Nature Apps

We have an abundance of information these days. The technology is evolving fast making it easy to get answers on your phone wherever you are. Here are some of my favorite nature apps.

.

Bird identification: iBird Backyard – ”iBird Backyard Plus covers 234 birds, including all 149 common backyard feeder birds of North America, plus 86 common shorebirds and raptors.”

.

.

,

Tree identification – Leafsnap – " Leafsnap is the first in a series of electronic field guides being developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution. This free mobile app uses visual recognition software to help identify tree species from photographs of their leaves.”

.

Plant database – Landscaper’s Companion – “Landscaper's Companion is your mobile plant reference guide. It fits in your pocket or in the palm of your hand. It's great for simple browsing, selecting plants for lands, gaining greater plant education, or just viewing beautiful high quality images of flora. Landscaper's Companion is perfect for casual gardeners, landscapers, or aspiring botanists.”

What are your favorite apps? Leave a comment and share them with the all of us.

Halloween Storm

Last Saturday, Mother Nature dumped 6 to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow on the Northeast US. Trees fell everywhere under the weight. Approximately 375,000 homes and businesses lost power. Almost 1,500 were still without power as of Friday morning.
.
Entire trees toppled pulling up sidewalks.

Some branches remain dangerously hung up.

Piles of trees and brush are everywhere.

Chain saws hum in the neighborhood. It seems everyone is working on cleanup.

.

The Morning Call Master Gardener Blog has some excellent advice in “Snow Storm Damage to Trees”.

.

This timely blog deals with if and when to hire an arborist. How to make cuts where branches are broken. It contains links to help assess the damage as well as advice when replacing trees. Good information even if you don't have fallen trees everywhere.

Planting a Tree

I am not a tree expert but even I can tell something is wrong here.

.

Several years ago I learned about a tree’s root flare – the slightly wider part of the trunk directly above the roots. The root flare should be visible just above the soil surface. It’s the level that allows the tree to grow best. 
.
If a tree is planted too deeply it can encourage girdling roots (roots that go around the tree instead of out or down). Girdling roots will eventually stop the flow of water and nutrients up the tree.

Tree with girdling root (lower right) at top of mulch volcano.

.

Currently popular, mulch volcanos (mulch piled in a cone shape around tree) may damage tree bark and are places for insects and disease to enter. Mulch volcanoes cover the root flare.

According to Martha A. Smith, Extension Educator, Horticulture, University of Illinois Extension:

“A mountain of mulch, piled high against a tree trunk will not kill the tree immediately – it results in slow death. Homeowners don't associate their actions with tree decline several years after they over mulched a tree.”

.

Mulch volcanoes may also cause the roots to surface in search of oxygen as in the top picture.

Tree with bark damage at base on top of mulch volcano.

Mulch is useful to keep moisture in the soil and keep the weeds down. But mulch needs to be 2 to 4 inches thick kept an inch or two away from the tree bark. Trees are expensive to buy and plant. Why not give them the best chance possible.
.  

It is a shame to see such beautiful trees may be doomed. With a lot of luck they may last a while. It would be nice if they would last 100 years.

Information on tree planting from Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences “Planting Ornamentals”. 

Chesapeake Arboretum

Lake Hughes at Chesapeake Arboretum

Chesapeake Arboretum is located at 624 Oak Grove Rd., Chesapeake, Virginia. Forty-eight acres “dedicated to promoting horticultural and environmental awareness through displays, education and research.” It is a pretty spot with well-maintained trails in a beautiful area of Virginia just 10 to 20 minutes from Virginia Beach.

From a large River Birch, Betula nigra, with cinnamon colored exfoliating bark

.
To a young Live Oak, Quercus virginiana, with its leathery, evergreen leaves, well-marked native trees and shrubs line wide paths.

A map and plant list to the Native Garden Woodland Walk can be picked up at the kiosk near the 18^th century farmhouse headquarters. The arboretum also includes a Camellia Grove, Holly Garden and Stewartia Grove.

Chesapeake is the second largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia with sophisticated shopping centers and excellent restaurants amid large fields and rural farms. With hurricane Irene bearing down on this beautiful area, I hope any damage is minimal.

See Clemson University Extension information on River Birch and Live Oak. 

Prickly Ash Tree

.
(Xanthoxylum clava-herculis L. or Xanthoxylum americanum or Xanthoxylum hirsutum)

.

Another unusual tree at Bartram’s Garden and one I have never seen before is the Prickly Ash.

.

Sometimes called the toothache tree, we were told the leaves have a numbing effect and were used by Native Americans for toothache pain. This thorny, small tree is a member of the citrus family and is sometimes used as a natural fence.

The lumpy bark is quite distinctive. I can see why it is also called “Hercules Club”

.

