Random PHC Thread

[TC3]

Hey ! There's so many times I have a plant health care question / comment & don't really want to start a whole thread for it, & thought a random thread might be cool.
Question : Has anybody here ever hedgetrimmed a Tinosha Pine... or any pine ? I hand pruned / shaped one yesterday, cutting through needles wherever I needed to in order to achieve the look I was after, and now I'm having second thoughts. Is the whole thing gonna brown out ???
Comment : I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Lepping, an old timer with a b'zillion years experience in arborculture. On the subject of planting trees, he had a simple statement that I love & use now : "There is a difference between a tree surviving and a tree thriving. We have to do our best with the knowledge we have to help trees thrive."

 

[Tom_Scheller]

Hey T,

I've done white pines. They make a cool hedge, but only if you start before you get to the size you want and take it slow over a few years. Kinda just let it fill in the holes. Pine doesn't grow from brown wood, so if you cut to the brown, that's how it will stay. Just like other overgrown evergreen hedges, if it's overgrown it's almost better to just start over.

TS

 

[Wagnaw]

First time I hedge pruned pine, I screwed up royally. I'd say the most important aspect is to not take too much off, especially at first. Pine hedges are one of those that really need to be started when they're much smaller than the eventual desired size. That way you can train the growth to really fill in on the outside, and you don't have to take off more than a year or two worth of growth at any one time.

 

[TC3]

Question : Can Grub-Ex be used around the base of shrubs to combat insects ? One of my customers told me this, and after reading the main ingredient is Imidicloprid, I start to wonder if he's right ? A systemic pesticide would be the answer to a lot of insects ?

 

[TC3]

I've encountered some gi-nor-mous girdling roots this season & have chickened out of 2 jobs with them because I worry about sending a tree into decline. Where / how can I learn more about root pruning ?

 

[Brian]

Question : Can Grub-Ex be used around the base of shrubs to combat insects ? One of my customers told me this, and after reading the main ingredient is Imidicloprid, I start to wonder if he's right ? A systemic pesticide would be the answer to a lot of insects ?

I have had luck controling Birch Leaf Miner utilizing that methodology. It was a weeping birch though.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Pizza.

 

[Husky385]

I've encountered some gi-nor-mous girdling roots this season & have chickened out of 2 jobs with them because I worry about sending a tree into decline. Where / how can I learn more about root pruning ?

I'm not so sure girdling roots are such a problem as people make out, just my thoughts..

 

[TC3]

I had a customer yesterday who said her Locust tree has never produced pods before this year & she's been living in the same house for 15 yrs. ?
Is she right or unobservant ?

 

[Blinky]

I don't know much about locust trees but it seems like it would be really hard to miss all those pods... down here, with honey locust at least, they rain pods everywhere. Most people think they're a nuisance.

 

[darkstar]

They , the honey locust , are deffinatly a nuisance.
I cut down about 10 a week in my own yard and they just keep growing back and fast to

 

[Paul B]

NSFW Language warning.
$hit moths....


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[Paul B]

did a little research today on BtK, the caterpiller spray, check out this clip from the Wiki page:

"B. thuringiensis is closely related to B. cereus, a soil bacterium, and B. anthracis, the cause of anthrax: the three organisms differ mainly in their plasmids. Like other members of the genus, all three are aerobes capable of producing endospores.[1]"

closely related to anthrax? hmm, wonder just how close...

 

[TC3]

Kinda wild, ey Paul ?

Question : Has anybody used aerator (sp.?) tubes with success ? I'm trying to save 2 newly planted weeping Beech that are drowning from a newly installed irrigation system that went haywire. The trees are extremely stressed. I'd be inclined to dig them up, but they're not my project... plus there's already a granite path installed around each one... ugh. Any suggestions ?

 

[treelooker]

Increase drainage by deeply fracturing soil.

A+ on spelling.

 

[wiltingoak]

Ditto.

I've used a five-foot 1" auger bit with my rechargeable Milwuakee 1/2" chuck drill.

Perforated a shitload of holes down past the rootballs in newly installed yearlings and apparently punctured the clay strata that was holding-up the percolating I had expected.

