Over the last few weeks I’ve said a lot of complimentary things about the Minnesota Nursery Industry and how they’re careful to avoid situations where trees are planted too deeply. What I haven’t mentioned is that there is a reason for this. During the 1980s and early ’90s trees were usually planted deeply with lots … Continue reading What Makes Growers Change?
Linda referred to my recent absence from the blog – but it was in the name of education, I swear! Cocos nucifera, the iconic coconut palm. My office for the past two weeks. Or a Corona advertisement. You pick. This study abroad to the Dominican Republic sent Virginia Tech students (mostly biology and natural resources … Continue reading How on Earth Did I Land This Gig?!
It’s hard to think of mulch as a controversial topic but, as with most things these days, we find people on both sides of an issue. And, as with most things these days, some of opinions are based on substance, others are not. In the southern U.S. some environmental groups are advocating a boycott of … Continue reading Should I boycott cypress mulch?
Jeff’s post yesterday gave me the perfect opportunity to showcase the star of my bizarre book collection.. It’s called “Evolution of Botany: More Fact Than Theory” written and published by Benjamin Zarr (author of several other books, including “Evolution: No One Can Break Down My Theory!”) Jeff, he’s written more books than you and I put … Continue reading Blog bizarre
Last week I took a look at old, out of print books that are worth finding and reading. This week I think I’ll take a slightly different track and instead turn my attention to a book that is currently in print, but which shouldn’t be. In fact, 1001 All-Natural Secrets to a Pest-Free Property by … Continue reading As Bad As It Gets?
Yesterday I received a call from an administrator at a large military base. (I have to tell you that anytime I get a call from someone in government I immediately start wondering about “the file” that I’m sure is kept on me. No, I’m not paranoid, but I’m an outside reviewer for a number of … Continue reading Size matters.
I promise I’ll post something more substantial today…but I had to pass this email message along that I received this morning. Way to go colleagues and commenters! Hi Linda, Your new weblog, the Garden Professors, is an impressive piece of work! I plugged it today in the consumer horticulture CoP blog [http://www.consumerhortcop.wordpress.com]. Regards, Bill Hoffman National … Continue reading Whoo hoo!
Over the weekend Linda accepted an award from the Garden Writers Association for her book The Informed Gardener. It’s good to see that people are starting to pay attention to science based gardening, and no-one has worked more tirelessly than Linda to get the word out there!
[Disclaimer: I do not endorse any particular product over another, nor do I receive ANY compensation (darn it), free stuff, etc. from any companies, whether recommending or dissing their product.] Seeing Linda’s favorite mulch fork prompted this post – scroll on down past the Great Root Debate (rowr)! I remember first laying eyes on this … Continue reading I *heart* My NRG Pro Transplanter
Following up on Linda’s earlier comments about potential problems with TreeGators, my summer interns and I did a random spot check of about 150 TreeGators currently in use on the MSU campus. As background, MSU Landscape Services plants about 1,200 trees and shrubs each year. All newly-planted trees which are not on an automatic irrigation … Continue reading Another look at TreeGators