I was pleased to see that at least two of you dug into the literature over the weekend to read these papers! (I can still remember the first time as a Master’s student when I was assigned a journal paper to review. I had NO idea what, exactly, I was supposed to be doing. It took a long time to figure it out.)
In any case, kudos to Jimbo and Diana for their thoughtful comments – and for zooming in on the problems. … Continue reading this article “Friday Can O’ Worms”
Lots of discussion about the mysterious white streaking on the hedge. The pictures below show a little more detail than those on Friday:
As you can see, Jimbo was on the right track when he suggested the hedge might be near a parking lot. But it’s the heat escaping from the engine compartments that’s been causing the damage.
(I am now committed to find some good photos of urine damage by dogs, donkeys, or drunken frat boys!)
OK, I know we gave you a tough assignment for the weekend, so I want to post something fun as well. (Think of this as dessert after your healthy meal!) Take a look at the photos below:
This hedge is regularly sheared and no one part of it has been maintained any differently than another part. Both sections of the hedge face east, and the damage is anywhere from 2 to 4 feet from the ground. … Continue reading this article “Friday puzzler addendum”
Part of being a Garden Professor is evaluating, interpreting, and passing on good science to the rest of the gardening world. I was recently made aware of two articles soon to be published in Crop Protection and Pedobiologia, both peer-reviewed, scientific journals. (You can download these articles just by clicking on the highlighted journal names.)
Briefly, what one expects from a scientific article is (1) a statement of the research question (the hypothesis) to be investigated, (2) a clear description of the materials used and procedures followed, (3) a listing of the results, along with their statistical significance, and (4) a discussion of the results, including whether they supported the hypothesis.… Continue reading this article “Friday puzzler: Opening a can of worms”
Here’s a photo I took in Buffalo about 20 years ago. Buffalo, like many places in the northeast part of the country, has fantastic color changes in the fall. This maple seems to have changed its mind part of the way through the process:
What do you think caused part of this tree to retain its green leaves? Answer and another photo on Monday!
Here is this week’s plant puzzler. This mature tree just fell over one summer day. There had not been any significant wind, the soil was well-irrigated (but not overly wet), there had been no construction work or other root-zone disruption. There were no significant pest or disease problems. I’ve posted two photos from different angles, and will show one more photo on Monday. Why do you think the tree failed?
Good morning (at least it is in my time zone)! And welcome to those of you who found us through Blotanical or another blog site. We love seeing the increased participation on our blog.
Since I am a teacher at heart, I was glad to see so much thoughtful discussion over the weekend. Many of you suggested that pruning for vehicular traffic was the trigger for this growth, and it’s true that removing large limbs or heading back branches will result in vigorous epicormic growth. … Continue reading this article “Epicormic mystery solved!”
One of the things we Garden Professors can do is give tests! And the nice thing is you don’t get penalized for being wrong. So this will be my inaugural Plant Puzzler.
Below is a photo of a tree with epicormic shoots on its two lower branches. Epicormic shoots are vigorous, upright branches that have more of a juvenile than mature appearance. They often appear when a plant has been stressed, perhaps by overpruning, or maybe the roots were damaged by construction:
So here is your test question. … Continue reading this article “Quiz time!”