Author: Jim Downer

Arborists are trained in seminars and texts that rot in trees is bad. Wood decay can constitute a “hazardous condition” which when accompanied by the tree being in a place that has a target and the tree is large, can create a “hazardous tree”. The notion of hazardous trees is a uniquely human construct that has little to do with the ecology of trees, the variety of organisms that utilizes large declining trees, and does not consider what the various defects in trees may be contributing to the environment or forest around that tree in terms of organism habitat. … Continue reading this article “TreM’s You Say?”

January is here with its resolutions, cold long nights and not that warm days. Winter is a season of rest and survival. The cats and horses have long furry coats, the resident song birds eagerly clean out the feeder every day and the garden beckons. For me Winter is a special season when I can do a lot of fruit tree pruning, especially enjoyed with my daughter. Father-daughter pruning bonding is not to be missed if it’s an option for you.… Continue reading this article “Winter Thoughts in Support for Fallen Leaves”

Facebook and other social media attempt to help us solve problems.  This group and others seek to inform gardeners and solve problems they are having growing plants.  Looking at queries and posted responses there is so much information missing, leading to wrong and misleading comments in many of these discussions.  I think it is a good idea to reexamine the diagnostic process and how gardeners can solve their own diagnostic questions.

Fall is for planting they say when folks talk about shade trees. But is it? When is the best time to plant a tree? In this blog I will cover tree planting times and other particulars, the drawbacks and good points of these decisions.

So is fall the best season to plant a tree?… Continue reading this article “Fall is for planting?”

The hot weather that stimulated the last blog is still with us! Keep up the mulch and occasional watering to help shade trees. Today I want to cover a topic that seems like a garden myth but actually has considerable science behind it. Bicarbonate! The miracle cure for all garden pests? No. My wife came across an article in her news feed about a ‘garden guru’ who touted baking soda as a miracle cure for powdery mildew and other “blight” diseases.… Continue reading this article “Beneficial Bicarbonate?”

We are again in the midst of excessive heat events in many parts of the United States. Records were broken for the highest temperatures ever recorded just a few days ago. This is also a time when the days are at their very longest, so high temperatures have large impacts on plants in landscapes.

High temperature can have immediate (acute) and continuing impacts (chronic) on plants.… Continue reading this article “I’m hot! So are my plants!”

I am constantly slaying horticultural snake oil dragons. There is so much misinformation on the web and even within University/Extension publications. In this blog I turn my attention to compost–a subject that is almost universally cherished by gardeners, gardening groups and horticulturists. Unfortunately there are a lot of misnomers about compost.

Plants are composed of cellulose and cellulose is a complicated polymer of glucose molecules. Compost is made from the decomposition of organic matter—usually plant debris.… Continue reading this article “The Yin Yang of Compost”

I think I have a pruning fixation. I take most opportunities that come along to write about pruning. I have not blogged yet about Spring pruning. It can be a useful way to achieve some pruning objectives. Like all practices it is not necessarily the method or timing of method of choice for all plants. Spring Pruning can have some specific impacts on development of deciduous fruit trees that may help in the home orchard.

Springtime may not be the most obvious time to prune–in fact springtime within the geographic context of this blog requires definition.… Continue reading this article “Spring Pruning”

Companion plants! Great, what a good idea. When you first hear the term and think about the concept it sounds great but there is a lot to not like about it. The term “companion plants”  implies that these plants are partners and they “enjoy” each other’s company.  The term is an anthropomorphism or overlaying of human qualities on non-human organisms.  A more appropriate term may be plant associates or plant associations, a term taken from plant ecology, which has more basis for use.… Continue reading this article “Companion plants, they are not what you think!”

I have a very interesting research project on the effects of urban pressure on Coast Live Oak (CLO). CLO is a California native oak and I am interested in seeing if urban cultural conditions prevent the development of mycorrhizal fungi on their roots.  My study is blocked, that means that all the treatments occur in a block and the blocks are repeated for replication.  Blocking allows the statistics to account for variability in field locations.  Its a good thing too, since one of the blocks has never done well. … Continue reading this article “Landscape Fabric Strikes Again–Oh the Horror!”