Category: Trees

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Rotting Cedar Gazebo

Morning Fog by donsutherland1

TheGardenLady received this question from Sandy.

We have a windbreak of 11 100′ Northern spruce trees with a cedar gazebo nestled among them. The roof of the gazebo is built of cut, trimmed cedar branches. We are noticing some of these roof branches are starting to rot. Is it because of the acidic needles falling from the Northern spruce trees and collecting on the gazebo roof?

Its a misconception that cedar will not rot. There are a number of causes for the rot. The elements can wreak havoc on any roofing material. Cedar is susceptible to sun, which breaks down the lignin in wood, causing splitting, cracking and dry rot.

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Beware of English Ivy on your Trees

English Ivy Forests in Arlington by TheGreenMiles

TheGardenLady was asked by her son who lives in Philadelphia whether it’s bad to have ivy growing on a tree.  He was told this by the neighbor’s tree expert.  Here’s TheGardenLady’s answer:

It is recommended to remove English ivy on trees and walls. (English ivy does damage to the cement between the bricks and maybe even the bricks). Ivy growing as a ground cover competes with the roots of the trees for water, oxygen and nutrients, so you do not want it as a ground cover. It is best to keep the drip line (the area of ground under a tree that extends from the trunk to the edge of the crown) clear of unnecessary plants.

When ivy climbs up the tree it adds weight to the trunk and branches which can cause cracks or breaks on tree branches. This stresses the tree.  Many vines strangle and eventually kill the trees they are climbing on.

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Trees that Encourage Butterflies and Moths to Breed

Monarchs in the eucalyptus trees by Images by John ‘K’

Do you want to encourage more butterflies and moths to your garden? One generally thinks of planting shrubs and perennial flowers in the garden for the butterflies and moths. However you must consider that some of these butterflies and moths need trees. Some butterflies or moths lay their eggs on them and then need tree leaves where the larva will feed when they hatch. Some need trees to take shelter in. So if you are thinking of planting a tree in your yard, consider some of the trees that might encourage butterflies and moths to breed.

Here are just the needs of a few of the common butterflies or moths.

luna moth by Creativity+ Timothy K…

Starting with the Luna Moth -Actias luna, a beautiful green huge moth with a wingspan of 4 1/2 inches, that if you are lucky enough to have seen, is an exciting treat. This GardenLady has them. They love one tree TheGardenLady has on her property. The Luna Moth lays its eggs on the leaves of the black walnut tree. But the larva eat the leaves of numerous trees including sweetgum, American beech, red maple, hickories, white oak, black cherries, willows, American chestnut and smooth sumac. These are all trees that I either have on my property or are growing near my property (see here), and if you have them or are near them, you might be lucky enough to see one of these lovely moths that only fly at night.

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Deodar Cedar Issues – Part II

Evening fog by autan

In a post earlier this week TheGardenLady gave an answer to a question from a Katherine about a problem she is having with her giant Deodar cedar tree.  TheGardenLady has more to say on this topic.

There are three major things plants need to grow and thrive. The first is adequate light for the plant species. Most flowering plants like sun. Very few plants will put out flowers if there is not sunlight or light. The second requirement is water or moisture. Every plant has a certain moisture requirement. And last, plants need nutrients. They take nutrients from the soil or sometimes from water, especially if nutrients are added to the water.

When you have a large tree, it wants a lot of the light, water and nutrients for itself. And when you have a large evergreen tree, it usually takes up the light and under the tree, it is often too dark for other plants to survive. The second need the tree has is for water. A massive tree will have massive roots that are searching for water that falls to the ground and its leaves, or needles, also absorb some of the water as it falls. So any plant that could grow under the tree has to be pretty drought tolerant- unfortunately most shade loving plants love water, too. And finally nutrients, a huge tree is using its roots to get nutrients for the tree, so a plant that is trying to grow under a large tree is going to have difficulty trying to get nutrients for its needs. This is besides the fact that evergreens drop those needles that make the soil acid. And not all plants can grow in all Hardiness Temperature Zones. So you see why you are having such a difficult problem.

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Deodar Cedar Issues – Part I

TheGardenLady received this question from Katherine.

