Spring is off to a warm and fast start here in Michigan. March was unseasonably warm and the past week or so has seen temperature 20 degrees above average or more. Needless to say this is pushing all of our landscape trees and shrubs. Forsythia and saucer magnolia are in full bloom, at least two … Continue reading Getting Loaded
Yes, not my day to post, but I just received an email with a link to a new product called Packing Pearls. These are polystyrene balls that fill the bottom of large containers so they aren’t so heavy. They are promoted as “improving water drainage and oxygen flow.” You can find a link here The … Continue reading Packing Pearls
As winter continues to hold its icy grip over the middle of the country, our thoughts don’t stray too far from plants and cold. Recently one of the graduate students in our department, Nick Pershey, brought to my attention a new product called FreezePruf that claims to improve plant cold hardiness by up to 9 … Continue reading Checking up on FreezePruf
Some odds and ends today that I either #1 was asked to post or #2 couldn’t resist posting. First for the picture that I was asked to post. This, as far as we can tell (we being myself, my technician, and our grounds department), is the American elm tree that was being planted in that … Continue reading Odds ‘n Ends
I’m one of those people who can’t resist things that are free. When you pass a yard that has a ‘FREE’ sign on a rusted-out lawn mower or an old piece of exercise equipment and wonder, “Who on earth would take that home?” Uh… that would be me. Actually, I blame my dad. The Old … Continue reading The evolution of tree care
You all remember the story of Chicken Little, right? Chicken Little thought she’d been hit on the head by a piece of the sky and ran around alarming the rest of the barnyard animals, who assumed Chicken Little knew what she was talking about. Had they not all been eaten by Foxy Loxy, I’m sure … Continue reading Help! Help! The Sky is Falling!!!
Among the many hats I wear, one of the most enjoyable is that of an Extension Specialist working with Christmas tree growers here in Michigan and surrounding states. I suppose part of the satisfaction stems from the fact that my first real job was shearing Christmas trees in southwest Washington during my high school summers. … Continue reading Growing a greener Christmas tree
Here in Minnesota one of the things that we need to worry about is the cold. Over the winter we can see temperatures down into the -30s (even the -40s in the Northern part of the state) and it can damage many of the plants that we grow. The tops of the trees are usually … Continue reading Let It Snow!
I just had a long conversation with Michele Owens (of Garden Rant fame) about vegetable gardening. This isn’t one of my strong areas, either professionally or personally (I do have containers of herbs, but that’s as far as it goes). But what piqued my curiosity was her revelation that the vegetable gardening is just as … Continue reading Veggie gardening science – whaddya know?
About 3 months after I started my job in Minnesota I hired a technician to help me run the nursery and to manage research plots. His name is Chad and he stands about 6 foot 4, has shoulders that threaten to pop the sides of the skid steer loader whenever he enters it, and he … Continue reading Chad and Jeff’s Excellent Nursery Adventure