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 too many weeds in my horse pasture. I don’t want to spray herbicide around the pasture because I’m worried about harming the horses that graze there. Got any solutions?
ANSWER: Maybe you can get a goat; they’ll eat anything. Generally, goats are lazy and they eat the tallest plants in their immediate area. That’s what they eat first and that’s usually the weeds. They do eat bark off the trees, so you need to protect them. But you can keep a goat tethered to a stake to eat in the weediest areas. You may even rent a goat for a while.
But sometimes horses don’t like having goats around. Another safe solution for killing many of the weeds can be made by mixing together one gallon white vinegar, one cup of table salt and a quarter cup of Dawn dish soap. It’s non-selective and will kill just about anything it’s sprayed on; so try not to spray the grassy areas or the soil itself.
Q: How early is too early to run the drip irrigation system on my citrus? I had been doing it at 5 a.m., but now it’s set for 3 a.m. during the hot months. Will that cause any disease problems with my citrus trees?
A: That time change should be just fine. Since it’s a drip system you’re using, there is no problem, as there could be with spraying some plants during the middle of the night.
Q: I wanted to get a conventional water softener for my house. But when the softener people came out to give an estimate, they told me my house isn’t plumbed for a softening system and it would cost me quite a bit more to have the extra pipes installed. So I thought perhaps I’d try a system that depends on magnetism or electricity to soften the water. How do those work?
A: It’s our opinion that a traditional water softener is the best way to go. Other types of systems probably won’t truly soften your water.
Q: I’ve been trying to grow pomegranate seedlings in little pots in my house. They were doing pretty well, but now they have little bugs on their leaves and they’re leaking a sappy coating onto the leaves that causes them to curl. How do I control this?
A: The sap, of course, is caused by bugs. It’s probably time to move those seedlings outside into a shady area. They’re never going to do very well in the house. Once they’re outside, you should wash them off well, using water and neem oil or an insecticidal soap. Neem oil is a vegetable oil pressed from fruits and seeds of an Indian tree. You can find it in nursery stores.
Q: Can I coat my patio pavers with a cool-deck coating in order to make them cooler when the sun shines on them in summer? Will the coating stick to concrete interlocking pavers?
A: You can do that; I understand that dark-colored pavers can get very hot in summer. But applying the coating will definitely be a time-intensive project, and maintaining that finish on pavers will be a lot of effort. Instead, try planting some trees near the pavers or in the middle of the pavers to throw more shade on the patio.
