Weekly Garden Thread - April 15-21, 2023 ['The Best Time To Plant a Tree' Edition]

April 15, 2023 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

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It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have not, but I’ll check it out. :)

[Bon of Babble]

When I moved to my current property 30 years ago, it turned out the large maple tree in the front yard was dead and needed to be removed. We didn’t notice this before we closed - cost us $1,000 to remove it.

Since I live in such a hot city, I wanted shade trees - specifically sycamore or possibly oaks - I have a large oak in my back yard. The problem with those two tree is that they grow slowly so I wouldn’t get shade for a number of years - my landscaper suggested fast-growing silver dollar eucalyptus - which are the one variety that don’t have shallow roots - eucalyptus tend to fall over in heavy rains or wind storms. They are beautiful now, shade my home and smell wonderful, especially when it rains.

A friend from the other side of town lives in an older development where camphor trees line the streets - they are magnificent and shade the entire street and homes - my friend complains that they block the light in her yard. Have no idea who old they are, I suspect at least 50 years.

I would plant the trees now if you are looking to move there in the future. My camphor seems to be growing very well - I suspect the seedlings that were being given away at the senior center were varieties that grow well in our area, especially trees that provide shade.

If camphor trees grow well in your area, plant them - but do it now so you’ll have shade by the time you move there.

[spankalib]

Thanks for the tips!

Many years ago, while spiffing up my first house for sale, I planted a row of Leland cypress - this was in the tidewater area of Virginia - and they grew like gangbusters! Great for a 'blocking-type' planting.

Also, on a whim, I bought a 'fast-growing' poplar (from the back page of the catalog). That thing arrived as a stick with a small root...I planted it anyway, with an "Oh well" kind of resigned attitude; it wasn't that expensive anyway...

That thing grew 20 feet tall in less than a year, I kid you not - I was so amazed!

[Augie]

It was another week of wild spring weather here in Central Missouri. We saw temp swings from the 30s to the 80s. The hail and twisters went around us again but parts of the state weren't so lucky.

My plum and peach trees all bloomed without being frozen. Apples and pears are blooming now, as are most of Mrs. Augie's ornamentals.

Weeping Cherry

Dwarf Magnolia

The ten-pack of Dunstan Chestnut trees that I bought last fall arrived Wednesday of last week. I played hookie from work on Friday to finish up my income tax return and plant trees. One task was less pleasant than the other, but both are complete.

We went to Arnold, MO on Saturday to visit #2 Son Clint, Baby Momma Kat, and the two grands. Clint and I had intentions of going to the sprint car races at I-55 Raceway Saturday night, but Mother Nature wanted to splatter us across six counties so the Mrs. and I bugged for home. We got out of there just in time to miss most of the severe weather while driving back home. At one point in time there were two twisters on radar and one on the ground within spitting distance of Clint's house. Nasty stuff.

Yesterday I made a lap through my favorite morel hunting spot and found a few scouts. The wind was howling to the extent that I almost didn't go out. This widow maker I found is why I don't like being in the woods when the wind is up. The spot where the tree snapped is about 40' off the ground. The rest of it would leave a mark if it fell out and landed on your head.

Mowed the grass and spent some time re-potting tomato plants in the greenhouse after I got home from mushroom hunting. I ran out of potting soil so I'll need to pick up a bale of ProMix at the nursery this afternoon.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Another productive week for you! :) Glad the bad weather missed your family!

We got SNOW again overnight, and after a sting of 80 degree days, we’re back to freezing weather for a week.

Moved my tomatoes and peppers inside, but the cool weather crops can tough it out (with cover) in the unheated greenhouse. Even on a sunless 35 degree day, it’s still 72 in there. ;)

[Track9]

Had to settle for something called ‘prairie fire’ species of crabapple. Dark pink, good cross pollinator. Thanks for the recommendation. Got me off my butt.

[Augie]

I made it to the nursery yesterday and picked up a bale of ProMix. Also grabbed a couple pots of rhubarb while I was there. Two of the four plants in my garden didn’t come back this spring. I’ve never run across anything that is so doggone hard to get established. Hopefully these will be better than the last two.

After work yesterday I took a lap up my creek and came out with a dozen or so very fresh morels. Hopefully we’ll get some more rain over the next few days. If that happens it’s going to be game on in the mushroom woods.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

'Prairie Fire' is gorgeous, too. Glad to help. Very popular around here. I've sold dozens of them when I worked for Jung's. We had a mature one at the front of the store and it pretty much sold itself. :)

I have 'Spring Snow' which is a white bloom that doesn't produce fruit. I wanted that because then I don't have to pick up fallen fruit against the wishes of angry wasps in the Fall! The 'fruitless' crabs are good for near walkways and driveways and towns and cities use them a lot to beautify their 'Main Street.'

Another flowering beauty, which is carefree and hardy is the Japanese Lilac Tree.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

And since it’s only Tuesday, and this weeks topic is TREES, here’s some more fun stuff about...TREES!

Tracy Chevalier on Trees in Literature:

Books are made of trees and sometimes they’re also about trees. Best-selling author Tracy Chevalier picks the five best trees in fiction.

People have such an emotional bond to trees. It’s very rare to find somebody who says, “I don’t like trees.” They go along with bread and chocolate, those staples of our lives that we can’t really do without.

As I started looking into the subject, I realized that although a tree stays in the same place all its life once it’s growing, trees as a whole move around. A tree doesn’t easily grow in the shade of its parent tree; the most successful tree children, you could say, are the ones that go a little further away. So trees move around when they propagate, and humans have moved them around too.

