Q&A – Ask Neil: December 19, 2024
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QUESTION 1
WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT PIPE PLANT?
Question: It’s not a very pretty plant, but my grandfather’s pipe plant is supposed to have healing properties. Mine flowers in the winter, and it is very easy to grow. What can you tell me about it? There isn’t much on the Internet. Does it have medicinal properties? (Callisia fragrans) Devi B., Princeton.
Answer: Somewhere, in another life, I have grown this plant – probably when I was a kid growing tons of different succulent-looking plants.
It’s in the Dayflower family, along with purpleheart and the various wandering Jews. You can see the similarity in its stems.
You’re certainly correct on the lack of information on it online. It’s subtropical, being confined to South Texas, Florida and other Gulf Coast states, and the West Coast of California. As you stated, it’s easily grown, also easily propagated from stem cuttings. As the plants age they begin to look stemmy as yours does. They can easily be trimmed to remove the leafless stems and allow the new shoots from the base to take over. The old stems can be trimmed and rooted to start new plants.
It is reported to have medicinal properties by a few folk remedy sites, but I’m not going to repeat them because they lack any serious validation. One of them even warns that it can cause serious irritation and that it should only be used with the guidance of a professional (which I am not!).
QUESTION 2
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY TREE?
Question: I see bark falling off near the base of this tree. It looks like some type of vine is growing up beneath the bark in that same area. It runs up to about 5 ft. above the ground. Is there anything that should be done? Steven M., Flint, Smith County.
Answer: I think you might have a water oak, but I can’t see it well enough to tell. It might help to know that.
There has been some type of injury beneath the bark and decay has set in. It has moved up and down within the wood just beneath the bark. At the same time, the tree is trying to heal across the wound. That’s what you’re calling a “vine.” It’s actually a roll of new bark – highly desirable.
You asked what you should do. I would want to have a certified arborist or forester look at this tree immediately. Should the decay develop farther into the center of the trunk it could weaken the tree enough that it might fall in a wind or ice storm. Hopefully it hasn’t developed that far already. Your county Extension office could point you toward several such experts.
One additional note: The tall tree to the left – if it’s the same species, its leaves have turned completely brown. I’m hoping it’s not dead and still standing. If so, it could already be severely weakened. I just noticed it as I was cropping your photo to get it ready to post. You really do need to get an arborist on site.
QUESTION 3
WILL THESE HOLLIES HURT OUR FOUNDATION?
Question: Our hollies (unsure of variety) have doubled in size since we planted them 12 years ago. I suspect they are impacting our foundation, but my husband doesn’t want to part with them. I talked him into raising their canopies last year. Do you have any ideas? Keli L., Prosper.
Answer: They’re probably Nellie R. Stevens hollies, but I’m just guessing based on their size. You can compensate for any root growth by keeping the soil moist at all times, so I wouldn’t let that worry me. From a landscaping standpoint, they are a bit overwhelming, but the marriage comes first. Oh, raising the canopy by removing lower branches won’t help the foundation at all. Leave them just as they are if at all possible.
QUESTION 4
WHY ARE THESE CEDARS STRUGGLING?
Question: These cedars are at a property we manage. We put them in a few years ago and they have never done well. There is new growth, but they are odd colored. Any tips? Noah G., Brenham.
Answer: Lovely setting.
I am not at all confident of my answer. I’m going to start with that because I can’t tell for sure what plant I’m looking at. The plants to the right look like Arizona cypresses, but the ones in the middle look like eastern redcedars. I can imagine that you planted Arizona cypresses to accent the colors in the building, but since you referred to “cedars,” my mind went off the rails.
Let me address my comments as best I can.
Arizona cypress plants have developed a problem with Seiridium canker, the same disease that has devastated Leyland cypresses and also impacted Italian cypresses. However, the plants to the right don’t look like they’re infected at this point.
They’re also susceptible to spider mites. They will take the color out of the needles of big parts of individual plants. However, identifying them requires very close inspection. So, there are way too many unknowns on that side trip of my mind.
What I really think I’m seeing is eastern redcedars (the juniper that’s native in your area) that were dug and transplanted when they were fairly large (6 or 8 ft. tall or taller). They do not move very easily in the larger sizes. As you’ll see in most things that I’ve written about this species, it’s my opinion that you can get a 10-ft. plant faster starting with one that is 18 inches tall than if you start with one that is 8 or 9 ft. tall. They’re quick and easy if you move them small. Not so if you move them when they’re larger.
I have no idea whether these comments are the least bit useful. This is one time that I really needed to be able to see them better and to talk to you to ask a few more questions.
QUESTION 5
HAVE I KILLED MY GINKGOES BY PLANTING THEM IN MY FRONT YARD FACING WEST?
Question: I bought two ginkgo Goldspires on your high rating in your book. You said they were sunshine rated. My front yard faces west. Have I killed them by planting them in my front yard? Kelley R., Irving.
Answer: Not at all. Assuming you keep them moist at all times they should be fine. It’s not that they require wet soils. You just can’t let newly planted trees dry out. They should do fine for you. Mine have.
QUESTION 6
HOW CAN WE KILL DOLLAR WEED?
Question: What is the best way to kill dollar weed? It’s all along the west side of our house. We have sprayed with a weedkiller several times. It kills it, but it keeps coming back. Wanda C., Plano.
Answer: A broadleafed weedkiller (containing 2,4-D) will kill it, although as you have found, you may have to treat several times a few weeks apart. It will help if you apply it with a pump sprayer and a relatively small droplet size so that you can coat the leaves almost to the point of runoff. I also like to add one drop of liquid dishwashing detergent per gallon of mixed herbicide, again to help hold the spray in place.
It should be noted that two distinctly different plants are known by the name “dollar weed.” One has extremely glossy, bright green leaves that are round and 1 to 2 in. in diameter. That is the plant that turf authorities normally refer to as dollar weed. It spreads by fleshy underground stems (rhizomes) and carries its leaves several inches above the soil surface. You will usually find it in boggy settings.
Dichondra is a much smaller, trailing plant with darker green, kidney-shaped leaves. Its stems crawl across the soil’s surface. Dichondra invades bare spaces in turf. It is commonly called “dollar weed” by mistake.
Both of these weeds are difficult to control, each for its own reasons. True dollar weed’s leaves are so glossy that the weedkiller sprays don’t get absorbed. Dichondra, by comparison, has funnel-shaped leaves, and the herbicide beads up and rolls to the centers before dropping to the ground. The spray techniques I suggested will help with both.
QUESTION 7
HOW CAN I CONTROL SAND ROACHES?
Question: How can I eliminate sand roaches around my property? Sam, Aransas Pass.
Answer: Sam called my statewide radio program last Saturday morning to ask about this insect. I promised him that I’d do the research and post what I could find here tonight.
I’m not a trained entomologist, and I’ve never had the pleasure of living and gardening around sandy soils. In doing 45 minutes of research on this insect just now I find that it is not a particular problem for humans. Males and females are decidedly different in their appearance. Only the males invade homes, and on the rare occasion that a female gets indoors, it will not breed there. They do not bite humans, and other than causing allergic reactions, they are of little concern other than the annoyance when you encounter them outdoors.
Here are links I found to be most helpful.
The University of New Mexico is the only university I found with a good description of the pest. They declare it to be “Not a problem for humans.”
This is a commercial website aimed at helping pest control companies line up business, but their details of sand cockroaches seemed to be totally objective and very useful.
And Dr. Abdul Basit is a head and neck surgeon in Pakistan, but he seems to have ties in the United States. He’s also an amateur entomologist, and I found his web page to be really informative as I was beginning my searches.