Master Gardener Ed Buyarski answered another batch of listener questions in this week’s segment.
Sheryll writes: “The bark on my well established (10-20 yrs old) Kiwi tree is peeling. Is that okay? Should I do something different?”
“That (peeling bark) is very normal,” Buyarski said. “Mine is, too. And, mine is 20 years plus in the ground, climbing on everything in sight or it can reach.”
Brooke writes: “We have a rising sun red bud (about) 1 year old and top seems dead. Only lower branch flowering. Sandy soil. Should we prune off the dead part?”
“Yes,” Buyarski answered. “And, that’s probably the easiest thing in pruning in general. If you see dead parts on a plant, prune them to back to live wood where then it will, hopefully, heal over most quickly.”
Alexander writes: “I have a community plot downtown planted with garlic by the person before me. Never had it before. When to harvest/let go to seed?”
Buyarski said most garlic should be thriving and well over a foot tall by now.
The garlic scape, or the bulbous, curling stem (see picture below), can be snipped off in a few weeks and used in recipes like green onions.
The rest of the plant, including the bulbs still in the soil, can be harvested starting in mid-July through August.
