Question:
What is the effect of the drought on pecan trees? Nuts are forming on the trees. Is this normal?
Answer:
Drought affects pecan trees just as it affects all trees. Unless they are watered to compensate for the drought the following can/will occur: wilting of the leaves, dropping many leaves, more susceptible to borers and other insects because of drought stress, dropping of nuts, and death of limbs. The trees have had nuts since shortly after the catkins (flowers) fell off in the spring. For the sake of the trees you should be watering.

Question:
Our mimosa tree bloomed out this year, but now it’s dying and what looks like spit is oozing out the tree branches, is there anything we can do to save it?
Answer:
I don’t know the age of this tree but Mimosa is a short lived tree, prone to disease. I seriously doubt that there is anything that you can do to save it. I recommend that you remove it and replace it with a tree from the list found at http://www.plantanswers.com/publications/southcnt.html. You will note that Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) is not on this list.

Question:
What length should I keep my grass during this drought? Need to have my lawn man see it in writing.
Answer:
If your grass is St. Augustine, I recommend that you mow it no shorter than 3 inches during this drought.

Question:
A friend gave us a yellow lantana hanging basket full of blooms for our 60th wedding anniversary. All blooms are gone now. We were wondering if we should give up the hanging basket idea and plant it in the ground. We have some lantanas in the ground, but no blooms on them at all.
Answer:
The lantana should be fine in the hanging basket as long as it gets lots of sunlight and lots of water. Those in the ground probably need more water to encourage blooms.

Question:
We are desperately trying to save our St. Augustine grass, but it seems that our back yard and now the front yard is showing signs of yellow and brown and looks like its dying. With no rain and with water restrictions, we do what we can to include adding soil to our dying areas. It’s all for naught so far and I just wonder when to say when. Our Red Tip photinias, nearly 17 feet tall are wilting and yellowing as well. Do you have any suggestions for either our grass or four our red tips? When do you know with the St. Augustine grass that it is dead versus dormant for the season?
Answer:
You will know the St. Augustine is dead when all of the above ground runners have no green in them. All of the leaves may turn brown and fall off but if the runners are green, it is still alive. You will be surprised how much of it will recover when the rains finally come. You may think that we have a desert climate with all of these 100° + days but the average rainfall for San Antonio is a little more than 30 inches. Droughts come and they go. The grass and the Photinia both need moisture. It’s that simple. You can decide to let them die but a little money spent on just keeping them alive will be a lot less than the money you have to spend to replace them. However, the choice is yours to make.

Question:
Is it too late to plant plumbago this year? Do they freeze off easily?
Answer:
In a normal year, I would say that there is plenty of time for the plumbago to get established. However, with the extremely hot, droughty conditions I have reservations. Plants put in the ground now will take lots of TLC to keep them alive and as long as the surrounding soil is so very dry, the plants will not put out a good root system. Plumbago is a root hardy perennial but that hardiness depends completely on it either having a good root system or mild winters.

Question: I have a bougainvillea that was purchased a couple of years ago in one of those small plastic hanging pots. I also have two other ones: one in the same kind of hanging basket & the one in a larger terra cotta pot. The last two are blooming profusely while the first one has never really bloomed. I repotted it into a little larger terra cotta pot. The foliage is full and lush but it still does not bloom. What can I do to change that?
Answer:
Bougainvillea like to be root bound. The plant may just be in a vegetative mode until it gets its new home full of roots. Also make sure that it is getting plenty of sunshine. Read the article at http://www.plantanswers.com/bouganvilia.htm for more information on growing bougainvillea.

Question:
My five year old Viburnum shrubs are showing signs of distress. With past seasons of hot summers and cold winters, they have done well. However, the leaves are now turning gray on top and brown on the underside. I use a drip system and they are getting an hour drip daily. Any advice would be appreciated.
Answer:
I suspect that your shrubs are distressed by the drought. However, you are going to have to do a little investigating to determine if it is too little or too much moisture. Take a trowel, shovel or other digging implement and start digging near the trunk of the shrub(s) and continue digging holes at least 6 inches deep every six inches until you get passed the drip line. You are either going to find bone dry or saturated soil. This will let you know what you need to do.

