Today was an absolutely beautiful day, and yesterday also, later storms will come through, but pretty much done for the day by the time they came through. Our neighbors over in Western New York had some tornadoes yesterday. YIKES! We lucked out here.

One thing that I have noticed in my walks and cruises around town is how so many people like to have something planted at the base of trees. Sure, bright flowers look lovely, but sadly anything planted at the base of a tree competes with the water and nutrient absorption. Most all tree feeder roots are a lot closer to the surface than people realize, and are usually with in the branch line of the upper part of the tree. The best way to deal with tree bases is to mulch under the tree, but not too high up the trunk or it will eventually cut off oxygen and kill the tree. I love trees. I hug trees, and rub my hands along their bark as I walk along, and hate to go into an urban area where the “landscapers” mulch the trees with little piles around the bases of their highly pruned “lolly-pops.
I guess that I wish more people would respect trees. With this tree and yew (Taxus) combination, everyone suffers, the yews need full sun, and all are competing for the water and nutrients.

there are pruned yews at base of this one

Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009
ALBANY — An Alabama-based plant wholesaler linked to a destructive tomato blight that turned up in northern big-box retail stores has pulled its plants from New York and five other states. ”
this from http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8291541

This is a very disturbing headline printed last week on the Albany Times Union. It goes back to your buy local dichotomy you have heard me expound upon too much! We need to simplify our buying for more than just supporting our local farmers, but to keep diseases out of our area. Some will bemoan this as “the big box has cheaper prices!” But the ultimate cost is the spread of diseases, the cost of treatment, and ultimately replacement, or with these tomatoes, the extra time spent pulling and replanting. An as you know, I push for using natives, and trying to make our local ecology healthy. Did I say that before? Sometimes the bottom line is more than just money.

pic by craigemorsels