Pruning, mistletoe, and grass health among gardening questions  

By David Rodriguez
Guest Columnist

Q: What is the correct way to prune an American Beautyberry bush? Should it just be left alone? It’s getting rather large in diameter.

A: Unless it is offensive in some way, I recommend leaving it alone. If it is tall and scraggly, I recommend cutting it back to close to the ground. If you just want to reduce its size, you can hedge it back to the size you desire. This is usually done as the buds begin to swell in the early spring.

Q: How can I get rid of this mistletoe? It’s taking over my oak tree. If I trim the tree to almost nothing, will it grow back?

A: Mistletoe is a parasite that puts its haustoria (roots) into the tree and takes its moisture and nutrients from the sap of the tree. Removing its top will not kill the haustoria and the plant will re-grow. I know of no way of killing it short of cutting off the limbs that it is growing on. See the article at aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ plantanswers/misc/parasites.html.

Q: I recently moved into a house with a poorly kept lawn, and most of the St. Augustine grass is dead. Considering the mild winter and the drought of recent years, should I fertilize the soil and buy a pallet of grass to start over, or will the drought continue, preventing me from properly watering during the first few months that are so vital to a healthy yard? Should I keep what I have and try to make spread? I don’t mind the work if it will help my yard. I hate having the ugly yard on the block.

A: I recommend that you water your lawn now at least an inch and continue to water about a half of an inch every week in the absence of rainfall until next spring. Then around April 15, fertilize the lawn with 19-5-9 synthetic analysis or a 4-2-3 organic lawn fertilizer. I think that you will find that your lawn will respond and fill in nicely.

David Rodriguez is the county extension agent-horticulture for Bexar County. He represents Texas Cooperative Extension with the Texas A&M University System.