Plant	Question	Answer
Trees:
Ficus	Can a ficus tree be left outdoors year round in our area, or is it a plant that needs to be brought in the house during the frost/freezing weather?	Since you wrote "ficus" rather than "fig", I will assume you mean the tropical, ornamental fiscus rather than the edible fig. (Ficus is a genus for the fig plant.) A tropical fiscus (not the fruiting fig) will freeze if left outdoors in all of New Mexico. The fig trees that make edible figs are hardy from southern New Mexico to around Albuquerque. Since you are asking about the tropical fiscus, I recommeend that you take it inside during freezing weather. It can be taken outdoors to a well-lighted location (not full sunlight) during warm days. The tropical ficus are often so sensitive to low temperatures that prolong (several hours) temperatures above freezing but below 40 degrees can cause injury. When the tree is indoors, keep it in a brightly lighted room with temperatures ranging from 80 degrees during the day to about 60 degrees at night. Brief periods of slightly higher or lower temperatures will not cause a problem. Grouping other plants around it will help maintain higher humidity that will benefit all the houseplants. You can water as often as needed to keep the soil from drying out completely. Each time you water the tree give it enough water so that water comes out the holes in the pot. Drain any water that collects in containers below the tree so that noone is re-absorbed.
Fruitless Mulberry	We have recently moved to a home with 2 fruitless mulberry trees. I understand that they must be trimmed back every year to the "knackles". Do we wait until all the leaves are off the tree? We just need to know the correct time to trim them.	You don't have to cut to the "knuckles each year (or at least every second year) unless you are maintaining the tree as a "pollarded" tree -- a tree that is cut back at least every second year to the knuckles. The best time of year for this is the tree's dormant season after the leaves have fallen. If the trees were already pollarded when you moved to your home, you can maintain them as pllarded trees, cut them down, or try to restore the branches by allowing only one to grow from each knuckle. The last choice is the least desirable option because it is very likely that the branch attachment will be weak, and the branch will break after it becomes large and dangerous. By maintaining the tree in pollarded form, it will remain smaller and the branches will be removed before they become dangerous. However, this ia lot of work. Replacing the tree allows you to choose another kind of tree that is more to your liking. If you like the fruitless mulbery and don't have a problem with the aeroallergins (pollen) that it produces each year, you may choose to keep this tree. The fruitless mulberry has many desireable traits but is a sever source of allergy-causing pollens. A sping or summer flowering tree may be more to your liking and may have less impact on your family's health. There are many beautiful flowering trees that are well adapted to our soils and climate. You can also select a tree that offers fruit or autumn color. The chice is yours.
Pecan	We have a pecan tree that produces a plentiful crop, yet the shucks stay green. Some do blacken, but all the nuts on the ground (black or green shucks) are stuck tight. We have squirrels that come each fall to harvest pecans. Could it be the nuts are being shaken loose too soon by the squirrels? However, it is the moddle of November. What causes the stuck shucks?	The problem with pecan shucks not opening could be nutritional or due to disease. You should contact your local County Extension Office to determine if there are soil nutrition problems in your area or if this is due to a disease.As you suggest, it could be because your growing season is not long enough. Some varieties of pecans will mature their nuts if you don't have frost from May until mid-October. Another potential cause is insufficient irrigation in late summer. This is a very likely cause of your problem. In each case, your local County Extension Agent can be helpful in determining the exact cause and proper treatment.
Weeds:
Sand Burs	We have a terrible problem with sand burs in our backyard and have tried several treatments with no success. We even tried burning the yard where the stickers are located. The nursery told us to use an herbicide that did not work.	Sand burs and puncture vine (often called "goat heads" because of the shape of the spiny seed capsules) are two common weeds that appear each summer in many New Mexico landscapes. Some gardeners have sand burs, other gardeners have puncture weeds and some gardeners have both. There are some similarities in managementy and some differences due to the fact that sand burs are a grass and puncture weed is a broadleaf weed. Both of these weeds can be managed by maintaining a healthy, dense lawn. The weeds do not germinate well in a healthy lawn but appear in thin areas of the grass or around the perimeter adjacent to driveways and sidewalks. Proper mowing, watering, and fertilizing will reduce the problems with both weeds. As you identify the weed in your lawn, manually remove it (by pulling or digging) to prevent it from forming seeds that will continue the problem next year. However, there are seeds from previous years laying dormant in the soil, and these will cause future problems. Don't let this year's weeds make seed to add to the problem. A healthy lawn will help with problems in subsequent years. In weed management, it is important to use the proper herbicide. Once they are growing, grass weeds (sand burs and others) must be treated with a grass herbicide. Puncture weed is a broadleaf weed and must be treated with an herbicide specific to bradleaf weeds (which will not control grass weeds). There are also non-specific herbicides that will kill all vegetation (such as glyphosate-based herbicides). These post emergent herbicides can be used to help you manage the weeds and reduce the number of seeds formed. Both sand burs and punchture weeds are weeds that die in the fall. They must sprout again from seed each spring or early summer. For this reason, they may be managed by use of pre-emergent herbicides that prevent seeds from sprouting. If applied early enough, this will greatly reduce the problem each year. However, it is too late to use pre-emergent herbicides this year because the seeds have already sprouted. If you choose to use these next year, read and carefully follow the label directions.
Puncture Weed	See Sand Burs	See Sand Burs.

Reprinted from Yard & Garden by Curtis Smith