Take advantage of 'pretty' weather during winter to water landscaping

Q: Last weekend, I gave my landscaping a really deep drink of water. A couple of neighbors and several walkers that passed by wondered why I was doing that. I wasn’t wrong to give my trees, shrubs and the couple of established roses I have that drink was I? I even sprayed off the shrub junipers and they look so happy. — W.W, Albuquerque

A: Oh, your lucky landscaping! Bet your boots that what you did was correct and for sure appreciated by your landscape plants.

That weekend was “pretty” weather-wise and as long as the sprayed off juniper had sufficient time to air dry before sunset and the water offered was absorbed into the soil, then you actually offered protection to the plant life. Especially with the frigid temperatures we’re having this week. If it’d gotten much colder, the water you offered would have frozen below ground, actually insulating the roots of those plants.

I wish everyone would take the time to offer water when the temperatures are pretty so that when the temperatures do plummet, the plant life is far more able to deal with it. From everything I’ve ever been taught and have read, you did the finest thing you could possibly do for your landscaping.

I’m not saying you have to be out there watering weekly this time of year, especially since most everything is in a dormant stage. If it stays dry with no measurable precipitation, a good deep drink, monthly, would be great. The goal is to have watered just before a period of truly frigid weather for the insulation factor to the roots.

So, let the neighbors look at you like you’re a loon, and as long as you’re not watering the sidewalks, driveways or streets, well, you did good!

Q: I have always had poinsettia plants in the house to enjoy during the holidays. We have just gotten a new puppy and I was cautioned by the girl at the counter while buying pet food that they are poisonous. Is this true? I can’t have my poinsettias? — U.M., Albuquerque

A: This issue comes up every year when poinsettias become available. I have been taught and have read in several books that, no, poinsettias are not poisonous.

The poinsettia is in the genus called Euphorbia. There are some plants in that family that are poisonous, but not the poinsettia. Since you have enjoyed keeping them over the years, I’m confident that you have noticed that when you bump off a leaf, the stem end and the node where the stem was attached to the mother plant exudes a white sap. It’s the sap that defines most of Euphorbia. That sap might irritate your skin.

Me? I can’t handle them anymore, as I’ve developed a sensitivity to them, but that certainly won’t keep me from having several in my home during the holidays. I go on “dropped leaf patrol” daily so my cat doesn’t think of them as a play toy.

As long as you keep the poinsettias evenly moist, don’t allow them to sit in puddles of water and keep them out of chilly temperatures and offer them bright light, they usually don’t drop leaves. I’d say keep the poinsettias out of reach so they don’t become something to cause interest to the new puppy and keep on enjoying them.

Happy Diggin In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Digging In, Albuquerque Journal, 7777 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.