Southwest Yard and Garden
This column comes through the Grant County Extension Service out of New Mexico State University.
Question: I am updating the Valencia County Extension Master Gardener brochure on trees. How do I access the new recommended trees for climate change? I would like to include them in the brochure.
Zena K., Los Lunas
In a recent NMSU Cooperative Extension “Ready, Set, GROW!” webinar on holiday gift giving, Bernalillo County Extension Agent Sara Moran described how she makes handcrafted soaps decorated with materials from the garden, like rose petals and other flowers. Photo credits Sara Moran.
Question: What are your favorite garden-related items that would make great holiday gifts?
Mary Jo L., Albuquerque
Strong wind gusts in Albuquerque on Sept. 8, 2020, caused several major branches in the middle of this crabapple canopy to break. Photo credit Laura Paskus.
Question: I lost about 1/3 of my crabapple tree and probably more than 1/2 of a mimosa tree in the wind storm on Tuesday. Is there anything I should do to try to help them?
Laura P., Albuquerque
Bright yellow mulberry leaf in the Los Lunas bosque on September 2, 2020. Photo credit M. Thompson.
Question: In my yard and around town, I have noticed tree leaves turning yellow in different areas on the tree and falling sporadically. It is primarily older mulberry trees. Is this due to nutrition deficiency, disease, drought, or all of the above?
-J. White, Las Cruces
Pruning branches during the summer is the way to grow if your goal is to control tree size. Mulberry limbs were scraping the rain gutters at my house (shown above), so I’ll prune them back this month. Photo credits Marisa Thompson.Question: Is it okay to prune landscape trees now? Should we wait until it cools off a bit? Wait till fall?
- Submitted via Lynda Garvin, Sandoval County Extension Agriculture Agent