So have any of you gardeners out there seen Fall? You know, the time when the sunsets are red and early, the temperature is dropping at sunset, and the rain is infrequent, but it does rain?

Record temps almost every day, unseasonable record temps, are having an impact on our plants! Not necessarily a good one either. Be on the watch for more fungal and bacterial infections. Watch leaves for unsightly spots, lesions, (especially watery lesions) and dry looking areas on leaf margins and tips. All these are POSSIBLE signs the plant has one of many types of a fungal infection.

As you have heard me say before, the best method for a cure is the surgical method; cut the leaf or branch and throw it in the trash. Please be sure to throw it in the trash, not on the ground where it could spread through some vector. Keep overhead spraying and watering to a minimum in your plant areas in this weather. Overhead watering creates the fungal environment needed for the fungus to go rampant. The fungal bodies can be spread by the spray, and certainly by the wet leaves. Water only in the early morning so the plant has time to dry off during the day. Water between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. for best results. This also applies to your lawn.

The dry, no rain situation creates a thriving environment for insects also. Use environment friendly sprays for insects like soap and water solutions, at 4 Tablespoons of a safe soap like Ivory, (a bar of Ivory soaked in water to soften and then measured with a Tablespoon is ideal) in a gallon of water. Also a mix, which is proving very effective, is garlic and Khayam Pepper (sp.) Strain 4 tablespoons of pepper, 4 tablespoons of garlic through a cheesecloth or nylon stocking into a gallon of water and add 2 tablespoons of the soap. I know commercial growers who use this mixture every week and are very successful with it.

This is the time of year when we all need to go out into the garden with shears, clippers, and saws in hand. The summer has made the healthy plants grow and flourish, and now is time to cut them back. I say this only because I find so many people in my gardening business and travels in the area, who just cannot bring themselves to cut the plant. Really folks, it is good for the plant, it does make it grow more, become more beautiful and healthier, when pruned properly.

Proper pruning promotes growth. Proper pruning promotes flowering. Proper pruning begins with standing back and taking a look at the bush, shrub or tree to determine the shaping necessary. Never cut more than one third of the plant. Always cut at a NODE, a node is a juncture of the plant, where a stem, branch or leaf is or has been. Always cut above the node. If you are not familiar with proper pruning practices when it comes to your trees, hire a professional or call the Broward County extension for information to be sent to you which explains proper pruning.

And speaking of trees, now is a great time to plant a tree. Need some shade like we have talked about in the past? Need it fast? (Fast would be 18 months to 3 years in most cases.) Here is a tree to try: Muntingia, a fruit tree. Plant one today and you will have a shade tree in 18 months to 2 years. It is a beautiful tree, with fine sculptured leaves that are very soft to the touch. The pretty white flowers look like those on a strawberry plant, or sort of like little stars. The Muntingia has a slender trunk, smooth with a look of a coating of silver fur, and the bonus of a small red berry the size of a cranberry, which tastes like cotton candy. Kids and birds really love the berry. This tree is easy to contain to your preferred size with proper pruning and is really a beauty. A native tree and a beauty, the Muntingia is proven to stand the storms. It is also known as the tourist tree, or our own Gumbo Limbo. The tourist tree nickname is because the lovely red , smooth bark of the trunk peels a little, just like a sunburned tourist.

Yes, there are more, no, don't have room to talk about them here, but read future articles for more of these fast growing beauties.

What not to plant? Ficus. Ficus is so invasive! Ficus trees can be beautiful but they belong in parks where they can spread out and grow without being contained. Their roots are the most invasive of any tree around South Florida. I want to tell all you folks; these invasive roots include Ficus hedges. Now I know when Ficus are, or where planted, the person accomplishing the job did not want the roots in your pool, bathroom walls, or plumbing, but that along with other inaccessible places is where they will eventually end up. Or, worse yet, maybe your in neighbors property.

Prune a Ficus tree? NOT. A cut on a Ficus tree will not heal, like the cut on most other trees. When a Ficus is pruned, it starts to rot at the cut. Most of the time you cannot even see the rot, it goes through the center of the branch or trunk, and you are not even aware until....... a storm comes along and those huge trees and branches start popping off and falling on anything you do not want them to fall on. So, if you have a Ficus tree, a "fig", don't let your lawnman cut it. What can we use, what should we use, for hedges? Oh, let me count the beautiful, fast growing types and kinds....and I will...in February's article! (If you need some info on this before the next newsletter, just email me and I will respond).

Has anyone heard what those of us who are lucky enough to still have our citrus, saved from the indiscriminate ax, do with the branches and fruit we cut from the trees? Wouldn't you think a comprehensive program which is "scientifically" founded, as we are told, would include some instructions for this? After, you know, we were told the citrus and it's by products are contraband and cannot be transported to or from any where in the County. That means you cannot even give your neighbor an orange? Or a branch?

Question: Bob, how do I properly plant a tree?

Answer: Always dig the hole bigger around than the pot the tree is in, NOT deeper. Plant the root ball so it sits about an inch above the soil line where you are planting it. The "Crown Root" should always be above the soil line. The Crown Root is the upper most, larger root on the trunk of the tree. Water the tree well, each day for two weeks after planting. Do not improve the soil around the tree. Do not fertilize the tree for a month, then fertilize 3 times a year. This is the same technique for almost all plants and bushes. Also, keep the "ball" of a palms roots above the soil line. The palms roots should look like your fingers were stuck in the dirt at the base of the palm, if the palm is planted correctly. Incorrect planting is the main cause of loss of trees in future years of the trees life cycle.