Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, December 4

Hi, everybody! Is it really December already? Doing any decorating? Got any tips?

Still gardening in December? Getting out in nature? Need some downtime? Well, we are not starting with "downtime", but maybe we can work toward some at the end of the post.

Today, we are starting out with a garden and advanced puttering adventure related to a huge white oak tree:

A huge branch fell off my oak tree in my back yard. The tree has to be over 200 years old. It's really big.

Before:

Video courtesy of CBD. Thanks:

Wow. That was fast.

I saw it fall, I was in shock. I thought it fell on my house.

Thankfully no one was hurt. It would have killed someone. The hedge around the tree is at least 4 feet tall, maybe a little taller.

It happened two weeks before I was hosting a charity luncheon so we had to rush to clean everything up

After:

What a project.

Indoor/Outdoor Gardening

From Mr. Jimm:

This is an elephant ear plant that I had a friend help me dig up and move indoors from a semi-shaded spot in my garden this fall before the first hard freeze hit the Chicago suburbs. I bought it last spring and it was so pretty I didn't want to lose it over the harsh winter.
I'll admit it's not a very good photo, but it's hard to get a good perspective on a plant that measures a full 4 feet across in a cramped guest bedroom. Each leaf is roughly 22 inches long by 17 wide, hence the plant's name.
Mrs. Jimm, who was not pleased about having it inside in the first place, made me put a tarp underneath it because it dripped water from around the edges of all the leaves when I watered it.
The leaf in the middle popped out and grew to its current size in a single week, not long after I gave the plant a shot of liquid lawn fertilizer (NPK ratio: 10-1-2), but it had been a long time since it grew its last new leaf while it lived outdoors, so I can't be sure what prompted the growth spurt.
I may decide to leave it in its pot next spring when I move it outdoors again. It's an easy, one-person job to move it around with a hand trolley and place it as an accent plant; much easier than replanting it with someone else In one spot. There's plenty of time to think about it, though.

Great, detailed project description, Mr. Jimm! And a beautiful plant.

Outdoor Gardening

Sowing Wildflowers Outdoors

High Country Gardens recommends leaving perennials standing for the birds, and sowing hardy wildflowers over the snow.

The Lasagna Gardening method makes sense to me for wildflowers. Suppress weeds with some layers of newspaper, add some weed-free soil, THEN sow your wildflower seeds, with or without snow. You could also sow other hardy seeds this way.

Brave December Leaves

The tree is completely bare of leaves except one branch in the upper right where about a dozen yellow leaves refuse to give up.
Kinda cool.
Diogenes

Grass still looks nice.

Brave December Flowers

From my cousin in Northern Utah - the one with geraniums in her basement. There were some Impatiens, too, which is really shocking. But they looked kind of ratty. They're tropical, after all.

The famous Pat* still had Johnny Jump-Ups on Thanksgiving Weekend.

Edible Gardening

The photo in tonight's gardening thread inspired me to share a photo of this year's grape jelly. It was both beautiful and delicious!
Getting the juice is a bit of a process! We pick the grapes from the stems, wash them, and put them in a big pot. Then we crush them with a potato masher, one layer at a time, add some water, and boil them for ten minutes. By that time, the seeds and skins have been separated from the juice. We then strain everything through a cheesecloth-lined colander into a big bowl, letting it stand for a couple of hours to let all the good stuff through. Voila! Grape juice for jelly! (Details are in the pectin box!) And boy does the house smell great.
The jelly comes out with a beautiful deep red color, so different from the purple color of store-bought jelly. It's pretty popular with our family!
Ladyhobbit

Relaxing Images with Music

An hour of relaxing forest images and music

Put it on in the background sometime. Here are some additional autumn leaves, from another cousin:

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

Posted by: K.T. at 12:53 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Great pictures. A classic dreary November day in southeastern new england.

Posted by: From that time at December 04, 2021 12:55 PM (4780s)

2 Nice.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 12:55 PM (vuisn)

3 Also, what a well placed branch fall. Nothing hurt but the lawn.

Posted by: From that time at December 04, 2021 12:57 PM (4780s)

4 Green? Cool

Posted by: My Life is Insanity at December 04, 2021 12:59 PM (Z/jzm)

5 I love trees.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 04, 2021 01:00 PM (axyOa)

6 Stupid green!

Posted by: Purple Drazi at December 04, 2021 01:03 PM (llON8)

7 Watching F-1 qualifying and was not to be missed.
But got to get back out finishing up leaf collection today. As said downstairs got further this year than last.

