Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer system. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.
QUESTION: I have a 25-foot “grandfather” saguaro with arms growing next to my patio home. It has suffered some damage due to the fact that birds have pecked holes into it. Is it possible that this big cactus could deteriorate and fall on the house? Should I have it removed?
ANSWER: When birds peck into saguaros to create a nesting area, it sometimes happens that bacterial necrosis builds up in the holes they make. Then black material starts oozing out of the lesions. If you have the damaged area treated right away, you can manage to clean out and disinfect the hole, and usually the saguaro can be saved. But if the disease travels through the main trunk of the saguaro, the cactus could start losing arms. Have a cactus expert look at your “grandfather” to see if the saguaro can be treated properly.
Q: About three or four years ago, I planted an ash tree. I had the landscapers plant it about two feet away from an area where a gas pipe line was located. It was a 24-inch boxed tree. Now I’m worried that it was put in the wrong place and might suffer some damage or somehow interfere with the gas pipe line.
A: Actually, those pipe lines are run at a depth underground farther down than your tree’s roots will grow. Tree roots tend to grow at a shallow level horizontally on the top two feet of soil around the trunk of the tree.
Q: What kind of additional insulation can I put into the attic in my 1,550 square-foot condo? There was lots of cellulose installed when the unit was built, but now it’s deteriorating. I am starting to see through the insulation to the wood underneath and I think it needs more insulation. What type of insulation should I use?
A: Adding more cellulose should work just fine. You might want to have a whole-house energy audit done first to get some more information about your condo. Just be sure that someone doesn’t talk you into putting more than R-38 level of insulation in the attic. Adding any more than that into the attic will not benefit you enough in savings on your utility bills to make it worth your while financially.
Q: I have a vegetable garden that somehow has been invaded with Bermuda grass. I’ve tried everything to get rid of the grass, but it keeps on growing and interfering with my crop of vegetables. What can I do to get rid of it?
A: Bermuda is very stubborn, invasive and hard to kill off. I’d suggest that you move the garden to a new location in your yard, and abandon the old site for a while. Let the Bermuda in the affected area keep growing until it is really thick. Then use herbicide to kill it off in that old location. Or you could cover it with clear plastic during the summer and try to smother the Bermuda and burn it out.
