Advice Requested!

Greetings, all!

I am not a tree-care expert, having invested most of my mental capital into herbaceous plant stuff.  But I know enough to be dangerous: spiraling/strangling roots and narrow crotch angles are bad news. But at what point do they become “unfixable”? So I’m asking my illustrious colleagues and diligent readers (a.k.a “all y’all) for advice.

We have a lovely specimen in our campus Horticulture Garden…Acer ‘White Tigress’ – a hybrid between A. davidii and A.… Continue reading this article “Advice Requested!”

Friday Can O’ Worms

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”

Friday puzzler revealed!

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!)

Friday puzzler addendum

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”

Friday puzzler: Opening a can of worms

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”

Soap and Deer

Short post today — Linda appears to have transmitted her illness electronically over a couple of thousand miles — Thanks Linda!

I was reminded yesterday that it’s almost time for gardeners to start worrying about winter deer damage. With that in mind I thought I’d share with you my favorite research article on the subject.  It’s a little paper by Michael Fargione and Michael Richmond and published about 18 years ago.  You can find it here.… Continue reading this article “Soap and Deer”

Inspecting nursery plants, part ll

Well, I’m recovering from this simply horrific chest cold or whatever it is and feeling brain function returning.  The last time we were at our virtual nursery, we were looking for root flare and inspecting the trunk for damage from improper bagging.  Since we’re already down on our hands and knees, let’s consider roots.  In general, you really don’t want to SEE roots, except where they meet the trunk (the root flare).  The presence of coyly crossed “knees” in this photo is a clear indicator of a plant that wasn’t potted up quickly enough:

Likewise, while the fused, circling woody root mass in this next photo might be aesthetically interesting, it sure doesn’t make a functional root system:

It’s pretty easy to avoid these types of plants, because you can see the root problems before purchasing. … Continue reading this article “Inspecting nursery plants, part ll”

Compost Tea? How About Compost Pee!

My news tab in Firefox is the BBC “latest headlines” page. It’s a great place to get pretty darn unbiased news plus the U.K. equivalent of “News of the Weird”.  SO, relative to our ongoing discussion of composting…here’s a story ripped directly from the BBC headlines. Follow the link for a video (interview, that is).

Disclaimerage: I nor any of the other Garden Professors endorse this activity, nor any claims as to its usefulness, scientific relevancy, harrumph harrumph, etc,.… Continue reading this article “Compost Tea? How About Compost Pee!”

Will cocoa mulch kill my dog?

Recently I was asked to comment about a rash of e-mails floating around cyber-space concerning the toxicity to dogs of mulch made from crushed cocoa bean hulls.  Cocoa mulch is by-product of cocoa production.  The dark brown mulch is aesthetically and aromatically pleasing, giving the garden a rich, chocolately scent.  Since theobromine, a naturally occurring compound in chocolate is toxic to dogs, the internet is now filled with cyber-legends of dogs eating cocoa mulch and keeling over dead.… Continue reading this article “Will cocoa mulch kill my dog?”

If Harvard Says That It Works Then It Works Dammit!

So back in September my department head (who is, for all intents and purposes, my boss) handed me a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/garden/24garden.html) about the grass at Harvard which is now being managed organically.  We share the opinion that many organic techniques, such as compost tea, are “Voodoo Science” (that’s a term I stole from Mike Dirr) and so she thought I’d be interested in the techniques that Harvard was using.  She didn’t say it explicitly, but I think she thought I’d get a laugh out of it. … Continue reading this article “If Harvard Says That It Works Then It Works Dammit!”