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 01:04 PM (2JoB8)

8 I was watching the F-1 quali too. Poor Max.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 04, 2021 01:05 PM (BFigT)

9 I like the green for this thread

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 01:05 PM (2JoB8)

10 Trees can kill. Kill them before they kill you.

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Sexual Racist. at December 04, 2021 01:10 PM (lR7Oz)

11 Our probably 40 year old apple tree seemed to be dying, but ended up giving us the most apples we have had. Some good pies were had. Maybe it was its one last act of defiance.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at December 04, 2021 01:10 PM (r5BVk)

12 Last year my son was here to help put up the outside lights. We struggled to find enough strands that actually worked. I have several LED strands, most are around 30 to 50 feet and only 3 out of 5 worked. Then, one of the 3 we put up died.

I took it all down two weeks before Christmas and vowed not to do outside lights again.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 04, 2021 01:11 PM (BFigT)

13 Wow, that is a *lot* of tree to have watched fall!
The bright side: Your house survived, you got it cleaned up and you don't need to buy firewood 2 years from now!

Love the plant and Fall pictures.

Garden woes: the javalina decided they didn't want me to plant the cactus I bought so they ate them. 4 plants gone to the roots.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 04, 2021 01:11 PM (iMZHt)

14 >>> 10 Trees can kill. Kill them before they kill you.
Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Sexual Racist. at December 04, 2021 01:10 PM (lR7Oz)

istr an incident years ago in which Mr. T horrified his Karen-ish Chicago-area (?) neighbors by cutting down several trees on his own property with a chain saw.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 01:12 PM (llON8)

15 hiya

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 01:16 PM (arJlL)

16 Yikes! Glad nobody was hurt when that tree fell.

OTOH, it probably provided a nice supply of ... green firewood ...

Posted by: Schnorflepuppy at December 04, 2021 01:16 PM (Agr8U)

17 High Country Gardens recommends leaving perennials standing for the birds, and sowing hardy wildflowers over the snow.

I don't cut down my dead plants until spring, for this exact reason. I see that an entire new gang of birds shows up for the winter...I guess they are migrating from colder climes?

So I like to accommodate them

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:17 PM (DJFLF)

18 "Wow. That was fast."

In my neighborhood in Houston there are many Live Oaks with looong limbs overhanging the sidewalks and street edges where I do may daily walks. Live Oak is amazingly strong wood, but is not unbreakable. I avoid walking under limbs that I consider risky. I have never seen a long Live Oak limb fall, but I every year or so I see BIG fallen limbs that came down during the previous 24 hours. Yikes.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 01:18 PM (AMIL/)

19 I guess he heard the warning sounds of wood breakage and that's how the branch fall was captured.

very scary! A couple days after a bad storm I was just sitting on my front step and watched the big oak tree at the end of the block drop a branch about a fifth the size of CBD's felled branch...right to the pavement.

This particular tree was planted close to the sidewalk so the branch would have killed a passing pedestrian, or any car parked beneath.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:21 PM (DJFLF)

20 Guess the Garden thread is no longer a green thread!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 04, 2021 01:22 PM (iMZHt)

21 I love the little bird perched on the dried stalk.

Hello little feathered friend!

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:23 PM (DJFLF)

22 Aw man. I liked the green text...

Posted by: Insomniac - Outlaw. Sexual Racist. at December 04, 2021 01:26 PM (bWyp6)

23 That branch fall is horrifying, particularly since that is the size of the branches removed from over both brothers' houses. They were enormous old maples and oaks, more than 60 years old, and the branches had the girth of good-sized tree trunks.

The photos from the fork are so beautiful. I want to go hiking through the trails there.

My yardwork consisted of sweeping piles of leaves away from the house and not losing my mind when natural wind patterns resupplied them.

I let the sedum and the hydrangeas stand over the winter, just to break the tedium of the snow. This year, as a bonus, my new backyard neighbor has piled his project leftovers (planks, pallets, garbage bags of something) where I see them everyday but his wife can't. Chipmunks were using them as a security fence for their holes under his garage. Will talk to him in the spring about getting himself a storage shed and checking for critters.

Posted by: NaughtyPine - now with extra holiday naughtiness! at December 04, 2021 01:27 PM (/+bwe)

24 19 I guess he heard the warning sounds of wood breakage and that's how the branch fall was captured.

very scary! A couple days after a bad storm I was just sitting on my front step and watched the big oak tree at the end of the block drop a branch about a fifth the size of CBD's felled branch...right to the pavement.

