If your tree is under stress or you'd rather it grow taller, removing the fruit is a good idea. A stressed tree doesn't produce good fruit anyway and a tree producing fruit puts most of it's energy into setting fruit and not growing.

Nice looking place, lew. I would love to not have to spend 5-6 hours per week mowing grass.

I had some of those pest issues last year, couldn't find a single spray that would touch a black beatle that was feasting on all of the fruit tree leaves. I ended up smashing them with my fingers, only thing I could come up with. The leaves were full of holes.

It got as low as 9 this winter, but we really only had two cold weeks. Maybe I should pot them and bring them in for the winter, but so far the winter hasn't been the issue.

Deer are the main problem, they cleaned some of the rose bushes on a regular basis last year so I moved them on the inside of the fence in the back yard. They haven't bothered the roses along the front of the house for some reason.

Deer killed a beautiful peach tree this winter, ate the bark all the way around it.

The guy from the extension service told me to hang fishing line down off of a few of the branches. He said when they touched it, it would spook them and they would run off. So far it has worked, I guess. I don't see how that would work on the Hibiscus though.

I also have a gross method, saving urine in a gallon jug and pouring it around the base of the trees. :D

Our blueberry bush is on it's second year and now has some blueberries on it. I imagine the birds will remove them for us.

I do not miss it from living up north!

We had a small patch of grass in this yard but we removed it and put a paver patio there. I don't want to mow a single blade of grass! :D

Have you tried painting the trunk with white paint? We do that here to avoid sunburn but we used to do it in Montana as a deterrent from the deer eating the bark.

I hate you and your warm weather and your "I only have to plant these once" luck in your back yard...:cuss:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...7372c18f54.jpghere is the pick after using it to plant azaleas last year.

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We will be building in 2017 and already have eliminated any non native plants from out landscape and plan to go very simple and low maintainence. I have started a "nursery" at the farm and moved successfully so far a number of young oak trees as well as some Ninebark and arrowmatic sumac. Wife has been a collector of DayLillies forever so that will be one concession to non natives.

You can see the Colorado blue spruce trees and the maplehttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8ba88f8928.jpg

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Lew,
Does living in paradise ever get old?

I love Blue Spruce trees. Gorgeous trees. My parents just planted one in northern Arizona.

Those Blue Spruce trees are the 5 in a line in the picture?

LMAO

It's going to be 110 degrees this coming weekend. It's not paradise for everyone but we sure like it. We don't own much land this way, which most midwestern/northern people like to do. But it's functional and allows us to be outside all year round doing something in the backyard. It's nice to have an area that you can entertain outside all year round with friends/family too.

Yes, then there are nine more down in front of the circle. Missouri sent out an email last week about a disease that is infecting some non natives and I think one may have it. I need to go dig that email up and read it more closely.

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The 19 that died came from a major nursery in Missouri. They were all 2-3' trees. They shipped late and that week it got really cold. I planted them the night I got them...in a freezing wind and snow. The next week was warm.

I've planted a lot of trees. I have had trees die but never in mass.

The ones I got this year came from a box store and were much larger. Most probably 6'. It was a little later in the spring so they were mostly half price too. I don't count on fruit for 2-3 yEars so I don't care. They all look great this year. All of the trees planted last year lived except those fruit trees.


For years I have mixed in some compost from the cattle lot pile and it's been very successful. I used to mix a 5 gallon bucket of fresh cow shit and water and soup it and dump some on surface after planting, but I burned a few pines doing that.

I have never heard that. What kind of paint?

Oh and after the Royals game I went out and removed all the fruit, kind of a difficult thing to do but I have taken your word for and was wondering anyway. The peach trees were loaded and the pear tree had the prettiest little pears you have ever seen.

You are thinking well into the future with the oak trees, good for you!

Wife thinks I am crazy wanting to get some horse shit from the neighbors. :D I had a similar experience ordering from one of the magazine nurseries. When we found out when they were going to ship, we tried to cancel but that is impossible.

You own mater?