April Landscapes – Time for the Spring Show!

[tejasrulz]

If you're talking about the growth that can occur near the bottom of the trunk, I would manually remove it with a good sharp knife.

If the mold is in the husky hairs of a Mediterranean Fan Palm, you can spray a liquid fungicide, probably two applications about two weeks apart.

The hairs can get fungus from being wrapped all winter. That should subside as the days get longer and hotter.

Would fungicide for lawns work (which I already have) or would I need to buy some fungicide for plants?

 

[Coot]

I have been unable to locate mountain laurel from local nurseries because they are all sold out. A neighbor has given me some surplus volunteer seedlings from her yard. Do you have any recommendations for potting and/or transplanting them?

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Would fungicide for lawns work (which I already have) or would I need to buy some fungicide for plants?

You can use that, yes. If it doesn't work, switch to a copper-based fungicide. But what you have will probably work.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I have been unable to locate mountain laurel from local nurseries because they are all sold out. A neighbor has given me some surplus volunteer seedlings from her yard. Do you have any recommendations for potting and/or transplanting them?

Keep them in pots until they get 2 ft high. Even then, find a good, sunny and safe place (away from foot traffic) for it. Lots and lots of sun.

Mountain Laurels are very slow growers, so be patient.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I have been unable to locate mountain laurel from local nurseries because they are all sold out. A neighbor has given me some surplus volunteer seedlings from her yard. Do you have any recommendations for potting and/or transplanting them?

I will share this with ya'll. 

My sister passed away about a month ago. She lost a battle with cancer. About four years ago, I gave her a Texas Mountain Laurel sapling that I had potted. It was about four inches high when I gave it to her.

My brother-in-law sent me a picture of it and asked if I wanted it back. It had grown to 2 ft high. Of course I wanted it back. When it gets a little bigger, I think I will plant it at her grave site.

I gave her the sapling and not a large specimen because Mountain Laurels don't do well in East Texas in general. Just too wet and the soil is too acidic. But she made it work, took good care of it.

 

[Soldierhorn]

I have been unable to locate mountain laurel from local nurseries because they are all sold out. A neighbor has given me some surplus volunteer seedlings from her yard. Do you have any recommendations for potting and/or transplanting them?

Just to add some extra thoughts. I've grown several laurels from seeds with some success.  Getting them started is the hard part.  If you have several seeds, you can try two or three different techniques and see which one works.

I generally soak the seeds at least over night and a couple or three days doesnt seem to hurt.  Another thing you could do if you have extra seeds to do what I like to do with my pecans: I put them in a zip lock baggie with a damp paper towel and put them in the frig (I have a frig in the garage to do this type of stuff) and wait for the seed to crack open, which should be 4-6 weeks

 

[Sirhornsalot]

 

[longhorndon]

Can anyone tell what kind of tree this is? Besides possibly dead... my friend thinks it’s some kind of oak.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Can anyone tell what kind of tree this is? Besides possibly dead... my grip thinks it’s some kind of oak.

View attachment 4018

View attachment 4019

Thats not an oak.

Leaf looks like an Elm. Bark looks like a Pecan. So it has to be a Bois D 'Arc tree.

If you ever cut it down, make sure you have plenty of extra chains. Their wood is TOUGH.

Streets of downtown Tyler were once paved with Bois D Arc bark and chips. Tyler later decided that wasn't a good idea as whenever those summer afternoon rains would hit in the middle of a 100 degree day, the chips and bark would start exploding, shooting 50 ft into the air.

Even after the city paved the streets with brick, right over the bark and chips, bricks would become displaced because of the exploding Bois D Arc chips below.

 

[longhorndon]

Thanks Sirhornsalot! I figured you would know!

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Out and about today . . . this little fella was working hard.

 

[Soldierhorn]

Out and about today . . . this little fella was working hard.

View attachment 4034

That's a good sign. I didnt see very many bees after the cold spell but my peach trees bloomed anyway so I was worried this may be an off year (and, it is).  I dont know if it makes any difference but what I usually do is take a long stemmed cotton swab and touch as many internal parts (stamen/pistil & Stigma) of the flower as possible to possibly help transfer pollen from one tree to the other.  this year I didnt have any long stem Q-tips so I used pruned branches with flowers from one tree to pollinate the other tree. I never know if this actually works or not but I do it anyway.  Well, it looks like I will not need to thin out the peach bulbs this year. the trees have about half of the peaches they normally have. And, that's ok; I didnt expect a big harvest this year.  

 

[Soldierhorn]

FYI, Just to let people know since the ground will be soaked, after this rain (probably tomorrow or Saturday) is a great time to kill red ant colonies as they build mounds to get their eggs out of the ground so they will not mildew.  

 

[Sirhornsalot]

FYI, Just to let people know since the ground will be soaked, after this rain (probably tomorrow or Saturday) is a great time to kill red ant colonies as they build mounds to get their eggs out of the ground so they will not mildew.  

Kill tha bastids lol

 

[Baron]

FYI, Just to let people know since the ground will be soaked, after this rain (probably tomorrow or Saturday) is a great time to kill red ant colonies as they build mounds to get their eggs out of the ground so they will not mildew.  

Aka fire ants.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

1– part Orange Oil, 9 parts water in a generic spray bottle = kills any ant.

For large colonies, I like to pour a little full strength in the hole and watch the show. lol

 

[Soldierhorn]

Aka fire ants.

ah, you must have the small ones; with much smaller heads they are not near as smart.  

 

[Sirhornsalot]