This particular tree was planted close to the sidewalk so the branch would have killed a passing pedestrian, or any car parked beneath.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:21 PM (DJFLF)

A falling tree limb hit current TX Gov Greg Abbott many years ago while he was jogging, causing his leg paralysis.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 01:27 PM (AMIL/)

25 This year, as a bonus, my new backyard neighbor has piled his project leftovers (planks, pallets, garbage bags of something) where I see them everyday but his wife can't.

I guess this goes in the "neighbor conflict" category...at least your situation has not erupted as the one across the street from me. Holy crap, what a scene! Neighbor 1 has an (ill-advised, IMO) inground pool project slated. Neighbor 2 wrote a letter to Neighbor 1's pool company stating that they would be liable for all damages to his property incurred by installation.

The lot is not appropriate for an inground pool. For starters, it's very small. And then there's the part about the 45% grade.

The HOA approved the addition because the pool-wanting neighbor is on the Board.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:32 PM (DJFLF)

26 When we lived in WI a big maple tree next to the driveway gave up a limb (about half the tree, I think) and knocked over the mailbox, cracked the driveway, and smashed across the front yard. It took about three days and two chainsaws to turn that into firewood. So, the next year we had the whole tree taken down. It really changed the landscape, but I preferred that to disaster. Just after that, we had tornado weather and lost several big trees in the neighborhood, so we dodged that bullet.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at December 04, 2021 01:32 PM (eKvjl)

27 I took it all down two weeks before Christmas and vowed not to do outside lights again.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 04, 2021 01:11 PM (BFigT)

Fist bump.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 04, 2021 01:33 PM (axyOa)

28 Anyway, the pool-coveting neighbors should just move to a better location that can house an inground pool without creating drama between neighbors. It looks like that family is trying to squeeze as much living out of that small property as they can, on the cheap.

It's a married couple, mid-life...and the mom who lives in the finished basement. It's a two bedroom house.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:34 PM (DJFLF)

29 The Valley Oaks around here are known as "widow makers" due to their tendency to suddenly and explosively lose large branches.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 01:34 PM (0ghg2)

30 So now, because the pool-wanters are directly across a very tiny paved lane from me, I"m going to have to put up some kind of barriers on my little strip of ground because I know from prior experience that visiting contractors will park their vehicles on my lawn.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:36 PM (DJFLF)

31 30 So now, because the pool-wanters are directly across a very tiny paved lane from me, I"m going to have to put up some kind of barriers on my little strip of ground because I know from prior experience that visiting contractors will park their vehicles on my lawn.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:36 PM (DJFLF)

Sprinkle some nails on that verge of your lawn and watch the hilarity begin.

I would never do something that devious....

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at December 04, 2021 01:37 PM (eKvjl)

32 NaughtyPine - now with extra holiday naughtiness! at December 04, 2021 01:27 PM

There's a hot spring to soak in at the end of that trail, too.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 01:38 PM (0ghg2)

33 HOAs don't really work up here. I guess it depends upon the neighborhood, but folks are pretty good about keeping up their properties (except in Spenard or Muldoon, where old toilets and the occasional car on blocks are considered landscaping). Then once you leave the city, all bets are off. When you have to pay extra to go to the dump, it doesn't happen all that often, particularly in the dead of winter.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at December 04, 2021 01:39 PM (eKvjl)

34 Remember, if you are tired of stringing Christmas lights and have decided to use laser lights instead, don't point them toward the sky.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 01:41 PM (0ghg2)

35 I am attempting to do the "force your last year's poinsettia to go red" thing. So far some of the leaves are turning red, and I'm not even strictly following the protocol. (I started about a month late, and am not diligently putting the plant in the closet every night)

Still, it's nice to see some red leaves sprouting, and by Christmas, who knows, it may even look like a respectable Christmas plant!

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:43 PM (DJFLF)

36 We lost a huge tulip poplar a number of years ago. It blew down in a straight-line windstorm. Mr. L had wanted to cut it down several years before, but I didn't want to. State tree and all that. Damn thing crashed down right along the fence line of our back yard. I took out the fence, but it did not damage our house or the neighbor's house. Found out later that kind of tree is very prone to falling. I would never keep a tree that size close to our home again.