More information through Google books from Mississippi State University Extension here.

Big Tree - Small Space

I’m not really sure what this evergreen is. When I bought it around 1998, I was told it was a Golden Thread Cypress and that it might get 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide. I bought 3 at a great price from a wonderful, old landscape supplier. It is a beautiful gold evergreen, delicate and airy.

But if you plant it in the wrong place, you will have to trim it to keep it a manageable size.

Then you will be stuck with a large green lump.

.

(Lehigh County is offering a drop-off hazardous materials collection Saturday, September 25, 2010 between the hours of 8 am and 2 pm. - appointment required. More information here.).

Color of Autumn

.

The fall color in Monroe and Carbon Counties peaked this week according to Pocono Mountains Fall Foliage Reports.

.

The only day we had available this week turned out cloudy and cool. Even though the colors were not as bright as they might have been in the sun, we enjoyed passing fields and hills covered in bright red, orange, magenta, purple, yellow and gold as we drove north. The view from Penn’s Peak (above and right) was spectacular. We had an enjoyable day taking in nature’s blazing finery.

The variety of species on the mountain is responsible for the mix of colors. Oak, sassafras, maple, walnut, ash, chestnut, locust, hickory, birch, aspen and elm among the evergreens add their glowing color to the mix.

Local color is just starting. The view from Bethlehem’s City Center Plaza shows some bright color mixed with green looking toward South Mountain.

.

,
The current view of the Lehigh River is peacefully green with just a slight touch of color.

.

.

Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Patriot’), planted this year, is an excellent substitution for the invasive burning bush (Euonymus alatus). The fruit is wonderful and the brilliant fall color is a nice surprise.

Next week the Lehigh Valley should be as colorful as the Poconos. Raking, shredding and composting will begin shortly thereafter. The brilliant show will be over and my world will turn brown until spring. I plan to enjoy the color while it lasts.


(More information on the process of fall leaf color change "The Miracle of Fall" from the University of Illinois Extension.)

(For fall color around the world check out "The Fall Color Project" at The Home Garden http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/2009/09/fall-color-project-2009.html )

.

Hemlock Scale

.

Another busy week in the garden – pruning, dead heading and clean up. The new garden is finished. I’ll get back to that story next time.

The needles on our 65 ft. hemlocks have been turning brown and dropping off. I would hate to lose these trees. They provide shade and privacy for our deck. Birds nest and twitter in them all summer. Squirrels leap from branch to branch. They make me feel like I’m sitting in a cool shady forest.

.
This isn’t a problem we could handle ourselves so we called a tree care professional. The trees have hemlock scale. The scales can be seen on the back of the needles as tiny brown dots. According to Penn State Department of Entomology, “Scales injure host plants by inserting their threadlike, piercing-sucking mouthparts into needles and withdraw vital nutrients necessary for plant growth from mesophyll cells.”

The trunk was sprayed with Pentra Bark/Merit solution from the base of the trunk to about 6 feet up the bark. The insecticide will go through the tree’s vascular system to kill the scale.

.
It seemed like the most environmentally friendly way to save the trees. They have become old friends over the past 35 years. I hope the trees will continue live next to our deck for a long time.

.

Locust Tree

.
The old locust tree in the back yard is humming with bees. You can hear it best in the morning when the entire tree literally hums.

The sidewalk is covered with blossoms. The grass resembles a light snow event. Drunken bees walk on the driveway.

When the blossoms are gone the tree will produce seed pods. They will eventually drop and stain the sidewalks or rot in the garden. The leaves are small and easy to rake up in the fall.

We got the tree as a sapling from a relative so I really don’t know its name – most likely a honey locust. I have never seen any thorns. Modern varieties like Shademaster are both thornless and podless. They make a great shade tree growing to 70 feet high and 50 feet wide.

It’s a pretty, umbrella shaped tree and the blossoms smell sweet so we tolerate the mess.

(More information about honey locust at Tree Help dot com.)

.

Waiting for the Leaves to Fall …

.

… is like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The garden is almost all cleaned up for this year. The hostas are frost bit and will soon turn into mush. Being a lazy gardener, I wait for the mush stage and then rake them out of the garden.

The maple and locust trees are still very green. The dogwood leaves have a pretty reddish tint. The sweet shrub is turning yellow. None of them seem to be willing to let go of their leaves. It will be another month until all the leaves are raked, shredded and composted.

The slow-down will help me slip into my Winter-Gardener mode.

The Winter Gardener lives in my mind. The Winter Gardener plans gardens, reads gardening books and catalogues, researches plants and gardening, annoys house plants, visits public gardens and flower shows, studies plants and insects, learns about plant disease, organizes plant files. I’ll have a lot to do this winter.

I hope it doesn’t include shoveling snow.

.