Question:
My Bougainvillea was blooming so well, and now all the blooms are falling off very rapidly! Is this normal or am I doing something wrong. One of the plants bracts are shriveling and fading! What’s up with that? Help! They were so beautiful!
Answer:
Read the article at http://www.plantanswers.com/bouganvilia.htm for information on growing bougainvillea. It is normal for bougainvillea to drop their bracts when the tiny flower in their center has reached its maturity. For those whose bracts are shriveling and fading, perhaps that plant has double flowers whose bracts do not fall off like the singles do. You need to cut these spent flowers off.

Question:
I have a Montezuma cypress that is about two years old and its needles have started turning brown and dropping. What is causing it, lack of water, heat, and/or disease?
Answer:
Based on the information you have given me (two year old tree with brown leaves) I cannot give you a positive answer. However, I would speculate with at least 30-1 odds, that the tree is thirsty. A two year old tree has spent the majority of its life in severe drought conditions. If you have not consistently watered it (at the trunk) at least once a week this spring and summer with enough water to thoroughly soak its root ball, it is not getting sufficient water.

Question:
Two weeks ago our crape myrtles seemed fine. We just returned from a trip, and now they are heavily covered in black sooty mold. Can I just ignore this? If not, what should we do?
Answer:
This black sooty mold is growing on the excrement of an infestation of aphids that are on the trees. There will be some reduction in the plant’s growth and blossoming caused by these aphids but the tree will not be killed. However, the unsightly black leaves will be there until they fall from the trees in the fall. There is little you can do with the typical application tools that the homeowner normally has. You could have them sprayed by a tree service but I don’t think it would be worth your money at this time of the year.

Question:
How do we care for our 609 buffalo grass in this extreme drought? Do we water and cut as we usually would, or do we water more, water less–same question in reference to mowing? We have some very yellow areas in the middle of greener grass in the same area.
Answer:
Trying to keep buffalo grass green during the drought kind of takes away the positive attribute that this grass has. That is its ability to go dormant during periods of drought. My recommendation is that you do not water nor mow the grass until we all have some beneficial rainfall. The yellow spots are most likely areas of shallow soil or underlying rock that keeps the soil in those areas drier than the surrounding soil.

Question:
I have been puzzled? Why do some Live oaks have shoots constantly emerging from the bottom area near the crown and not others? Some posting’s say, “Different varieties have this occurrence.” A friend gave me “an” answer I like, but would like to have it verified by experts. If the “shoulder,” “flare,” or wider part where the trunk meets the roots is exposed, then few shoots will appear. Also, if the “shoulder” is buried with too much soil, then many shoots will appear. Is this true?
Answer:
I have never heard of such possibilities and I am doubtful about these generalizations. The flare of the trunk is natural, unless planted too deeply during installation. Those that have come up from acorns out in the native habitat will have their flares exposed and some of them are blessed with these root sprouts.

Question:
I read that the ‘Texas Lilac’ Vitex agnus-castus should be cut to the ground in late winter. Is this true?
Answer:
The manner of growing Vitex is promoted so that those who desire repeat blooms can reach the old, spent blossoms and clip them off, thus stimulating more. It is not necessary if you desire the plant to grow into tree form rather than as a multi-trunk shrub.

Question:
Our crape myrtle has just gotten a pink bloom on it this week. In our neighborhood where there are many crape myrtles, they have been blooming pink for at least a month. Ours seems to be slow each year. What can/should we do?
Answer:
There are countless varieties of pink crape myrtles and each variety, even each crape myrtle, is an individual with its own genetic traits. On top of this, climatic conditions will cause the variation of the initiation of blossoms. There is really nothing that you can do to alter this short of the replacement with another tree. Ensuring that it is stress free (sufficient moisture and fertilizer) will allow it to bloom on a more regular basis.

Question:
My cucumbers grow to about one inch long, and then turn brown and die. What is the problem?
Answer:
It takes two to tango. This, in all likelihood, means that there are no male flowers on the vine. If you can keep them alive in this weather, hopefully they will begin to have both male and female flowers on the plants. The plants will open at the same time for the bees to pollinate the female flowers and then the cucumbers will grow.

Question:
We want to plant fall ‘Zipper’ or ‘Cream’ peas, and our question is about fertilizer. When, what strength, etc?
Answer:
Prior to planting, incorporate (by tilling) about two pounds of 19-5-9 50% slow release nitrogen fertilizer per 100 square feet or 35 feet of row into the soil about 8 to 10 inches deep. Since peas have the ability to get nitrogen from the air as well as from the soil, no additional fertilization should be required.