Posted by: Mrs. Leggy at December 04, 2021 01:44 PM (Vf4Y7)

37 I know from prior experience that visiting contractors will park their vehicles on my lawn.

The dirty rats !

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 01:46 PM (arJlL)

38 That's my tree and yes it's a Valley Oak. I see why they would call them widow makers. I don't know why we call them white oaks.
I saw it fall out through the window and it really scared me. It shook my house something awful. Felt like an earthquake.
I was just thankful no one was under it.

I hear that crack sound and I run.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 01:46 PM (9mPbX)

39 Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 01:46 PM (9mPbX)

oh, I thought it was CBD's. Now the charity event makes sense.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:49 PM (DJFLF)

40 I love the fall colors. They are so beautiful.

Whenever we go back east, I am amazed at how green everything is. I would love to do a tour someplace during the fall.
My mother did a fall foliage tour I want to say in Vermont and absolutely loved it.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 01:50 PM (9mPbX)

41 Whenever we go back east, I am amazed at how green everything is.

I recall driving a visiting Texan around who marvelled at all the greenery in PA.

Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:52 PM (DJFLF)

42 This is a true story
Backpacking on Appalachian trail 3 of us walking along not touching anything. Behind us no more than 20 feet a sapling maybe 6 inches around falls on trail behind us.

Posted by: Skip's Phone at December 04, 2021 01:53 PM (2JoB8)

43 My neighbors' Bradford Pears are beautiful reds and yellows.

Posted by: Been Lurking, but clearly been posting too at December 04, 2021 01:54 PM (rDgjh)

44 Anyone buying seeds yet?
Anyone have recommendations regarding their favorite seed companies or catalogs?

Posted by: Derak at December 04, 2021 01:54 PM (k0WjC)

45 44 Anyone buying seeds yet?
Anyone have recommendations regarding their favorite seed companies or

I buy tomato seeds from Tomato fest. They are all heirloom tomatoes. I need to find some early girl seeds. My favorite tomato 2 years running is the yellow brandywine. It is so sweet.
I haven't received any seed catalogs yet, unless my husband threw them away.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 01:59 PM (9mPbX)

46 I really love the explosion of colors in the fall, the reds and yellows...

Kind of like that GIANT explosion that just occurred over Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz - like right freaking now! Oh wow...man, it's on like donkey kong.

Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 02:01 PM (5iUNf)

47 It's surprising how loud a breaking branch can be. Had one land right outside a window I was sitting at a few years ago. I ran away so fast at the sound I don't think it would have hit me if it came into the house. No mistaking the sound.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 02:02 PM (+ya+t)

48 My compost bin is getting full and have more to get in it

Posted by: Skip's Phone at December 04, 2021 02:03 PM (2JoB8)

49 Derak at December 04, 2021 01:54 PM

What region are you in and what kinds of things are you wanting to plant?

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:09 PM (0ghg2)

50 CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 01:50 PM

Valley Oaks are not supposed to be watered close to the trunks. I notice that you have a hedge around yours. No water inside it, I hope.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:10 PM (0ghg2)

51 Although, CaliGirl, if the tree grew up with lawn water, it's OK.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:11 PM (0ghg2)

52 KT, there is no water inside the hedge.

I don't know what the big black mark is where the branch fell. I need to have the tree guy come and look at it.

The house is almost 100 years old and there has always been grass by the tree.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 02:14 PM (9mPbX)

53 Those are such gorgeous photos. Thank you to all who send thmin and KT for posting them. Such beauty never gets stale.

Posted by: JTB at December 04, 2021 02:15 PM (7EjX1)

54 And I still have peppers living in my mini greenhouse, have had many a below freezing nights too.

Posted by: Skip's Phone at December 04, 2021 02:16 PM (2JoB8)

55 It's the 5th of December, and my pansies are still blooming. Pansies love being cold. They're always the first thing I plant in spring. They look really pretty blooming through a couple inches of late snow. Once it gets hot, they pout and I have to nurse them through July, August, and most of September. Come cool weather again, and they bounce back. We've had a couple of hard freezes, so everything else in my front yard is brown and dead. Looking ahead at the weather coming up this week, the pansies may not last much longer. But March isn't that far away.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- bitterly clinging to the deplorable life '70s style! at December 04, 2021 02:17 PM (j0p94)

56 CaliGirl, I can't tell from the 'after' picture if there is rot in the heartwood of that oak. If you can't tell, you should probably have an arborist check it. The 'end of life' for big valley and coast live oaks is to get rot in the heartwood and then shed those big branches one by one. Once they start that way the only thing you can do is take them down for safety if they in a populated area.

