Emerald Ash Borer

I wanted to comment on the emerald ash borer news, but procrastinated. Apologies.

Anyway, I read an article in the paper that reported Ohio was going to implement some drastic measures to eliminate the ash borer that has been located in Northeastern Columbus area and in the Northwestern part of the state. Cut down lots of ash trees in the the problem areas. All of the trees in a specific radius.

It is too bad, but it really seems the only remedy. The insects have been moving faster than originally predicted.

Wish I could find that article...... Ok, here it is Emerald Ash Borer report.

=====I have not yet

• pruned any trees
• ordered anything(although I made out the form)
• worked outside
• made definitive garden plans for 2004

What I have done is look at the Farmers Almanac prediction. ):(
Supposedly it will be a dry summer. I don't know how truly accurate those predictions are, but I don't want to have to try to water lots of new baby plants. If you knew my conditions here with strong, sometimes searing, summer winds, and how difficult it is to keep things watered in the summertime across spread out gardens you would commiserate.

I know you would. But I hate to be too invested in the predictions. The gardener sows in hope:)

Maybe I will go with the middle of the road plan of planting some things, but concentrating on the bones and structure of the garden. Making sure the edges are clean, pay more attention to weeding and renovating, improving walkways; those are the sorts of things that use drought in ones favor.

Nothing like those horrid weeds all shriveled in the sun........

... not sure I want to...

I have been looking at those apple trees with a mix of dread and decision. I am planning the attack , which trees to start with, which branches and how many to prune.

But I am dreading it. Not being in shape for this, I just know I will be sore for a week.

But those trees are in dire need.

Ok. That cinches it. It must be done. I will have to buy a replacement for the hand pruners that I haven't been able to find. That puts the job off for a short time.

Once I get started, I will get into the feel of things, and enjoy my time outdoors. We all know I need it. I am starting to feel all papery and wizened from being inside too much. A garden is something like children.... their needs force you to do what is good for you anyway. Fresh perspectives coming right up.

Gardening Column by Brian Minter

Pruning by Brian Minter

Just in time- an article on pruning! I like to read on a subject before I get started, just to brush up on the pointers and to get any new ideas . This article ahs some tips on pruning evergreens. When I first moved here I planted a number of new evergreens, I cut off the growing ends of the side boughs for Christmas wreaths. Bad me. It didn't made a terrible difference, but now I know better.

I had put some mugho pines in at my church, then one year, to my horror, I saw that someone had cut those poor things waaaaay back. The pine never recovers from that, and those plants were subsequently removed once it was apparent that they were dead skeletal remainders of a well-meaning, but poorly informed individual.

I am glad I never found out who that was....

I am starting to think like Spring

That is right. It has seeped into my bones, I believe it started when I was looking at my apple trees and considering how I should be pruning right now. Gardening season officially starts for me when I plan on pruning.

Last year those trees ( most of them) received some major pruning, but they were so neglected that I need to do some serious pruning, yet, this year as well. I will make myself do some exercise this week, because pruning trees with a hand saw is a major effort. I am not in shape for this. It is a good idea to do some regular aerobics and a bit of weights before garden season, anyway.

I was so excited to get my Thompson and Morgan seed catalog. I requested it late, but now it is here and, even though they are pricey, I have had good seed from them and they carry a large amount of my beloved mignonette for a reasonable cost. They had a very nice looking lupine, also, I haven't grown lupines since I moved here about twenty years ago. They are really easy from seed, which is large and just needs a soak before planting ( like the morning glories).

Oh yes, one thing I want to get that I noticed had a name change: the old leptosiphon is now called "Linanthus". I will want some of those with some linaria. These two plantings will go well together, both being of mixed colors on the miniature scale.

Most of my seeds I will probably buy in the plant stores when they have their sales. Should be coming up soon. I need lettuce, marigolds, and morning glories for sure. There are always large selections of fine varieties in the store.

I will need to check on my seed-starting supplies, and then get some echinacea seed.

Those are the plans so far, but I haven't started anything yet.

====ash tree borer====
This is a concern for this area now. They were found far ahead of schedule for Central Ohio and I have a small grove of ash trees, the few trees that survived the early years when we had so much drought here. It is a sad prospect, and there doesn't seem to be any preventative. I am planning on growing some other sorts of trees in that area, that I need to buy and plant this year, just in case.

If you are interested, the description of my garden.

oooo. new webthing

I subscribed to bloglines. Very cool. Now I know why people like rss feeds. fun:)

My garden is in the throes of February. It thaws, it freezes, it is ice, it is puddles, it is whatever February wants to be!

I am a bit afraid to start seeds because I have so many irons in the fire. But I know I will be sorry if I don't. Maybe if I keep my plans small ( unlikely once I get started) I can manage. I would like some pansies to set out in the spring. I really ought to start some osteospermums, because they have gotten so expensive and I am addicted to having some in pots at the front porch.

Let's see...what else do I want? I really would like more echinacea. I started some from seed a couple years ago. They are fine for me that way, but they don't multiply so well in my garden. It was not what was expected. They are Prairie plants, which should do well here, and they are reputed to be easy for most people. Maybe I crowded them or something.

I want more blue flax, but those are best started in situ. You have to renew those every once in awhile. They will reseed if the ground is kept open, but in an established perennial garden they tend to evaporate over a couple years. But maybe I should put marjoram in my list. I love marjoram, and used to grow enough of it to make pretty herbal wreaths. It became expensive to buy.... they enlarge the pots so you have to spend more per plant, when what is wanted is more plants at less cost.... even when they are smaller. This is especially true for one season plants, like marjoram is in this zone.

