Baby, It’s cold outside! I don’t mind cold weather unless it’s windy. Check that. I don’t mind cold weather in New Mexico! I get to work around 5:30 wearing layers and by noon, I’m usually fine with a light jacket. Our winter weather here in the high desert is often very warm. If it is 55° and not windy, standing in our intense desert sun is super warm! The threshold for dormancy is 50°. Since our days can be very warm, full REM sleep for our trees and bugs is difficult to achieve. What does that mean to us? Imagine yourself without a good night sleep, waking up every little while. The trees wake up in a groggy state and reach to the nightstand for water. Water your trees! December is the month we expect to pay less attention to our yards and more attention to decorating and Holiday parties. Water as much as possible around your decorations. Overwintering. What does that even mean? Overwintering, while it sounds like overeating (we are all familiar with that term, especially this time of year), in reference to our trees and bugs, it is more like a question. How did you do over the winter? The weather throughout the cooler months affects how trees and bugs overwinter. Dry, warmer weather can mean that trees do not wake up in the spring. Imagine yourself when your sleep is interrupted throughout the night, waking up in the morning seems impossible. This is why we say to water your trees. At least when they wake up through the winter, they can reach over to the nightstand and get a drink. Temperature fluctuations, especially in October/November and February/March can put trees into shock. When the temps get to be in the high 60’s or low 70’s during the day and at night go below 30°, trees can die or partially die, not because the cold is too cold but because the warmth welcomes them and the cold betrays them. We know this fact when it comes to fruit trees but we are often surprised when our deciduous trees don’t wake up. Bugs can go in and out of dormancy as well. Bees will forage when the temperature is above 60°. We have plenty of those days in our winter. Dry, warmer, winter weather often means that bugs emerge with higher-than-normal numbers. As much as I HATE to wear long pants, we need winter. The colder and wetter, the better. It’s Christmas time. I have lived in New Mexico my entire life. My family has been here for more than 400 years. I grew up on Posole, tamales, pastelitos, and biscochitos for Christmas. Luminarias never cease to fill me with awe! Big New Mexican families are hilarious! Especially in the kitchen. Every sentence mixes both languages. “Jita, dame la spoon.” All the women wash the dishes together. That’s where you get the best chisme. Most of the foods we eat do not have hard and fast recipes. Even measurements for baking are often eye-balled. Not me. I measure. But our moms and grandmas did everything by feel. Pon mas flour! Everything also came out perfect. Every time! Now we use recipes and the kitchen is the place we discuss everyone else’s cooking. “Too much masa in the tamales. Burly (Northern New Mexico vernacular) any carne!” “The posole was canned!” Did the biscochitos have Crisco? Tan Loca!” “Pumpkin pastelitos! No aye mas prunes?!” “Her biscochitos are delicious but she uses la machina (cookie press)”, like these are betrayals of our New Mexican roots. Liking them is even considered a bit of a betrayal. So funny! My husband learned all my mom’s little tips like how long to knead the masa and what to add when the masa is too course. As a result, he makes tamales like my mom’s. My family loves them. My sister makes biscochitos just like my mom. For my family, there is no cutting corners. We proudly praise the LARD! Christmas can also be a difficult time for many. Be extra kind. We have no idea what someone else is going through. If you are having a difficult time, do something for someone else. Serving someone is the best gift you can give yourself. Goodness is everywhere. Keep your eyes wide open! Happiest of Holidays to you and your families. May your stockings be filled abundantly and your biggest problem be overeating (not overwintering).

If your leaves droop or curl, add water. If the tree is not growing, add water. I go to homes and find that their irrigation systems are set up to water for “20 minutes every day” or “40 minutes 3 times per week” or any of many combinations. Few people know how much water their trees are getting. If your trees are struggling, do the math. A 2-gallon emitter run for 30 minutes gives your tree 1 gallon of water. If you have 3 emitters, they will get 3 gallons of water. THIS IS NEVER ENOUGH WATER . Most trees have roots that start around 6” below the surface. Three gallons of water will never get to that 6” level. Watering this way 7 days a week means that you are not giving your tree enough water 7 days a week . The water you are giving is completely wasted. Here are some common issues: • Emitters too close to the trunk. Trees get water at the outer perimeter of the tree, the drip line. • Emitter volume is too low. Trees need large volumes less frequently rather than a small volume frequently. • Emitters do not put out the volume as indicated. This is often due to calcium buildup or low water pressure.