We had this happen to a big live oak on our former Bay Area property. It was far away from the house and yard so not a danger. Eventually the whole tree came down, by then it was so punky that I got little fire wood from it.

Posted by: Pat*''s Hubby at December 04, 2021 02:18 PM (2pX/F)

57 Glad no one was hurt when that oak branch came down. What a widow maker. Is there anything that can be done with the scar on the trunk to protect the rest of the tree?

Posted by: JTB at December 04, 2021 02:18 PM (7EjX1)

58 I think that Elephant Ear was worth bringing in the house, don't you?

What a great plant.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:18 PM (0ghg2)

59 I've been evaluating my gardening prospects. I've got a potential solution for not enough direct sun -- outdoor grow lights to supplement. But now I've discovered that there is a walnut tree in my neighbor's yard. They have wide-ranging root systems, drop leaves wherever the breeze takes them, and emit garden-killing juglone.

Raised beds will help with avoiding roots, but it would be a never ending chore to keep the garden free of walnut leaves.

Posted by: Emmie at December 04, 2021 02:18 PM (t62xj)

60 Nice pic of the elephant ear plant. I don't want to deal with them in the house so I dig up the tubers in the fall and overwinter them in my root cellar.

A beautiful day at Casa Tonypete so the lovely Mrs voluntold me to wash windows outside. Done until the spring now.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 04, 2021 02:23 PM (mD/uy)

61 Emmie at December 04, 2021 02:18 PM

Look up walnut-resistant plants.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:24 PM (0ghg2)

62 Look up walnut-resistant plants.
Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:24 PM (0ghg2)

Yes, thank you. That is one of my strategies. But I definitely want to grow tomatoes, which are sensitive.

Posted by: Emmie at December 04, 2021 02:26 PM (t62xj)

63 Skip's Phone at December 04, 2021 02:16 PM

Impressive.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:26 PM (0ghg2)

64 That grape jelly looks delicious where the light shines through it. The description of old-fashioned jelly making is classic.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 02:27 PM (0ghg2)

65 Pat,

I want an arborist to come and look at it. There is a cable in that tree holding up branches. A cable broke and I think it was on the branch that fell.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 04, 2021 02:28 PM (9mPbX)

66 KT someone brought up during the week Longwood Gardens at Christmas. Sadly Covid has I heard the inside closed, but still probably a good trip just not as fulfilling.

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 02:29 PM (2JoB8)

67 I know from prior experience that visiting contractors will park their vehicles on my lawn.

Posted by: kallisto

Caltrops in the lawn with a sign that says no parking on lawn.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 04, 2021 02:30 PM (iMZHt)

68 Tree has what Pelosi has
...crotch rot.

I got to my tree after it lost a big branch and used tie down to pull it together. Someone stole the tie down. So next time down I used sheetrock screws.

In action four years now. Saves me having to pull it.

Posted by: torabora at December 04, 2021 02:31 PM (U0p6D)

69 Tree has what Pelosi has
...crotch rot.

I got to my tree after it lost a big branch and used tie down to pull it together. Someone stole the tie down. So next time down I used sheetrock screws on the tie down.

In action four years now. Saves me having to pull it.

Posted by: torabora at December 04, 2021 02:32 PM (U0p6D)

70 O/T

Here's some fodder for the chess thread:

https://preview.tinyurl.com/2p8j3tj3

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at December 04, 2021 02:34 PM (DTX3h)

71 Caltrops:
When you want to mow your lawn you run a magnetic sweeper (they are wheeled) so you don't hurt yourself...

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 04, 2021 02:35 PM (iMZHt)

72 I saw about a 10 inch diameter limb fall off, post-ice storm about 20 feet off my back deck. Really loud cracking noises as it broke off scared me to death. First it was like WTF is the noise! Then boom, tree in the yard.

