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Hot Gardens Newsletter - August 2003
Previous Newsletters By Month
Gardening advice by topic
Summer
Break.
July rains have given our Southwest desert gardens a break from the
heat, but it is still far too soon to begin Fall planting.
You should wait until the daytime temperature is consistently
below 100 degrees F. which
will probably be in mid-September.
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Anorexic
Plants.
A little fertilizer will give your potted plants a needed boost
right now. All the water
they have received in the last couple of months has washed away
nutrients in the potting mix. The
poor little plants are half-starved.
Just make sure the fertilizer is diluted or use slow-release
fertilizer sticks. And if
the leaves are turning yellow with green veins, you may need to add a
chelated sulfur fertilizer, such as Kerex.
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Double
Your Iris.
If you have large clumps of iris that should be divided, dig them
up and divide the rhizomes now. But
wait until September to replant them.
Keep them in brown paper bags in a dry place until replanting.
Other perennials should be divided when cooler weather comes.
| Who
Needs Grass? Water
restrictions giving you second thoughts about a green grassy
lawn? We recently
saw a small front yard that had been entirely planted with gold lantana
(Lantana camara).
It was brilliant! |
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Another idea for lawn replacement is
ornamental grass, such as Deer grass (Muhlenbergia
rigens) or clumping blue fescue (Festuca
ovina glauca). Both need
very little water and neither need to be mowed.
The Deer grass should be trimmed back in January.
One variety of Deer grass is
called ‘Regal Mist’ and it has lovely, airy purple blooms in the
Fall. Combine “Regal
Mist’ with lantana for a spectacular, water-wise front yard.
It will make you forget you ever loved green lawns!
Fast and
Beautiful. Consider
planting the Chinese elm (Ulmus
parvifolia) this Fall, the best time of year to plant all trees and
shrubs, except for palms.
Under the right
conditions the Chinese elm can reach 30 feet in 3 years and once
established it needs infrequent, deep watering. If
you plant it in a lawn where it will receive water regularly, it will
eventually reach a height of 50 to 60 feet.
As the Chinese elm grows its branches arch into a weeping
shape.
Go to our Newsletter for August
2004 or August 2005
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How much does a Las
Vegas condo
really cost?
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Live Healthy!.
Buy your vegetables at your neighborhood farmers market!
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