Classes show how to design low-water-use landscaping

      The following are typical questions our Master Gardeners answer daily at the Nevada Cooperative Extension. If you have gardening questions, call the Master Gardeners' hot line at 257-5555 between 9 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday.
     
      Congratulations to Kurt and Jane Vaughn-Meisel for their retrofit landscaping award. They participated in our landscape retrofit class and converted their 5,000-square-foot yard to low-water-use landscaping.
      My landscape retrofit class is forming again on Tuesday evenings starting on Jan. 20. The class will run for eight weeks.
      To enroll, you must be actively planning on converting your yard from high-water use to low-water use, and we will show you how to do it -- from the design to the installation.
      To enroll, get the application information by calling the Master Gardeners in our office. We are getting a number of questions from people about pruning red bird of paradise, lantana, and other plants.
      If it's going to look ugly after you prune, hold off until the beginning of new growth in the spring.
      This will give you less time you will have to look at a bad pruning job before the plant begins to cover up your zealousness.
      Question: Is it too late to prune trees?
      Answer: No, but do it before new growth starts in February. If your pruning job is going to create an ugly scene, then wait until it is closer to February.
      As soon as new growth occurs this spring then you are better off waiting until the majority of new growth slows before pruning any more.
      Spring growth requires a lot of stored energy from the plant. The tree has been signaled by the environment that spring has arrived and it's time for leaves, stems and branches to grow.
      If you are going to prune now it would be best to remove entire branches to a "crotch" than "heading back" lots of individual branches.
      Once spring growth has begun you want to let the ends of branches continue to grow without interruption. These are sending signals back to the roots and coordinating root and shoot growth. However, light pruning can occur at any time.
      Once new growth begins to slow, root growth will pick up speed. A plant has a limited amount of energy and it must split up its sources of energy into whatever is growing: shoots, roots, leaves, fruit or seed.
      Q: How often should I be watering my fruit trees?
      A: If you are watering your fruit trees more than once per week you are watering them too much. On extremely sandy soils, watering once per week is about right.
      The water should be applied evenly covering the area directly under the tree's canopy.
      On sandy soils, drip emitters should be spaced about 12 inches apart. If using bubblers then the soil should be forming a basin around the trunk, and it should extend to the drip line of the tree. On sandy soils, the basin should be level and high enough to contain three inches of water.
      If the soils contain more clay then the basin has to be deeper (4 or 5 inches) and the irrigations should be less often; every two to three weeks. In all cases, the water should not collect around the tree's trunk or it will rot.
      Q: How should climbing roses be pruned against a wall?
      A: That's a huge topic all in itself. Basically, climbing roses should be pruned at the base of the plant, removing older growth from the bottom. Pruning older canes out will make room for new growth and provide for blooms top to bottom.
      Otherwise you will end up with bare wood at the bottom and flowers and leaves at the top. Also remove canes that are growing away from the wall.
      Leaving a 3- or 4-inch stub will provide for growing points for new horizontal canes.
      The buds are small but try to prune just above buds that are pointed back toward the wall or parallel with the wall. Most of the flowers will come from those canes which grow horizontally, not vertically, and are moderate growers.
      Strong growing canes usually grow at the expense of flowers. Training upward growing canes into horizontal growth by trellising will encourage that cane to flower more.
      Q: What should I be doing to my lawn this time of year?
      A: Nothing if it's a Bermuda lawn except watering about once every two to three weeks so that the soil doesn't dry out.
      If it's a tall fescue lawn, now is a good time to fertilize with a complete and balanced fertilizer such as a 21-7-14 with iron.
      Half of the nitrogen should be slow-release nitrogen. Check the label to see. If the lawn has been thin, in late February power rake or dethatch and overseed the lawn with an improved tall fescue seed such as Rebel, Mustang or an equal.
      Do not use K31 or Alta unless you had that grass to begin with. It is a wide-bladed grass that is more suitable for pastures.
      Top-dress the seeded areas with about a quarter inch of topdressing. Your nursery will show you the right topdressing to use. Use a roller to apply it.
     
     Bob Morris is a horticulture specialist with Nevada Cooperative Extension.