1001 Blogs You Must Read Before You Die

'Cause, what the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head.
~David Lowery

In the spirit of New Year self-reflection, I pose this question: does the world really need another garden blog?  I've been writing in what could be kindly described as a leisurely manner since 2009, but I've yet to declare my raison d'etre.

I promise to keep this short, but let's backtrack to 1979...


I still remember the day my Dad brought home ELO's Greatest Hits.  The instantly accessible melodies and faux symphonics dovetailed perfectly with the classical music and Beatles I'd been listening to all my young life.  So when I first read that Jeff Lynne had once said that ELO was formed to pick up where I am the Walrus left off, it kind of made sense.  The problem is, he never said it.

But there it was again.  Reading through my new copy Stacy gave me for Christmas of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I noticed the review of ELO's 1977 Magnum opus, Out Of The Blue made the same reference to I am the Walrus.

There's probably not a great deal of harm done by misquoting some frizzy-haired musician who's managed to hang on to the same set of sunglasses since 1974.  The problem is, I see this kind of thing happening a lot in garden/landscape blogs: the dissemination of information that has a ring of truth to to it, but is patently false.  Blogged.  Reblogged.  Over and over again.

So am I some sort of self-appointed gatekeeper?  John the Baptist in the Wilderness? Nah, I'm just a punk who doesn't have a problem pointing out that the Emperor left his pants at home.

The first time this happened I was still under the naive assumption that everyone is seeking the truth.  I'd been chatting with some Dr. so and so at a local Ag supply outfit about soil conditioners when the conversation turned suddenly to his research into the recent "billbug epidemic in turf grass".  

Innocently enough, I remarked that I had heard of this infestation but had yet to see it in the hundreds of properties that we cared for.  I went on to tell him that, in those instances where customers thought they had billbugs, it turned out to be problems related to sprinkler coverage and exposure - both problems which could be mitigated by relying less on turf in landscape design.  He threw me out of his office.

Sitting in my truck in the parking lot, what should have been clear all along suddenly became obvious: tacking on a "Dr." to the front of your name doesn't make you any more of a truth disseminator than a contractor with stained Carharts.  Dr. so and so's agenda was simply to create a new revenue stream to the business.  New infestation = new product to sell.

I'm still on the look out for billbugs and I will continue to keep an open mind about these kind of things but, ultimately, I'm going to rely on the gardener's best tool: our own power of observation.

So does this world need another gardening blog?  It does if said blog has something interesting to say and speaks truth to power, money, misinformation, greenwashing, trendiness, elitism, pseudoscience and just plain bad taste.

But it's not all about being a contrarian. In future posts I'll flesh out what xericoasis actually means. I'll also continue to share thoughts and pictures from the field, spanning the whole arc of Willowglenn's services, as well as gardening, cooking (and eating!) in our own urban acre.

Here's to a fantastic 2014!

Draw!

Years ago, Stacy and I  frequented an Italian restaurant tucked into the flank of a non-descript strip mall. The food was obvious but delicious, and the music was the kind of non-offensive but cacophonous jazz that I know I'm supposed to like. After years of buttered scallops, gnocchi and Chianti, I started developing a Pavlovian response to the music. To this day, background jazz playing at the vet, the auto repair shop (cool cats, those guys), or the Post Office prompts an instant and irrational desire for focaccia and olive oil.

Nature hath no muse equal to thy crumpled splendor.

Similarly, the sight of a crumpled napkin or envelope and a well nibbled pencil inspires me to draw landscapes. This is always the origin of any of my landscape designs. It's a relaxed place without mistakes, expectations or a fixed destination. It's fun.

My nine year old introduced me to a perfect word to describe this process: adumbrate. It's similar to foreshadow without the spooky or negative connotations.



So, enough adumbration already!  Let's jump into what this post is about: early-in-the process sketches of some of our landscape projects.

Thumbnail sketches are a great way to contrast and compare disparate surface materials as well as reconciling elevations. With this illustration, I was exploring ways of transitioning from the formal granite surface of the upper patio to the informal stone patio and fire feature below it.

The simplest lines can capture the essence of an idea: a wall-mounted recirculating water feature to psychologically enclose a patio.

More elaborate sketches can help refine the architectural style of the hardscape and how it relates to the topography of the site.












This is typical of the built out version of a sketch: less elaborate with cleaner lines.






A few months back I completed a series of exploratory sketches to try out different ideas for a bocce court construction project.

Here's another case of uber-simplification in the build out. We stuck with the timber frame for the bocce court, but jettisoned the stacked ends. We also cut out the benches and firepit but used the drystack andesite for terracing and to delineate rooms and corridors within the new garden space.

I sketched this out to understand the slope of the site.  I envisioned the wall emerging out of the slope as if it had been recently excavated in an archeological dig.







Once the ground thaws, we'll partially cover up the back side to create the "hey this has been here all along" charade, but let's just keep that secret between us, okay?

The next stage in this same project will be the construction of a three level patio space that will be the heart of the landscape.