I have no real plan yet. I want to expand the garden, but I still have time constraints this year. Besides this, I still have some matters that are not pure planting, also: the garage area needs to look presentable. Cleaning and clearing, planting hardy low maintenance things is needed. Right now there is a young white lilac surrounded by a rough box. That's it. I did have a plan for a structure for vines in front... but that requires the Handyman, otherwise known as Overworked Husband. Regardless of how we work it, that area needs some screening, and it tends to become an eyesore catchall.
Must do something category. Maybe just one side of the intended pergola-like structure could go up.... that would work.

P.S. to myself Morning Glories. Don't forget to start some early in plantable peat pots. And seed some in March in the ground. A country garden needs Heavenly Blue morning glories.

Fixing things

I am trying to fix the problems in the new design. Bear with me. Presently it denies robots and has problems with the trackbacks -besides looking awful in Netscape.

Sorry ...will work it out eventually.
=====
In the meantime I did add site search capability through google. I tested it.... it's great. I put archives back on the main page, but I was hoping to cut loadtime without them. Not that they are the biggest contributor to loadtime. Maybe I should do without the obligatory imood. It probably is less than necessary in a garden journal. A weather mood is better.... I should see if they have something like that.

Now with titles: working with government

I am finally getting the hang of this thing. Behold: titles!

The ponding in my area of Ohio is terrible. Slabs of icy areas that thaw and freeze. And thanks to the ineptness of my friendly neighborhood engineer and ditch maintenance people who refused to do decent grading, my fir trees are standing in water. Pools of water. If I could go out there and do anything about it I would...... but I will have to wait and see.

There are times when you are simply helpless.

There is no defense for those engineering wonders..... just following through on what they agreed to do in grading away from my trees would have been sufficient. I did learn one thing. Get all agreements in writing and oversee the work. Do not trust that people in your local government care about your concerns. You are responsible to check on the work they are doing. If I knew then what I know now, I would have requested that my topsoil be saved on my land; I would have put an orange fence around my trees; I would have been present during the entire procedure of grading. I learned so late. I did protest on where the drain went..... although they penalized me by making me do the finish work of filling in their unsatisfactory area, reseeding, etc. myself.

Passive-aggressive petty bureaucrats. Require obsessive-compulsive and picyune responses.

Or your property will suffer. And you will suffer no matter what, so you might as well get the end result you can live with. At least know you tried.

Rainy.Cold. Blah. I will be forced to go out today. Doing obligatory things. Maybe this weekend I will set up my light stand for seed starting later in the month, that would be cheering. I really want to start some perennials for this year. Some of them are better and cheaper that way, but they do take a season to get going.

Decisions, decisions. February is the time for that, March should be beginning the actual start of the season. Although I have run late in the past few years. All my gardening took a back seat, as a matter of fact. But gardening is a marathon effort for all ones life, so it doesn't disappear with the neglect. Just gets a bit weedy. Ha!

I don't even know whether I want bright or pastel this year. Bright, I think. But maybe that is due to today's weather. I will have to post my plant plans here. Just so I can look at them without my mind getting muddled.

Plans: the power tool of logic.

Re-froze, so I guess that is it for the thaw! In my garden there is often a mid-winter time with decently warm temperatures and dry enough earth to do some early tilling. I get the feeling that this won't materialize this year. When it does, it is absolutely the best time to get the vegetable garden ready for spring planting.

With any large proportion of clay in the soil, one dares not work it wet. Great Garden Taboo. It means the soil will have damaged tilth for the remainder of the season. On the other hand, when everything is as saturated as this year, it will be difficult to do anything for spring. One year, I remember the farmers around here had to wait way into almost June for planting; it was not a good year for them. It all depends how much rain we get during the midspring.

Right now we have our own ice rinks around the house. I have been inside working on computer things and tweaking the site a bit. Feeding the wood stove and trying to keep warm. The birds, yesterday, as temperatures plummeted were taking refuge in the pyracantha and on the porch vine. All ruffled feathery fellowship!

Rain is melting down all the snow cover. It is the typical January thaw -just a bit late. I heard the ground hog saw his shadow, so this year I can check the accuracy of the old saw. We should have the longer winter season.

Now that Bill Murray made the Ground Hog Day movie... that is what I always think about when someone mentions the February 2nd designation. I think I've seen the movie one too many times.... instead of the more elegant term "deja vue" ...... we say "Ground Hog Day" around here. Now there is culture deterioration. And the heretical idea that the French might be right about something.

I don't like going out side in this weather. Maybe I am picky about winter weather. Cold, but not too cold. Nice white snow, but no ice or slush. Blustery winds, but no bone-chilling blasts. Sitting around a fire, but no errands to run. Time to read books and make my garden plans, with no bills to pay and worry about. Too picky. The unnatural expectations of the armchair gardener.

Which reminds me. When we imagine work in the yard, I have found we usually underestimate the actual effort involved. It isn't until we are deep into the digging and hauling and pulling that we begin to pace our plans to our physical prowess.

Benjamin Franklin

"The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands."

I have been doing some reading. The combination of two books gave me some thoughts on garden journaling. One a scrapbooking how-to describes a grandmothers beloved scrapbook which was filled with carefully cutout pictures of things like fruits and vegetables, etc. and the other book was a modern version of the Country Diary I posted on, earlier.

The idea was that if we don't have the artistic desire to watercolor our journals, we could use scrapbooking techniques to brighten them up. That is, if we want something more than utilitarian notes. It was just an idea.
Here are the books I was reading:

The Painted Garden is full of modern watercolor flowers and many garden related quotes in handwriting form. For my taste, I prefer the Country Garden Diary, but this has its appeal, too.