While it may not correct it in all cases or soils - it's a cheap start to eliminate the problem one step at a time.

I back-filled the bores with rotten granite (just gravel).

Black willows, Bur oaks, and pecans.

 

[TC3]

A customer recently asked me if I knew why her hydrangeas didn't bloom this year. I've read articles about it but have forgotten ?
I know that ph levels in the soil can affect color... but then I go blank. LOL

 

[Paul B]

likely timing of pruning.

 

[TC3]

... late spring, leave the old growth, si ? I'll ask them if they pruned too early. Thnx.

 

[Paul B]

dunno, thats what I have always been told too but last year, after pruning a clients hydrangeas for years in like late Feb and having her compain they dont flower much, we did them in November, she says she had tons of blooms this year, go figure.

 

[Knotahippie]

I had a customer yesterday who said her Locust tree has never produced pods before this year & she's been living in the same house for 15 yrs. ?
Is she right or unobservant ?

Iv'e heard of some Honey Locusts that are podless or nearly podless.

 

[Knotahippie]

Question : Can Grub-Ex be used around the base of shrubs to combat insects ? One of my customers told me this, and after reading the main ingredient is Imidicloprid, I start to wonder if he's right ? A systemic pesticide would be the answer to a lot of insects ?

Iv'e read some not so good things about imidacloprid, affects bees and probably alot of other benificials adversely. Benificials tend to be lower in numbers than pests and harming them may make problems worse. Alot of insectisides may be bad for wildlife or groundwater supplys too.

With insects or other biotic problems seems like competition is good. For some grubs/pests BT is recommended. Iv'e composted alot of unhealthy lawns with grub issues. The compost clears em' right up, I don't know if it's bacteria or what but it works pretty good.

 

[TC3]

Iv'e composted alot of unhealthy lawns with grub issues. The compost clears em' right up, I don't know if it's bacteria or what but it works pretty good.

That's pretty cool, hippieguy. I'm (finally) learning more about organic approaches to probs.
I think bacteria has a lot to do with soil problems. Healthy bacteria.
Deva mentioned (in his Presideo Montage thread) that the area they're working is like a dust bowl. I find this type of super-fine dusty / silty crap under trees that have been planted in the burlap bag they were shipped in. The word 'sterile' doesn't begin to describe it. It's hardly even soil ?
High salt content is another huge problem for our area, and another challenge for urban forestry. Fascinating to me !
Do you store your compost tea, or make fresh batches of it as & when needed ?
Can alleleopathic (sp.?) chemicals leech into the tea & be a prob ?

 

[Knotahippie]

That's pretty cool, hippieguy. I'm (finally) learning more about organic approaches to probs.
I think bacteria has a lot to do with soil problems. Healthy bacteria.
Deva mentioned (in his Presideo Montage thread) that the area they're working is like a dust bowl. I find this type of super-fine dusty / silty crap under trees that have been planted in the burlap bag they were shipped in. The word 'sterile' doesn't begin to describe it. It's hardly even soil ?
High salt content is another huge problem for our area, and another challenge for urban forestry. Fascinating to me !
Do you store your compost tea, or make fresh batches of it as & when needed ?
Can alleleopathic (sp.?) chemicals leech into the tea & be a prob ?

Sounds like a texture problem at Presidio.

Have you heard of sugar for salt damage?

I make tea in fresh batches, tends to go sour and when it does you don't want to be anywhere near it.

Never had a prob. with allelopathy but I make sure to compost the heck out of the chips. I try not to use Euc, Walnut, Cedar. although I've heard it doesn't matter much.

I've seen Cedar chips used in Tx. with no problems. So far Iv'e only killed stuff (my own plants) with euc.chips...

 

[hmm]

A customer recently asked me if I knew why her hydrangeas didn't bloom this year. I've read articles about it but have forgotten ?
I know that ph levels in the soil can affect color... but then I go blank. LOL

I like this site.
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/wont_bloom.html

last year I had a full bloom this year mine only got three blooms, no pruning at all - so go figure.