The upper portion of the patio (a formal outdoor dining space) will contain a drystack fire cube, a zero-edge spa, and a raised planting bed and water feature.

Working through a series of sketches was critical in understanding how all these components will ultimately relate to each other.

The zero-edge spa and planter are complete, but the ground needs to thaw a bit for the flatwork and rock work to begin...














Until then, I draw.

Vertical Gardening at -7 F

I've been working on compiling a list of tough natives and climate adapted species that could survive in a vertical garden application through our Boise winter with little or no care. In May, I was commissioned to build my first "xeric" vertical garden, so I used this opportunity to try out both drought AND cold tolerant plant varieties. 

Although I'm very interested to see how true Idaho natives like Eriogonum (Buckwheat) would do in a vertical installation, I settled on cultivated plants that are pretty easy to find in Boise nurseries: Hemerocallis 'Double Moses Fire' , Nepeta 'Walker's Low' , Artemisia 'Powis Castle' , Yucca, Sedum and Stachys byzantina 'Helene Von Stein'. 

The first pic shows the wall right after it was installed at the end of May. The second shows growth after the first six weeks. 

In a classic case of be careful of what you wish for, I was hoping we'd have a real winter here in Boise this year so I could get a true sense of the durability of these plants. 

My wish has been granted.

I snapped some pics of the wall a few days ago after we'd dropped convincingly below zero more than once.

Alive, but looking pretty freeze dried. The Artemisia, Stachys and Yucca are bravely continuing to provide evergrey winter interest, but everything else has pretty much given up.

Some closeups...

Tough-as-nails Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina) still hanging in there.

Sedum tetractinum looking a lot like the frozen grapes my mother fed me as a kid. Artemisia 'Powis Castle' taking the frigid weather in stride.

Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' looking exactly the same as the day I planted it.

We'll see how things are looking in February and then again in May. 

I'd love to get any xeric/cold hardy plant suggestions for vertical applications!

Tree Removal: A Day in the Life of a Tree Climber

At Willowglenn, the majority of the tree work we do consists of structural and maintenance pruning. When someone approaches us about tree removal, I generally try to talk them out of it.  I figure there are plenty of companies out there that will gladly take your cash to remove a tree for any reason.  By taking a conservative stand on tree removal, I hope to counterbalance their eagerness.

Tree removal is, however, a critical element of urban forest management.  Boise's moniker as the City of Trees is nice but belies the fact that our urban forest is a human construct and needs to be managed as such.

Diseased, damaged or dangerous trees obviously need to be removed but so do trees that have the potential to cause a Hatfield and McCoy style feud between neighbors.  This particular pine had been planted right up against the property line, and had a taken to leaning towards the neighbors house.

Even worse, the pine also provided ladder fuels right up to their wood shake roof.















A nice looking Red Oak was also about 10 feet away and really needs more space to develop an even canopy.  The pine had  also long since shed its lower juvenile limbs and didn't even provide the  screening that was originally intended.  It was definitely time to get rid of the tree.

View of Table Rock atop the pine

The challenge, of course, for most urban tree removal is how to do it in such a way as to not punch a hole in a roof, collapse a gazebo or flatten someone's new 30K ipe deck.  Fortunately, there was a narrow pea gravel footpath that ran directly under the tree.  So, rather than utilize a complicated rigging system, I decided to take the tree down in firewood size pieces and drop it on the path below (convenient, as it's eventually headed to our wood stove anyway).

When I bid a tree removal job, I factor in a few different things such as: what kind of tree (hardwood? softer wood?), height, high-value targets around the base of the tree, and how many leaders the tree has. Multi-leader trees take the longest because you're essentially removing multiple trees within the canopy.  This pine had five separate leaders so I knew that I was looking at a full day's worth of work for myself and a ground crew.

Aside from knowing that I'm going to smeared in sap, I usually look forward to working in pines.  An even lattice work of branches (most of the time) makes it pretty easy to move around.

The first thing I do is find the tallest leader in the tree and secure my cambium saver as high up as it will go.  This is where my climbing rope is attached to the tree.  Attaching myself to the rope requires tying on the end of one side of the rope with a termination knot and attaching midway on the other side of the rope with a friction hitch knot that allows me to self-belay.  My favorite hitch knot is called a Valdotain Tress.  With this hitch, it's easy to ascend the tree but catches you should you slip (by putting a kink in the rope).

      






I like to minimize the amount of chainsaw time as much as possible when I'm roped into a tree, so I begin by removing all the branches with a 4" caliper or smaller with a hand saw.

Once that's done, I begin using a chainsaw and a steel-core "flip line" as redundant fall protection just in case I accidentally cut through my climbing rope or my harness.














Slowly, I work my way down the shorter leaders and then move on to removing the main leader.

 

With the help of my hard working ground crew, we were able to complete the removal just as we started losing our light for the day.

Done!

Winter Tree Pruning

A few days ago a respected local gardening celebrity published an article cautioning her readers to skip winter pruning of trees because of potential freeze damage. There were many other good points made in the article but this piece of advice really stuck in my craw.