Posted by: Coquettish Haberdasher at December 04, 2021 02:35 PM (buTO7)

73 Had 2 huge pine trees taken down a few months ago. I was terrified one was going to fall on the house during a storm. One was right outside the bedroom window.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 02:42 PM (qpolg)

74 Several years ago we had a pretty bad ice storm. Most of the ice formed overnight, but you could hear the limbs cracking from about midnight through daybreak and up 'till about noon. Very eerie sounds. It's how we lost our weeping willow. It basically was laying down on the ground, every limb broken.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 04, 2021 02:42 PM (BFigT)

75 I have an elephant ear plant in my backyard that just gets stronger and bigger every year. Leaves that are two feet across and three or four feet long. A real unit.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 04, 2021 02:47 PM (XXeDg)

76 Anyone buying seeds yet?

I just bought some tubers for dinnerplate dahlias. They won't be delivered until March, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they do. My neighbor had a few this summer, and they were enormous.

Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 02:48 PM (ZsR3z)

77 Martini-that was my problem. One branch rubbed on the roof over the bed when the wind kicked up. Dad planted it way to close to the house decades ago.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 02:48 PM (qpolg)

78 >>> Several years ago we had a pretty bad ice storm. Most of the ice formed overnight, but you could hear the limbs cracking from about midnight through daybreak and up 'till about noon. Very eerie sounds. It's how we lost our weeping willow. It basically was laying down on the ground, every limb broken.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 04, 2021 02:42 PM (BFigT)

Two places I've lived, Wichita KS, and Atlanta GA, had bad freezing rain storms. It makes growing ornamental fruit trees difficult as they seem to have weak limbs.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 04, 2021 02:49 PM (XXeDg)

79 A thing that happened in Wichita a lot was an ice storm, trees bent down on powerline and house, and someone inside just minding their own business was electrocuted. Those stories, like the sinkholes gobbling up people always freak me out.

Posted by: banana Dream at December 04, 2021 02:53 PM (XXeDg)

80 Had a two-forked 100-yo oak fall East of the house, one fork then shortly after the other fork. First fall actually touched but did not crack a big glass window. Both falls hit the truck, putting only a tiny scratch and then a tiny dent in it. Most fortunate. Pix & text about it all linked in my nic.

Now I have a couple of huge century-old pecans starting to die and drop branches, right over the 220 line out to the shed. Gotta get the pros in here to take them down. I remember when those pecans used to produce prolifically. Several years back. Several years.

Posted by: mindful webworker - everything around me is old at December 04, 2021 03:00 PM (GxM4+)

81 From Boise area: *Heavy* fog yesterday, some fog today. Time for one of our winter air stagnation alerts... weather will break down Mon. or so, and winter will really be here (rain/snow predicted, nighttime temps to stay below freezing).

Got our Christmas lights up - just 2 strings around the door, the 2 front pillars spiral-wrapped, and a wreath hung above the entry, with a timer to run the lights all evening (and a bit in the pre-dawn hours, to cheer those heading to work in the dark).

I got a small amount of garden clean-up done - tangled tomato vines are annoying, but unfrozen squishy dead tomatoes are gross.

We've been pressing cider - husband is able to cut up the fruit (post-eye surgery), he feeds it into the shredder while I turn the crank. After the crush and press, I dump the pulp, and clean up the work area. We freeze it until it's time to either drink it, or make a batch of hard cider from it.

Johnny Jump-Ups still going strong! - huzzah for pansy/violet family plants and their cold tolerance!

Posted by: Pat* at December 04, 2021 03:00 PM (2pX/F)

82 PET NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 03:02 PM (2JoB8)

83 mindful webworker - everything around me is old at December 04, 2021 03:00

Wow. What a story.

Posted by: KT at December 04, 2021 03:13 PM (0ghg2)

84 CBD, if you have not already, gets some of that spray or paint on tar for that huge, gaping tree wound to keep out the insects.

Posted by: flounder at December 04, 2021 03:17 PM (SH2Zi)

85 I don't buy elephant ear, I just plant taro root. Same difference.

Posted by: Mitch Probably at December 04, 2021 03:52 PM (QtEvA)

86 It's a married couple, mid-life...and the mom who lives in the finished basement. It's a two bedroom house.
Posted by: kallisto at December 04, 2021 01:34 PM (DJFLF)

If you happen to check back, kallisto, all my sympathy to you. The backyard neighbor is a pretty good guy, the nephew of the previous owner. Much better than the condemned house guy next to me. But he's from one of the seedier suburbs of Detroit, where building codes and blight ordinances are unknown.

I hope the pool becomes an attracti

Posted by: NaughtyPine - now with extra holiday naughtiness! at December 04, 2021 03:57 PM (/+bwe)

87 Emmie#59 - Raised beds will help, but I've got sprouts growing upwards in a raised bed from a Honey Locus tree chopped down three years ago.

