I noted in my Sept. 22, 2009 post on the threat posed to ash trees in the Midwest by the emerald ash borer (EAB), and included photos of the famous grove of 500 ash trees surrounding the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. I was in St. Louis that summer for the ASHS meeting and saw that the National Park Service was planting trees from a variety of species around the monument. I assumed at the time that the Park Service was preparing for the eventual loss of the ashes to EAB.
Category: What About the Trees
So what to plant under power lines?
I’m going to add a bit more to Bert’s discussion. Through the efforts of Dr. Eric Wiseman of Urban Forestry at Virginia Tech, we have a
Utility Line Arboretum (ULA). Modeled after Dr. Bonnie Appleton’s original ULA for Virginia at the Hampton Roads research station, Eric’s includes many woody taxa suitable for planting in the vicinity of power lines (see a nice list of Bonnie’s favorite power-line-friendly taxa here).
Eric came to me with his plan in 2006 and we found some space in our Hahn Horticulture Garden to get it going.… Continue reading this article “So what to plant under power lines?”
Utility arborists: Give ‘em a break
One of our semi-recurring themes on the Garden Professor’s is our WOW’s or “Why Oh Why’s”. As in “Why oh why do nurseries continue to sell invasive plants?” Today, I’d like to turn things around a bit and look at a group of people that are often maligned by the public but, in fact, are getting a bad rap and could use a break; utility arborists.
Right tree, right place?
Utility arborists face a nearly impossible and unenviable task. … Continue reading this article “Utility arborists: Give ‘em a break”
Newsflash: trees will die if their roots can’t establish
I’ve blogged before about the importance of getting tree roots in contact with the landscape soil during transplanting (you can find those posts here, here, here, here, and here). My advice to bareroot woody species upon installation is often ignored in favor of the quick-n-easy methods so often showcased on HGTV (“A complete landscape makeover in a weekend!”). And of course everything looks great…for a while. Let’s see what happens after a few years.… Continue reading this article “Newsflash: trees will die if their roots can’t establish”
A lawn alternative we can support: Conifers!
As many of the blog readers are aware, I do a lot of writing about conifers. In the process I mingle with members of the American Conifer Society or ‘ACS’ for short -although some wag has suggested that ACS actually stands for Addicted Conifer Syndrome, such is the devotion of these enthusiasts for their beloved conifers. A couple weekends ago I was privileged to attend the first ever ACS ‘Illinois Conifer Rendezvous’ hosted by Rich and Susan Eyre, owners of Foxwillow Pines nursery in Woodstock, IL. … Continue reading this article “A lawn alternative we can support: Conifers!”
Off with their heads!
About a year ago I posted my thoughts about the nursery production practice of heading young trees (“whips”) to stimulate lateral branching or columnar form or whatever. (You can find this original column here.) A healthy discussion ensued, much of which revolved around the need for appropriate follow-up pruning to ensure the development of a stable crown structure of headed trees.
Fast forward to last month, where a column I wrote for NPM (Nursery Production and Management) magazine hit the web. … Continue reading this article “Off with their heads!”
My Long Suffering Basil
Sometimes I am not such a good garden professor. That’s because, when I get home, I sometimes (OK — often) don’t give my plants the attention they need. It’s also because, when we leave for vacation, I often forget to tell whoever is watching the animals to keep their eyes on the plants too. Now, really, you would think that someone who saw a plant on the back porch in full wilt would think “Hey, Maybe I should water that!” … Continue reading this article “My Long Suffering Basil”
Dying dogwood diagnosis
Lots of good, thoughtful answers from you over the weekend about these trees. Here’s another photo from a bit farther away:
As Laura pointed out, there’s a relatively new parking lot here. The creation of the parking lot both compacted the surrounding root zone, then covered it with impermeable surface. The dogwoods are huddled on their little island, which is unirrigated, unmulched, and indeed hot in the summer as Daniel said. All of these environmental insults, in addition to the mature age of these trees, have led to what we call a “mortality spiral”: trees are environmentally stressed and then become more susceptible to opportunistic pests and diseases. … Continue reading this article “Dying dogwood diagnosis”
The dilemma of the dying dogwood
Here’s a photo of two mature dogwood trees that are obviously on their way out:
What happened? There’s been no construction in the area since the parking lot was paved several years ago.
Answer on Monday!
Why bother having trees?
Sorry to be late with my post this week – I was away reviewing grant proposals. It was interesting and useful work, but really drains your brain. So with that being said, my post is long on pictures and short on words.
One of the things that bugs us GP types is poor plant placement. Why bother planting a tree if you’re not going to allow it to grow naturally? Here are some photos to mull over the weekend. … Continue reading this article “Why bother having trees?”