Between Hurricane Sandy and the inglorious end of the Tigers’ season, the news today has been pretty depressing here. So I figured I’d stay with something light today and talk about a bombing incident that occurred on campus last Friday. In case you’re wondering how a bombing on a major university campus can be considered a light event, I need to point out that this was a Yarn Bombing incident. Yarn Bombing (also referred to as Yarnstorming or guerrilla knitting) is type of street art – in this case garden art – where trees and other objects are covered with colorful yarn.… Continue reading this article “It’s the bomb!”
Something different to end the week
Thanks to Neil H. for sending this my way.
This is from The Tree Whisperer:
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An Interesting Idea
This past week one of our loyal followers, Karen, sent me a link to a New York Times Article by Mark Bittman. I have read articles by Bittman before and have found them to be kind of a mixed bag, some good, some not so good (but then I suppose many of you could say the same thing about my articles – so I’m not complaining). Anyway, this article was good. It discusses a study conducted in Iowa which demonstrated that growing different crops over time is healthier for the soil, reduces inputs like fertilizer and pesticides, and increases yields.… Continue reading this article “An Interesting Idea”
A followup on the WOW post of last week
There was considerable interest in my post last week, where I shared a photo from Canadian garden writer David Hobson. I wasn’t impressed with the production method and materials for the petunia that was illustrated, but readers wanted to know a little more about the plant (how did the top of it look?) and the mesh encasing the root ball. So I contacted David, and he graciously shared some more information and photos with me.
Here are David’s comments:
“Attached are three photos.… Continue reading this article “A followup on the WOW post of last week”
Tree research continued
Not to be outdone by Bert’s recent postings, I thought I’d show you what’s going on with MY tree research in Washington State.
As you might remember, we installed 40 1-gallon mugo pines and 40 B&B Japanese maples at the end of December 2011. Here’s a photo of the site in April of this year:
I’ve been collecting data on above-ground growth during this year, but have had an unexpected twist to my research, as shown here:
That’s a pine tree.… Continue reading this article “Tree research continued”
A guest blogger (sort of)
One of the best things about my job is I get to work around bright, enthusiastic young people everyday. And not just students here at MSU. Through conferences, meetings and other contacts I get to interact with students at other universities as well. Over the last couple of years I have had a chance to sit in on a couple talks by Alison Stoven O’Connor, who is an Extension Agent and Ph.D. student under the direction of Jim Klett and Tony Koski in Horticulture and Landscape Archetiecture at Colorado State University (and you thought you were busy!). … Continue reading this article “A guest blogger (sort of)”
Fruits and Plains
Recently there have been a number of plant related books that have done really well in terms of sales. Brother Gardeners is one and What A Plant Knows is another. Personally, I think both of these books are nice additions to any horticulturists bookshelf. But there are always those books that have been forgotten. One of those books is Fruits and Plains: The Horticultural Transformation of America by Philip J. Pauly. Published in 2008 this is an accurate history (much more accurate that anything by Pollan for example — Not that Pollan writes bad stuff, but let’s face it, he’s a storyteller) of the evolution of horticulture in the United States over the past few hundred years — If you really want to know the history of horticulture here in the US then this is probably the best place to start. … Continue reading this article “Fruits and Plains”
SoMeDedTrees update
Things have settled down briefly here and I have had a chance to summarize some of the data from the container tree transplanting experiment we installed earlier this year. For those that aren’t familiar we installed two tests this summer using 96 ‘Bloodgood’ plane trees grown in 25 gallon containers that were leftover when we completed an earlier trial in our Pot-in-Pot nursery. I decided to use this as an opportunity to look at some tree transplanting recommendations. … Continue reading this article “SoMeDedTrees update”
Ecosystem services: Am I going to get a bill?
Spent last Friday in a departmental faculty retreat – you know, the “vision thing” – S.W.O.T. analysis, where are we going to be in five years, etc. But we actually got some things accomplished. One of the more interesting aspects was discussing trends in horticulture, both popular and practical, and how we could respond. One of the reoccurring themes throughout the day, especially related to urban agricultural/horticulture, was ecosystems services. I’ve heard the term mostly from environmental science and urban forestry folks. … Continue reading this article “Ecosystem services: Am I going to get a bill?”
Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs
David Hobson, a garden columnist, sent me this great photo of his petunia planted earlier this year. Take a look at the root growth (or lack thereof):
I’m not sure where this particular product came from, but it looks a lot like a FERTISS propagation plug. Here’s a description from their website of this product.”FERTISS is a ready-to-use, pre-filled propagation tray system. Cuttings are placed in a mixture of peat and perlite wrapped in a non-woven fabric.
… Continue reading this article “Another WOW (why oh why) – “biodegradable” mesh for plugs”