A clear sky. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable..

A clear sky. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable.

Cast iron plant with shredded leaves.

Red maple trunk with radial shake.

Cast iron plant with shredded leaves.

Red maple trunk with radial shake.

Dear Neil: Do you know what might be shredding the leaves of these cast iron plants in my photos? A cat? Some other animal? A power blower?

Answer: You ask a wonderful question, but I do not have a wonderful answer to give back. I have several hundred cast iron plants (aspidistras) in my own landscape and have had them for more than 30 years, but I have never seen them shredded like this. The plants’ leaves are so leathery that a power blower shouldn’t do this. I can’t imagine a cat or other animal being that entranced by the entire planting to bother that many leaves to that degree. And I have never seen any insect or disease at all on them. Is there any chance that these leaves were damaged by the cold of February 2021, and that the tatters are just now falling out? Whatever the cause, it’s time to trim those damaged leaves off at the ground and then apply an all-nitrogen lawn food followed by a deep soaking. It’s going to take much of this growing season for them to regrow, but they’ll come back handsomely.

Dear Neil: I have tried numerous times to start a new Esperanza plant from a cutting. I’ve tried water, and I’ve tried rooting them in soil, but I’ve met with failure each time. Maybe I don’t know what a cutting is. How can I succeed?

Answer: The answer I’ll give for a home gardener will be different than a commercial greenhouse operator would use for shrubs and vines, including Esperanza. The pros have heated benches and mist or fog houses with 100% percent relative humidity. They will usually start with much smaller cuttings, and they may do their propagation at different times of the year. Also, if you are propagating Gold Star Esperanza, please know that that is a plant that historically has been sold with a special tag indicating that it is a Texas SuperStar plant selection. Commercial growers are required to sell plants with that tag attached, and consumers should always look for it to be sure they’re getting the greatly improved form of the species Tecoma stans.

I don’t think you’ll get in trouble for propagating one or two plants for your own enjoyment. Just don’t do it on a large scale. Your cuttings should be of semi-hardwood growth taken in early summer. They should be 4 inches long, and you will want to pinch out the tip inch of growth. Peel the leaves off the base of each cutting and dip the bottom third of the cutting into a packet of rooting hormone powder. Tap off the excess powder, then carefully insert the cutting into a 6-inch pot filled with a mix of equal amounts of sphagnum peat moss and perlite that has been sprayed thoroughly to soak it completely. Repeat several times as you take 5 or 6 cuttings. When finished, water the pot again thoroughly. Cover the entire pot, cuttings and all, with a sheet of dry cleaner’s plastic to hold in the moisture, and put it in a bright spot out of direct sunlight. The cuttings should begin to form roots within a couple of weeks at which time you can lift them out and pot them up individually.

Dear Neil: The city did some sewer repairs in the parkway alongside our front walk over the winter. Now I’m left with bare ground. We have bermudagrass and I’m wondering what the best way to cover the voids might be. They said they would bring sod in, but I’m wondering if it will match the hybrid bermuda I have.

Answer: Unless you are sure of which hybrid type that you have there is a good chance that you’ll have a mismatch. My own personal experience has been that there’s nothing much worse than a patchwork of different types of bermuda in a nice lawn. Their textures and mowing height requirements vary so much that the lawn can become unsightly. If your lawn is nicely manicured and all of the same variety, in a heartbeat my advice would be that you dig sod from your own lawn and checkerboard it into the bare spaces. Plugs that are 5x5 inches in size can easily be cut with a sharpshooter spade and replanted in late April or May. Space them on 15-inch centers and they should be covered by July. Harvest them from inconspicuous spots along a fence or in the backyard and use the soil you remove from the bare spaces to fill the holes you create when digging the plugs. It will work like a charm.

Dear Neil: I have attached a photo of my red maple tree’s trunk. When I cut my lantana back last week I saw the damage to its bark. It’s 15 years old and 35 feet tall. It’s 32 inches in circumference at 1 foot above the ground. What would have caused this, and what should I do?

Answer: I’m assuming this happened within the past 15 months. Thousands of Texas oaks and maples were damaged by the extreme cold. A process known as “radial shake” caused those trees’ bark to separate in vertical splits. It did little harm to some of the trees, moderate damage to others, and it killed some – all dependent of the magnitude of the bark loss. Leave the bark in place and stand by to see how the tree leaves out over the next couple of weeks. You may also want to hire a certified arborist to keep an eye on the tree on-site every few months this year.

— Have a question you’d like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.

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“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)