We have a 1911 Craftsman home in Hollywood with a giant deodar cedar in the front yard (photos above). I’ve tried planting salvia, heather, dahlias, azaleas, camellias, succulents, annuals, etc. and nothing really thrives or looks right. Someone suggested ferns, but I can’t see this front yard full of ferns. Do you have any suggestions? The problem is the needles. They blanket the ground year round. We’ve also tried grass, and it looked very patchy. This year, I planted some cyclamen and threw some wildflower seeds in frustration. The cosmos are actually sprouting. There is dappled light. The camellia seems to be the happiest, but it is away from the base of the tree. My gardener once tried impatiens, but I did not like the look of the ring of flowers by the base of the trunk.  I’ve looked for photos, etc, and nothing seems to work under these gigantic, and I mean GIGANTIC, trees. Help!

Having a big evergreen growing in one’s yard creates a difficult planting situation for anyone, that is why you do not see photos of plants growing under them. Plants like to grow in an area that provides its needs, which the huge evergreen tree may be using. This GardenLady may not be any more helpful for what you are wishing for than anyone else. Let me explain why.

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The Whatcom Seed Company

Moringa oleifera by dinesh_valke

There are so many seed catalogs whose photos show such wonderful plants that you can grow in your gardens, it almost seems too difficult to choose. Still I recently discovered yet another seed catalog that I think TheGardenLady readers will find as exciting as I did. Will this additional site add to the confusion?

This online catalog carries really unique seeds. They sell what they say are the “rare, exotic, unusual and beautiful” plant seeds. For example, if you are a hot pepper lover, they have varieties I never heard of before. They have seeds to raise trees- one has to be patient if one wants a tree, though many of the tree seeds are for bonsai lovers.

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Tree of Life Web Project

Tree of Life in Spring by h.koppdelaney

TheGardenLady is always searching for great  websites that have to do with plants, animals and insects. I just discovered a great website for people of all ages- children will love the photos and videos as will college students or just interested older folks, like me. This website is called the Tree of Life Web Project.

The homepage says that “The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history.”

Everyone interested can participate. This is a site for you who love nature, gardens, wildlife. You can just use the site for your own information or can become involved. This is also great for school teachers or home school teachers. It is your own library of biology and botany.

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The Dry Dip Method for Propagating Hardwood Plants, Trees or Shrubs

Ume, Japanese plum by autan

My favorite fanciful tree creators, Pooktre Tree Shapers, just notified TheGardenLady that they have put a new video on their website. This video shows how to propagate new trees from branches of the wild plum trees that they use for most of their living tree sculptures. They will be using these newly started trees for making more of their delightful tree sculptures. Readers will see how easy it is to propagate hardwood plants, trees or shrubs.

The method being used is called the dry dip method and is a very simple way to get more plants for your garden. You can use the technique to propagate other plants that you might want to grow in your garden. For example, if a friend has an old variety rose bush, you might want for your garden, you can try propagating some roses from the stems.  See here.  You want an older variety of rose to be sure it is growing on its own rootstock, so that your new rose will look exactly the same as the parent.  See here.

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Pooktre, Tree Shapers

TheGardenLady has seen and been amazed by photos of trees that have been shaped to grow in unusual and artistic shapes.

About a year ago, TheGardenLady discovered the works of Tree Shaper, Peter Cook, who is a creator of some of these artistically-shaped trees in Australia. I wrote to him asking if he had a book out about his works. I thought it might be interesting to own a coffee table work of his amazing living tree art. I just received an emailed response from this artist and his significant other, another artist, Becky Northey. Together they have mastered the art of tree shaping and started Pooktre, Tree Shapers, which creates interesting art using trees. Creative artists that they are, they have come up with other exciting art with bits of nature and natural products as well as their shaped trees.

The 2009 Ripleys’ Believe It or Not was equally amazed with Peter Cook’s trees.  See here.

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October Snowstorm

October Snow by Elizabeth Thomsen

I don’t know about my readers who live on the east coast, but I am still reeling over the snowstorm we just had this October. In October!!!!  There was never a snowstorm in this part of the country in October that I can recall- and I won’t tell you how many years I can recall.

As a child when my class sang the Thanksgiving song “Over the River and Through the Woods” and came to the lines,

“The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.”

we would giggle.  Snow in November, at Thanksgiving? It had never happened where we lived in New Jersey. It almost seemed silly to sing this song.  And here, in 2011, was snow in October. Unheard of.

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