Adding a peach tree
can sweeten the landscape, the Plant Doctor writes.
Question: Our new peach tree, which is a few feet tall, has flowers present. Do I leave them to form fruits or pick them off?
Answer: Why not enjoy the flowers that are part of the beauty of adding a peach tree to the landscape? A new tree may not set fruits from the first blooms but if it does it would best to pick them off so the tree can spend more energy growing limbs and leaves the first year or two.
Remember to cut off the central leader about 3 feet above the ground. Then allow side branches to form from the single remaining trunk, producing an open bowl look to the tree. This allows easy care when pruning, spraying and harvesting the crop in future years. When fruits eventually form thin the crop to a peach every 4 to 6 inches along the limbs when they reach nickel-size.
Q: It is time to trim back my Knock Out roses. Do I prune them above a joint in the stems?
A: Ideally it would be best to prune all roses back to buds along the stems or branch angles. But most gardeners are not particular how they prune shrub roses which are dense and form thorny entangled stems. They are often indiscriminately trimmed with a hedge shears to a foot or more below the desired height and width. When given good care after pruning with monthly feedings, necessary pest control and adequate water, they quickly produce flushes of stems and flowers.
Q: I have several citrus trees that have the greening disease. Is there anything new to save the trees or should I cut them down? A: Research is moving at a steady pace to find solutions for the citrus greening disease caused by a bacteria and spread by an insect called the Asian psyllid. Roots stocks and varieties are being screened with some resistance to the disease but they are not immune. Growers are also testing a steaming technique where the trees are tented and heated to 136 degrees for 30 seconds. New sprays and fertilizer combinations are also being tested.
Presently there is hope a cure can be found but gardeners with severely-affected trees are still removing them from their plantings. Trees not affected or with limited symptoms are given enhanced care. This starts with feedings in March, May, August and early October with citrus fertilizer. Then trees are sprayed with a minor nutrient product made for citrus and found at garden centers at each flush of new growth. Also, at the flush of new growth an insecticide for control of the Asian psyllid is applied, following label instructions. Q: My pittosporum hedge is about ten years old and has become spindly and the leaves fill with yellow spots. Is it lacking a treatment?
A: Dark green to variegated varieties of pittosporum have lost their popularity due to the problems you are noticing. The yellow spots, which are angular in shape and the result of a fungus, are called cercospora leaf spot. The spindly conditions suggest your plants are also run down and may be naturally declining. There may also be stem diseases, called cankers, and nematode-infested roots.
Surprisingly, lots of good care can sometimes revive an old pittosporum planting. Start regular feedings of a slow-release landscape fertilizer every three months or as instructed on the label through fall. Then keep the soil moist and add a mulch. Next prune out all dead and severely declining portions. Lastly begin monthly fungicide applications with either Daconil marketed under many brands, Bayer Disease Control for Roses Flowers & Shrubs, Ferti-lome Systemic Fungicide or a similar fungicide following label instructions for cercospora leaf spot.
Q: My purple leaf plum tree has gray, flaky, scalelike growths on the limbs and trunk. Some portions are dying. What should I do?
A: Your tree obviously has a problem but it is probably not due to the gray growths which are most likely lichens. These patchy coverings are a combination of a fungus and algae that use your trees for support but take water and nutrients from the air. They become more obvious when trees and shrubs are not making adequate growth. A copper fungicide applied as instructed on the label for your plant can help reduce their growth but not cure the real problem. Other insects or diseases may be affecting your tree. Drop samples of the declining tree portions by your local University of Florida Extension office to have them checked.