OK, full disclosure first: I'm an ISA certified arborist who also runs a full service landscape company. Why is this relevant? Mostly because of the seasonal aspect of how I make a living. My inspirational St. Crispin's Day speech for my crew this morning did little to change the fact that it was 18 degrees. When the ground takes on the characteristics of granite, tree pruning becomes our main source of work. 

So my initial reaction to the article was something along the lines of this person is trying to steal bread from my child!

Deep breath.

Most arborists I know like to prune in the winter because the tree structure (or lack thereof) can be clearly seen without a cloak of leaves, making it easier to determine pruning decisions. Personal opinions aside, it is incumbent for an arborist to prune according to ANSI A300 pruning standards (the arborist's bible).This is what the guide has to say:

The best time to prune live branches depends on the desired results. Removal of dying, diseased, broken, rubbing, or dead limbs can be accomplished any time with little negative effect on the tree.            Growth is maximized and defects are easier to see on deciduous trees if live-branch pruning is done in the winter before growth resumes in early spring. Pruning when trees are dormant can minimize the risk of pest problems associated with wounding and allows trees to take advantage of the full growing season to close and compartmentalize wounds. (Best Management Practices Tree Pruning Companion publication to the ANSI A300 Part 1: Tree, Shrub and other Woody Plant Maintenance-Standard Practices, Pruning, pg. 25 para. 1 &2)

             

For more info about winter pruning, check out these sites:

Trees Are Good
Chicago Botanic
Arbor Day
Minnesota DNR

Southern Magnolias in a Northern Town

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As our urban forest disrobes and a steely-gray nuclear winter sky descends over Boise, I'm reminded again of how much I appreciate the glossy, evergreen foliage of the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandilflora).

Here are some interesting tidbits about the Southern Magnolia in our climate:

• There is a wide degree of variability amongst the many available cultivars, with Edith Bogue, Victoria and Bracken's Brown Beauty consistently overwintering well in our SW Boise Zone 6 property (there are reports that Edith Bogue even grows in Chicago).
• Winter desiccation from dry, cold wind is really tough on these broadleaf evergreens. If you live in a very windy, exposed site or south of Lake Hazel, forgetaboutit.
• In our climate, Southern Magnolias drop their three year old leaves in the spring and early summer (much to the consternation of those unfamiliar with this cycle!).
• Our Southern Magnolias need no more water than an average hardwood tree and have happily grown without fertilizer of any kind in our nasty, caliche "soil".
• Fragrant blossoms begin to appear late spring and continue into mid-summer.

Here's a picture tour of Southern Magnolias around Boise:

Ruby red seeds of summer's spent flowers juxtaposed against  lush evergreen foliage.

Lake Heron planting in 2003.

Ten years later! Yes, a bit close to the foundation,  but in my defense we had just visited Georgetown where Magnolias planted within a few inches of brick walls are de rigueur

Another 2003 planting....

Same tree, today (again, in the Georgetown style).

Edith Bogue in our garden

The closely related Magnolia virginiana. Flowers have an intense citrus aroma. 

A new, apparently hardy cultivar that my friend Steven Gossett grew from a seed he harvested from Spain. He calls it Granada.

Another cultivar in Steven's nursery, -24. Fortunately, we haven't had the recent opportunity to see if it lives up to the name!

The last two are significant because they both survived -20F -22F back in the early 90's December 22nd of 1991. So those of you who think we live in Zone 5, take note (you know who you are).

Foothills East

The largest Southern Magnolia I've found in Boise is near Winstead Park. The oak behind it adds some nice contrast. The owners have told me that after -20 F -22F, the tree completely defoliated but stubbornly pushed out new leaves in the spring.

Same tree, different angle

He Likes Them Topless

Try and keep up sonny!

 
As a small business owner, I find that it's pretty easy to follow the advice that "the customer is always right" ...  right up to the point where they're wrong.

More often than not this occurs when I'm asked to provide a quote for tree care. This happened again a few days ago when I met with an older gentleman (we'll call him Mr. Smith) to chat about trimming his trees.


Maybe "mutilating" his trees would be a better word? He wants every tree on his property topped, because you know, they're pretty out of control.




The victims...

The token Ash

The ubiquitous Crabapple

The handsome Japanese Maple

And finally there's a Weeping Cherry he wants pruned under the window (any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated).

After 20+ years in the biz, I've finally figured out that self-righteous monologues berating the prospective client doesn't make me any new friends. I just stuck with thoughtful nods and a forced smile or two. The fact that this was the father-in-law of a valued new client helped keep me on my best behavior too.

Still, a Certified Arborist can't be seen out and about making freaky head cuts on trees so what's a guy to do?  Conveniently, there is ISA approved  "Crown Reduction" pruning. Instead of performing topping cuts mid-branch, we can reduce a tree by pruning it down to lateral branches that are large enough to assume the new leadership opening.

I certainly wouldn't call this necessary pruning, but if it prevents something like this from happening I think I've done my job.