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. Our goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.
QUESTION: I have a 40-year-old Aleppo pine sitting in an area where desert landscaping surrounds it. Now 5 percent to 10 percent of the pine needles seem to be dying. What can I do to save the tree? There are other similar trees in my neighborhood that have already been lost.
ANSWER: According to certified arborist John Eisenhower of Integrity Tree Service in Phoenix, it’s possible your tree is like many other Aleppo pines in an area stretching throughout the Southwest from Las Vegas to Phoenix to Tucson. These huge trees seem to have been hard hit recently by a fungal pathogen called diplodia. A lot of research is going on in local universities to analyze the problem and come up with a solution. By the time that you see the dying branches, a lot of damage has already been done to the tree.
These are trees that need heavy watering during the warmer times of the year and that also have a high need for nutrients. Some researchers think that the pines might have been hard hit by a high pollution event not long ago combined with some unusually high temperatures last year. I’d suggest that you call a certified arborist to do tissue samples. Experts may be able to treat your tree by spraying the tree’s entire canopy.
Q: How do I get rid of a rotten egg smell coming out of one of my bathroom faucets? We just got through a three-month remodel in our master bathroom, replacing all the toilets, tubs and fixtures. But now, when I turn on one of the faucets in the morning in a double sink vanity, there is a bad smell coming out for about 30 seconds. It doesn’t happen in any other faucets in the house and doesn’t seem to affect the other faucet in the vanity. Did someone do something wrong when they connected the faucets during the remodel?
A: The connections were probably done properly if your remodel project was inspected by the city. If it’s happening whether you run the hot water or cold, it’s probably a problem with the drain and the p-trap. If it’s an issue just when you’re running hot water, call a plumber to check the anode rod in the water heater.
Q: I get lots of weeds in my garden, so I want to use some weed killer on them this year. How should I do that?
A: A lot of homeowners apply a granular pre-emergent to the bare ground to keep weed seeds from sprouting, but you have to do that fairly early in the season. That can be a huge time-saver. However, if you do that, you can’t get wildflowers to come up in your yard and you can’t plant anything else where you sprinkled pre-emergent. Another possibility is to use a small propane torch to burn off the weeds. Just pass it over the weeds lightly. But you need to be careful not to scorch your valuable plants.
You can also use “natural recipes.” One of our staff members has a formula for killing weeds: a gallon of vinegar, plus a cup of table salt and an 1/8 cup of gentle liquid dish soap. He uses a pump sprayer full of his solution on broadleaf weeds, spurge and Bermuda grass; the weeds are dead in 24 hours.