And in a former house, wild grapevine roots grew upwards from underneath ground level and nearly took over a raised bed I had there.

Posted by: MrJimm at December 04, 2021 04:05 PM (w0GHq)

88 banana Dream #75 How old is that incredible elephant ear you're describing? And where do you live that it's survived this long?

I'd love to be able to show off one that big, but I could never talk MrsJimm into moving it indoors to survive the winters (and it probably wouldn't be possible to fit through my doors, anyway) to get old enough to get that big.

You should definitely consider posting a picture in this gardening thread!

Posted by: MrJimm at December 04, 2021 04:16 PM (w0GHq)

89 CBD's limb looks like it was a "V" crotch, with included bark. That's why it was cabled. As a tree grows, the cabling point needs to be changed, or upgraded. A cable is not a one time shot, especially for a lng-lived tree like that oak.
Tree wound dressings do more harm than good.
Sorry it happened.

Posted by: MkY at December 04, 2021 04:35 PM (Foq6I)

90 Oak trees are known for having large, long branches stretching out enormous distances. The oldest ones survive because those branches will reach the ground and support the weight of the branch and the tree. We prefer to have the branches up in the air and will trim the branches that tend to the ground causing stress on the largest and longest branches, making it likely that they will break off eventually. America's oldest and largest oak tree, the Seven Sisters Oak Tree in Mandeville, LA is estimated at 1200 years old, 57 feet high, with a limb spread of 153 feet and branches reaching the ground all around.

Posted by: Marshall Hahn at December 04, 2021 05:34 PM (ucVnv)

91 On reblooming poinsettias: I don't do anything special. No closet, no box-over -the-top.

After blooming, the leaves will all drop. That's the time to prune them back. Transplant to larger pot at this time, if desired. Water only when soil is very dry, until new growth begins.

Once new leaves appear, lightly fertilize and water when top of soil is dry, move to brightest possible light, keeping them indoors until temps remain above 55F overnight. (here, that's roughly end of May to mid-June)

Summer gets very hot here, so I put them where they'll get morning full sun, then shade by early afternoon. They get plenty of water at this time.

When nights get cool again, around 50-ish, (late Sept) I bring them indoors and place in front of south-facing window. That's it. The light is reduced because of the move and mother nature does the rest. They need less water indoors.

First coloring begins about a month later and takes several weeks to fully develop. Blooms between T'giving and Christmas, but it's not precise LOL

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (dB4Iz)

92 We are at approx 47 degrees North, zone 6b

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 08:50 PM (dB4Iz)

93 Elephant ears look cool, especially when massed. Had them all around the apt. in Hawaii. Sounded like drums when it rained.

Only problem IMO was that each plant would only have 4 or 5 good leaves at a time! The older leaves tended to die off as new ones unfurled. Bummer.

Too cold here, and they're WAY to big to bring indoors.

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (dB4Iz)

94 Oh, and cutting off dead/dying leaves is how I discovered elephant ear sap caused itchy rash. Maybe just me? I dunno.

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (dB4Iz)

95 Well, at least you have plenty of bbq wood now.

Posted by: Rodney smith at December 04, 2021 09:38 PM (E/mOC)

96 I've experienced the "joys" of cutting down both honey locust and elm trees... AAAUUUGggghh! The damned suckers!

They come up everywhere. Best thing is to dig out as much of the root system as possible and keep clipping off the suckers. Starve the beasts of light and nutrients until they give up. This CAN take years.
Fought that locust tree the hard way--- most of the suckers were in the lawn, so just mowed them down again and again. Took probably 4 years before no more came up. Used no chemicals on it.

1/2

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (dB4Iz)

97 2/2
Elms (different house) are another story... can't get to all the suckers with a mower, and sometimes don't find them until a couple feet high. Worse, in places I can't dig. I cut them down to the ground and apply "crossbow" full strength to the cuts. It's taking a while to get to all of them. 3 years now and counting, but last year they gained on me because of illness-- I didn't get them cut and treated most of the year-- so the roots are still thriving.

We applied "Tordon" to the cambium layer immediately after tree guys got the trunks cut off. It kept the stumps from sprouting and got no suckers within 20 feet. But the far-away roots are growing/suckering with vengeance!

Posted by: JQ at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (dB4Iz)

Processing 0.01, elapsed 0.0192 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0077 seconds, 105 records returned.
Page size 73 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.