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| Ed Greenberg | profile | all galleries >> Places >> The Cactus Doctor makes a house call | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
| After a week of record rainfall and a night of strong winds, the lovely saguaro cactus in our front yard began to lean at an alarming angle. We learned that a saguaro leans when it has bacterial necrosis at the base, there are too many heavy limbs on one side, and/or the soil around the base of the cactus is too wet and loose. Our saguaro suffered from all three conditions! The solution was to call the Cactus Doctor! The Doctor performed surgery, removing the infected flesh at the base of the cactus. I removed the plastic sheeting under the rocks around the base of the saguaro that had been placed there more than 20 years ago, before we bought our house, as a weed barrier. This will allow the soil around the base of the cactus to drain and to dry out after a rain. Finally, the Doctor returned to straighten the saguaro and "train" it to grow straight again by lashing it to two large wooden posts. He also removed two large, heavy, limbs from one side of the cactus to restore its balance. The Cactus Doctor is literally a life saver, and we're grateful to him for saving the life of our beloved saguaro and teaching us a lot about cactus care in the process. |
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 Doing this the right way takes years of practice |
 Finishing the job before it rains again |
 The Doctor know best |
 Our saguaro likes the Doctor! |
 These braces will remain in place for a year |
 We're relieved that our saguaro is safe again |
 A few more days and the wound looks even better |
 Another cactus that we treated with advice from the Doctor |
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| Guest | 13-Apr-2012 21:49 | |