white blooms. After most of the flowers have faded is the time to do the needed pruning to reshape your gardenia, usually in late May or early June. Sporadic blooms may open during summer with a few varieties, but these are often lost during pruning.
Q: My perennial salvia plant has become woody but is producing a number of new shoots. If I let it sprawl out, will it send up more shoots?
A: When fertilized and kept moist, your lanky plant seen in an email photo should send out more shoots. Most likely, it is going to continue to have the open center and sprawling look. It may be better to prune the plant back considerably and have it start new shoots from the remaining stems to once again develop a full plant of foliage and flowers. There is the risk this plant may not be vigorous enough to withstand the severe pruning and a new one would be needed.
Q: I have a large poinsettia growing in a container. When can I plant it in the ground?
A: Wait no longer to add this holiday treat to your landscape. Find a full to filtered sun location for a good planting site. Plant as you would any shrub, improving the ground, if you wish, with compost, peat moss or manure. Then add your plant and keep the soil moist, watering every day for the first few weeks and then every two to three days. Trim the poinsettia back to within 18 inches of the ground and apply a slow-release fertilizer as instructed on the label through fall. Additional light pruning is needed every few months until September to keep the plant compact and full of shoots.