For instance, we tend to think of the apple tree as native to England, but it’s not, it comes from Kazakhstan originally. Traders took apple trees down through Persia and Mesopotamia along the Silk Road, eventually reaching Europe, and then the Romans brought them to Britain. In America, we tend to think of apple trees as being native to the States, but in fact Puritan settlers brought them over from England.

There’s something that appealed to me about the contradiction between trees seemingly always being in one place and yet being moved around. It mirrors the movements humans make. I wanted to write about that.

Continues...

https://fivebooks.com/best-books/tracy-chevalier-on-trees-in-literature/

Her picks?

Jane Eyre - Horse Chestnut
Howards End - Elm
The Trees - Clearing the land of trees for farming
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Tree of Heaven
The Lie Tree - The Tree of Knowledge

[Qiviut]

My hummingbird feeders went out today & I just saw the first hummer on one of the feeders, about an hour after I put them out. I really miss the little guys (and gals) when they migrate in the fall & I am glad they are back!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Eric reported to me yesterday that he’s spotted them, too!

They don’t make it up here by me until May - I’ll get the Orioles and Grosbeaks first - which are always welcome.

We need some pix of all of your latest projects! :)

[Qiviut]

My niece wanted to give me a couple of 6 week old chicks as a birthday present last weekend (she missed my birthday!). My SIL was going to keep them for me until I could get a chicken tractor built.

I just couldn’t do it - just out from under 2 major projects and have done nothing with the garden. Once the garden is planted, maybe I can start on a tractor - I want it done BEFORE I get any chickens! I see one I might try to build - I have all of dad’s tools & equipment & a few skills developed over the years :-)

Monday I spent 6 hours mowing & another 2 hours yesterday. All is done except for what I mowed last Thursday, so I will do those areas again tomorrow.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We’ve been pouring cement all afternoon in preparation for more usable space in the bottom of the barn, a remodeled ‘Puppy Pen’ where a Mama Dog can stay with her newborn pups, or if we need to isolate an injured dog or in-heat female. I was ‘released from duty’ to tend to supper for Beau and the two local boys that are helping him.

My new chicken coop is going in there, too, so I am waiting another season before I get hens, unless the Humane Society has any that need homes. ;)

[Qiviut]

I broke down & bought veggies. I found a greenhouse that had Mucho Nacho jalapeños so I bought one. Bonnie Plants has a “Mammoth” jalapeño that people seem to like - bought one of those, too. I also have one marked “Jalapeño Hot Pepper” & I am trying to start some “spice” ones from seed - they are red, yellow & orange, with orange being the hottest.

I have not been able to make jalapeño pepper jelly the last 2 years. The jalapeños I was getting from the local greenhouse were an unknown variety & were very short & stubby - horrible for poppers. They also got brown stress lines when green & the few that managed to turn red were not something I wanted to use for jelly. The years prior to that, I always had lots of nice jalapeños (got them from the same greenhouse). Go figure!

People are getting “desperate” for jelly - my brother uses it for a glaze on grilled salmon & his wife uses it as an appetizer over a bar of cream cheese or brie wheel. If I can’t manage a couple of batches of jelly this year, I may have to move to another country.

Hope your barn project turns out well - future chickens are exciting - maybe we’ll end up with some about the same time.

[Pollard]

So many different designs. I need to build something too. Either a tractor or stationary coup because my hen is no longer interested in the junky thing I built a few years ago. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chicken+tractor&iax=images&ia=images

She's a little on the broody side and recently set on a couple of eggs for a few days but the eggs disappeared. I'm thinking small stationary coup and get some fertilized eggs and see if she'll set on & hatch them. Might do one of the A-Frame coups and it needs to be snake and coon proof. Something like this but with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire to keep snakes and coon arms out. Don't want an elevated nesting box for baby chicks to fall from.

1200mm tall is about 4 foot tall

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I think I have two remaining half-pints of Jalapeno Jelly. It’s great over a block of softened cream cheese with crackers. Love the idea of the fish glaze, too.

In fact, I think I’ll serve that as an appetizer for the ‘Deck-Warming Party’ we’re having the first weekend in May. :)

[Qiviut]

The design that attracted me the most was also an A-frame. I like this one (yours) better. We have so much scrap lumber (quite a bit has never been used so it’s stacked/stored) & there is an unused roll of hardware cloth that I’m looking at in the garage right now. The label is so old & dusty I can’t read it, but the wire measures 36” by what looks like 100’. We have just about every nail, screw & bolt you might need.

The big issue for me (other than finding the ‘time’ to do it) is cutting angles & making triangles - never done that before, but I will either talk my brother into helping me or giving me a lesson or two. I saw a neat way of attaching wheels - they are out behind the tractor (can be in front as well) & they ‘fold’ under when you move it. This keeps the tractor on the ground, no gaps, unless you are moving it.

It is 89° right now with the garden in bright sun & I am swilling a quart of electrolytes with ice. Got outside at 6:45 to beat the heat & now I am in the shade of the garage making the last fence panels I hope to ever have to make. My 4 galvanized beds I added a couple of years ago are outside the fencing & the skunks love digging in them - looking for earthworms, I suspect. This year I am using all but one for veggies instead of flowers so fencing is a must. As I am cutting wire (and I just determined I WILL have enough without having to buy any more - hallelujah!), I keep thinking “this too shall pass” LOL!

[MomwithHope]

Lovely pictures as always!

[MomwithHope]

Going to try bucket carrots too.