What's Growing In Your Garden? Horticultural Science

[justforfun]

Hey all you horticultural Einsteins out there! How do you get rid of grasshoppers short of nukes? They obliterated my so-called garden and now there starting in on the trees. HHeeeellppppp...!

[Queso]

sing to them for 15 minutes :hihi:

[Fishteacher73]

Hey all you horticultural Einsteins out there! How do you get rid of grasshoppers short of nukes? They obliterated my so-called garden and now there starting in on the trees. HHeeeellppppp...!

 

Isn't that one of the 7 plagues? :rolleyes:

[Turtle]

___You either pick the grasshoppers from the plants, spray them with pesticide, or lose your crop.

___More often called "locusts" in the reference to plauges, grasshopper swarms indeed have the ability to destroy crops over large regions. Where do you live Justforfun? How widespread is the problem in your area? You might try calling your local extension service as they often have programs directed at certain pests.

___Good luck!

[coldhead]

sing to them for 15 minutes :rolleyes:

I must try that.

Coldie Holly & the Crickets

[Turtle]

___I let this field lie fallow long enough. I sometimes have to garden so my head doesn' t explode with all the math thoughts, & so today I worked in the yard. Weeding a long neglected bed, dead-heading some flowers, & planning how I might try topiary & cut the little Boxwoods into regular polyhedra. Ooops...darn math thoughts! :hihi:

___I didn't do any work on the slope for a month, but the last 2 weeks I have cut another 60 or so feet of trail & freed 3 more trees of the noxious Ivy. All the Ivy I cut previously is dead & brown in the trees & I now have dead Ivy leaves a foot deep in some places. Given all the toxic stuff in the leaves, I deem it useless for compost in garden plots.

___I have set up branches along the ground contours of the steep slope in spots, staked with branches & backed with some stones. When the rains start (today) I need to control errosion where I have cleared areas next to the house. I have put in a set of steps from large stones brought up from below; a little precarious still as they rock a bit (pun intended) but I figure on time & water to settle them.

____Anywho, I run on. What's growing in your garden? :lol:

[Turtle]

___I stepped out of my hut today to play Bluff Warden. I took a camera & have a number of photos illustrating my attempts to restore the hillside to native plants. I have placed in the Science Gallery a photo of Artist's Fungus - Ganoderma applanatum; it is growing on the cut stump of Bigleaf Maple (Oregon Maple) - Acer macrophyllum.

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=507&c=3

___This fungi takes its name from the habit of NW artists harvesting them & painting on the white under-surface. No craft fair around here is complete without them. This one is about 8" in diameter.

____More native plant photos to come! What's growing scientifically in your garden? :)

[Turtle]

___Another native plant on my hillside; my skywire described in the Birding thread passes just by it. It is Vine Maple -Acer circinatum. Unlike the Bigleaf Maple, this is a diminuative tree, rarely exceding 20 feet or so in height & turns vivid yellow in fall whereas the Bigleaf Maple tends to bowns & subdued yellows.:)

[Turtle]

___Another native plant on my bluff, the Western Redcedar or Giant Arborvitae - Thuja plicata. This tree provided Native Americans with shelter, clothing, bedding, totems, canoes, & masks to name only a few uses. Today the wood is additionally valued as siding & shingles because of its natural rot & insect resistence. I think I have at least 2 of these trees on my slope. :)

[Turtle]

___In one of the earlier posts I mentioned Snowberry, also called Common Snowberry - Symphoricapos albus. Quite a few of these on the slope & one of my main hopes for reclaiming ground that I clear.

http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/667.htm

:)

[Turtle]

___I finally pinned down a positive ID on the large oaks on my knoll: Oregon oak - Quercus garryana, also called Oregon white oak, Garry oak, & Brewer's oak. In making my search I ran across drawings of leaves & photos of leaves, but I hit on the idea of scanning the leaf directly. The result is in the Science Gallery here:

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=503&c=3

___No acorns on the trees this year, but some wasp galls; I have a photo of one in my Gallery section as well.

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=500&c=3&userid=796

Off to rewind the bird cam. G'day. :doh:

[Turtle]

___I have ID on another native plant on the slope; Oregon Ash - Fraximus latifolia. I have a leaf scan in the Science Gallery:

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=513&c=3

___At least one large tree well over 60 feet which looks unhealthy, & several smaller young trees; the leaf for the scan is from a young tree & measures overall length 11".

___Part of my enjoyment is in the lore of plants & I found plenty here. Lewis & Clark recorded it:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/record_species_247_13_12.html

Magicians use it:

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=TS0135

It's rare in Portland:

http://www.parks.ci.portland.or.us/urbanforestry/trees/FRLA.html

Universities write about it:

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=209

___If I find a good fallen branch I plan to make some snake proof drum sticks. :Waldo:

[Turtle]

___Even though this is a horticultural theme, nothing is not connected & many animals live on my slope. Earlier in the year I caught a photo of a Racoon near a hillside stream, but I haven't seen much of them since. This morning before I woke my housemate Ace took several photos of a pair of Racoons descending one of the large Oregon Oak. He tells me there is a family of young they left in the tree but he missed getting them in a photo.

___Anyway, he says I may post a photo:

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=515&c=3

:Waldo:

[Turtle]

___Staying with this image:

http://hypography.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=515&c=3

___Note the dead foliage surrounding the critters; this is the Ivy I have set about to erradicate from the woodlot. The extent of its infestation on this single tree is apparent, as well as the effect of my cutting the Ivy stems round the base of the tree.

___Besides cutting at the base, I have started digging out the roots of the Ivy around the tree bases; by all accounts it is a years long process :( & as I rent I admit it's a little...er.. silly of me :Waldo: . No matter. I note I have only one neighbor with a view of my slope & I noticed the other day while I clambered around in the trees putting up my skyline that someone there peeked out from a crack in the shade watching me. ;)

___My little slope is a greenway sandwiched between a major highway, the 10th largest river in N. America, a major rail line, & under the approach to an international airport. I like it; very serendipitous. :hyper:

[Turtle]

___More animal activity in the woodlot; this time a Western Grey Squirrel - Sciurus griseus. Firstly, it is eating the seeds of the Bigleaf Maple & I have never seen it mentioned as a food source. Second, several apparent abnormal facial growths on the squirrel.

[Fishteacher73]

Well I guess I'm going to try my hand at cacti... I got a few little ones pretty cheap and I'll see how it goes. I have always thought that this group of plants was fascinating so I am looking forwrd to giving it a go. Anyone out there had luck, failure or tips?

[bartock]

Well I guess I'm going to try my hand at cacti... I got a few little ones pretty cheap and I'll see how it goes. I have always thought that this group of plants was fascinating so I am looking forwrd to giving it a go. Anyone out there had luck, failure or tips?

dont water them too much.i killed mine with water OD.