There are so many various infestations of bugs throughout the city. Elm beetles, Cottonwood beetles, Chinche bugs, Bagworm, Boxelder beetles! All these things have one thing in common. They cause little to no damage to your trees. They are leaf-eaters and leaves come back, but they are nuisances! They try getting in the house, on the picnic table, in the pool, everywhere! Treating the Elm and Cottonwood trees can be expensive and while treatment will kill the bugs that try to eat the trees, they will not kill the bugs that are trying to get in your house or lay around on your chaise lounge. You will still have a problem. Keep the doors and windows closed. Call your pest control company to protect your house or use over-the-counter household bug spray . They have a short season and soon they will be nothing more than a bad memory. Weed killer is by far the number one thing that is hurting and killing trees in our communities. I took this picture at a house a few weeks ago.

I left a cold and unpredictable April to go on vacation in Italy. I came home to welcoming warmth, flowers, and leaves on most of the trees. Traveling is fun, but there’s no place like home! As I write this today, it is small business day, the day identified to remind us that small businesses run the world. This special day is near and dear to my heart. We are a business of less than 30 employees. We have been in business for more than 40 years. We are proud New Mexicans and we proudly serve New Mexicans. Thank you for supporting our small business! What’s happening in my world? Pinon Needle Scale turns inner needles on Piñon trees brown. It actively attaches to the needles and sucks the moisture out in February and March, and again in October and November. It is not always noticed until April when the needles have finally turned as brown as they are going to get and needle drop is more than normal. Treating now is futile since they are not damaging your tree now. While they are not actively damaging the tree, they are actively laying around watching cable television and making babies. 😉 This time of year the only thing you can do to help your tree is to hose off the nest. The nest is white and found in the undergrowth and on the crotches of the tree. It looks like dryer lint. Spray it off with a hard stream of water. It will come back. Spray it off again. Try to make sure your tree is cleaned off, especially in February and again in October. Aphids are in abundance! Since they are close to the bottom of the food chain, let’s try not to poison them. They don’t kill anything except cactus and flowers. Use the recipe to suffocate them and the environment will stay in tact. In a 32 oz spray bottle, put 1/4 teaspoon dish soap, 1 shot glass of cooking oil, and fill the rest with water. If you don’t have a shot glass, that’s another issue entirely. 😂 Weeds have popped up everywhere. Spraying your weeds with a vinegar solution can control them if you spray when they are small. if you use chemical treatment, the only safe one I know to use in your landscape is the original, white bottle Roundup. I’m not suggesting you use roundup. I’m just saying that if you use chemical control, this is the only one that does not harm your trees. I am speaking on behalf of the trees. About 25% percent of my appointments so far this season have been trees damaged by weed killer. I expect this number to grow. To say that the weather this spring was wonky is an understatement. We went from warm to cold to warm and cold again so fast that my head was spinning. This weather took a toll on the trees. I have not seen any apricot trees with fruit. Many trees did not produce leaves at all. I’m still waiting for my Chinese Pistache to fully leaf out. Even the trees in the nursery took a hit period. I don’t think we’ve seen the full damage of the wonky weather yet. The weather has turned very warm now, and we are close to the end of planting season. The tree selection is good right now. Always when you plant a tree you have to ask yourself what you want your tree to do for you. I have been to several houses this season where they planted a deciduous tree to block the view of the nosy neighbor. That only works while the tree has leaves. Since they did not put an Evergreen, they can run around naked in their backyard in the summer, but not in the winter. 🫣 Oh well. Score one for the nosy neighbor! There is a perfect tree or shrub for your landscape. If you want spring flowers or fall color or shade or privacy or bee friendly or bird food or you need something to plant on your property line so you don’t have to look at your neighbor’s mess, you can find the right tree. You just have to determine what characteristics are most important to you. The perfect tree does exist! Thank you again for reading. Call our office if you need an appointment with one of us or if you would like a returned call. Please be patient. This is our busy season. 😅 Gracias … Camille the Arborista