Dear Neil: I have a pecan tree that no longer produces pecans. It merely causes a lot of debris all over my patio all the time. Should I cut it and plant something else? What can I plant that will grow quickly and provide shade? I don性视界传媒檛 have a lot of years left so I don性视界传媒檛 need something that性视界传媒檚 going to take 20 years. I don性视界传媒檛 care if it only lasts 30 years.
I live in a pecan forest with several large pecans over our entryway courtyard and more over our backyard deck. I do understand what you性视界传媒檙e saying. I性视界传媒檝e been writing this column for 54 years, so I性视界传媒檓 not exactly a youngster myself.
If you want shade faster, plant a larger specimen of a high-quality shade tree. That will give you several years of head start and you性视界传媒檒l have the confidence of knowing that you性视界传媒檙e not planting a tree that will create headaches for you and your heirs in years to come. Those fast-growing shade trees all have serious fatal flaws that make them messy, weak, ugly, and risky. Most of us wouldn性视界传媒檛 put those words in our list of attributes when we went shopping for a new tree for our landscape.
But, to my real suggestion to your dilemma 性视界传媒 it性视界传媒檚 going to cost you a good bit to have your pecan cut and removed. Plus, you性视界传媒檒l be taking down one of the finest species of trees you can find for a Texas landscape. Yeah, they can be messy, but think several times before you go through with that plan. You might spend the same (or fewer) dollars on equipment and labor to keep things tidied up around it so that you can enjoy its great shade starting right now and going on for decades. That性视界传媒檚 what I性视界传媒檓 doing.
Dear Neil: I read that hypoxylon canker is killing thousands of oaks that have been stressed by severe drought. I have a ranch about 30 miles north of San Antonio, and oaks are dying all over the Hill Country. There is no way I can get water to them all.
I agree with you about the practicality of watering large areas. Sadly, we also saw this in East Texas following the drought of 2011. Post oaks and red oaks were weakened badly and succumbed to the slow-moving fungus for the next several years. You didn性视界传媒檛 ask a specific question, so I don性视界传媒檛 know what advice you were seeking. I guess my one suggestion would be that you have the Texas A&M Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory confirm whether you are actually seeing hypoxylon canker or whether it might be oak wilt. Before you start collecting samples to send for analysis, I性视界传媒檇 suggest you contact the county Extension office where these trees are growing. They can give you background information on the area and instructions on collecting the samples.
Dear Neil: I性视界传媒檓 curious why this branch is dying on my 2-year-old salvia. There was some dieback the first year after planting. I just removed those branches. I性视界传媒檓 wondering if I need to change anything or just prune and remove dead branches when this happens. I added wood chips this March and haven性视界传媒檛 watered much because of the Blackland soils. Thanks for any advice you might have.
You worded your question as if you intended to attach a photo of the salvia, but I don性视界传媒檛 see any in the email files. I really need to know which saliva you have. A few of them are annuals in Texas. Most of the perennial types die to the ground over the winter. Salvia greggii (autumn sage) is truly a perennial shrub, albeit a small one. It always needs to be pruned back by half in February or it will become sparse, but in 40 years of growing it, I性视界传媒檝e never seen isolated branches die out. I guess my answer would be to prune out the dead twigs that do occur. As long as the rest of the plant remains strong and vigorous, things should be fine. You might want to ramp up the watering as we go into the hot, dry summer months.
Dear Neil: These spots in my yard keep getting larger each year. They get the same amount of water as the rest of the yard. Could this be a fungus? Do I need to resod?
I cannot tell. (I性视界传媒檇 rather admit that right up front than try to bluff my way through what could be a wrong answer.) It性视界传媒檚 unusual that the bermudagrass isn性视界传媒檛 trying to grow back in over the bare spots. That could be due to different soil in those spots than in the rest of the yard, perhaps left over from piles of cushion sand from the time of building or land leveling. (Both pure speculation.) It could be from sandy soil that just doesn性视界传媒檛 have enough fertility. Hopefully you性视界传媒檝e applied an all-nitrogen food to it this spring. It might be due to insufficient irrigation overall, and maybe these spots are just drier than the rest of the yard. It does not look like a disease is currently active. It would have spread more rapidly than 性视界传媒溞允咏绱溅grown larger over the years.性视界传媒
If this were my lawn, I would dig some 4-inch squares of healthy grass from along the fence somewhere out of sight. I would plug those 10 or 12 inches apart into the bare spots, and I would water them by hand for two weeks to get them started. After the first two weeks, I would apply a high-quality, all-nitrogen lawn fertilizer with 30 to 40 percent of that nitrogen in slow-release form to the entire lawn. See if the new plugs take off like the rest of the grass. Mow it all at 1-1/2 inch (optimal height for bermuda). If a disease were involved in any way, it would attack the new plugs. If they grow and prosper, you性视界传媒檒l know that you have a roadmap for success.
That性视界传媒檚 not much of an answer, but it性视界传媒檚 hard to do an autopsy on grass that性视界传媒檚 been dead for perhaps a year. Especially if it性视界传媒檚 bermuda, since it normally doesn性视界传媒檛 have many fatal flaws.
