Oct 16
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Line-edger Head Maintenance

By | Arborist Insights, Strata Maintenance | One Comment

If you are like me, you concentrate on production and let your line-edger do its magic. Most attention goes to the engine. Re-fuel with a Proper gas and oil mix,
check the fuel and air filters, and spark plugs.

But let’s not forget about the head down below. Let’s take my commercial Stihl machine as an example.

Use good Lithium grease and Proper tools

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Carefully remove the bolt and note the gears.

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Pump in good Lithium lubricant and spin the head slowly as you do so

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All done!

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Re-check periodically, depending on how much you use your edger. A happy, well-maintained machine will allow you to provide good service all year!

Oct 09
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Stealing Cherries?

By | Plant Species Information, Quizzes | No Comments

This always happens in the field. A resident walks up to collect his mail and wonders what the tree next to his super mailbox is? He sees Europeans in his neighborhood collecting the red ripe fruit and he wonders what they do with it. Is he missing out? Or did he avoid certain poisoning?

You, as the green professional are left to provide the answers, on the spot, no BS, Proper answers. So let’s look at the tree and the other plants in this small park.
But first a TEST. How many can you identify? Bonus point if you know what to do with the fruit in number 1.

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Show Answers!

1) Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry)
The fruit is edible when it’s dark red; it’s used for jams and sauces with orange and sugar
according to the Kwantlen Plant Database

2) Sorbus aucuparia (European mountain-ash)

3) Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’

4) Viburnum tinus
Nice and healthy. In some places the bug Pyrrhalta viburni destroys it by chewing the leaves

 

 

Oct 02
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Book Review: How plants work by Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D.

By | Plant Species Information, Reviews | No Comments

1As a fan of Linda’s work my book review is bound to be slightly biased. I had this book in my wish list months ahead of publication. As the back jacket says, if you read and study the book, you will

understand your garden and landscape better. You will learn how to weed less, how to fertilize and prune more effectively and you will see reviews of products that could potentially save you money.

Linda shows you the inner workings of plants. The magic happens when hard science is written for gardeners and green professionals in easy to understand language.

Now, a warning. I said easy to understand but you will have to make your way through some biochemistry. Just go over the sections twice, like I did. It’s fascinating stuff. The most interesting part of the book is the chapter on how, HOW, plants tell time, how they know it’s time to push out their leaves or pack it in for the winter. It’s all about phytochrome, a pigment for all seasons. If I said any more, I would ruin it for you.

There are many side bars. Some I already knew about, like what a waste of cash installing landscape fabric is; and how we should water even in the fall; and how to bare-root trees and shrubs for planting. Other side bars were new to me, like aeration tubes.

Another warning: you will get inspired by Linda to try new stuff, like bare-root tree planting I did as a helper with a municipal gardener. Not only was it a fun experience, the trees are doing well.

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Wash off the root ball and inspect the roots

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Ensure proper planting depth

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Don’t throw away the soil from your root ball

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Done, staking may or may not be required. This dogwood (Cornus) required staking.

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Don’t forget to check out the suggested reading list on pages 219-220. I want all of those books in my library!

My only complaint would be the length of this book. I wish it was ten times as long, fat enough to press flowers with. Second edition perhaps?

Five stars!

Sep 25
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Newspaper as Mulch? Really?

By | Arborist Insights, Education, Landscaping, Mulch | No Comments

Earlier this summer my buddy, who runs a small landscaping company, called me up and asked me to help him install new soil at a strata site. Sure. It sounded easy. Then he surprised me on site by having me put down newspapers first; both main pages and inserts. I consider the newspaper inserts a minor distraction for all male workers because, inevitably, I would get distracted by ladies underwear sales and bra pictures. Now back to science.

I understood the main idea- weed suppression- but I wondered what my hero, Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott (see July 24, 2015 blog) had to say about it. According to Linda (1), newspaper mulching has been used successfully in agriculture but what about strata complexes on the Westwood Plateau? There isn’t much research but we know that:

  1. newspapers can look ugly when exposed
  2. they can become pest havens
  3. they can become hydrophobic when they become dry and water simply runs off instead of percolating through
  4. wood chips are more effective at preventing weed growth
  5. winds can dislodge the newspapers, especially on the Westwood Plateau
  6. if used on wet, poorly drained soils, they can create anaerobic conditions where an impermeable barrier is formed to water and gas exchanges
  7. additional labor is required compared to straight wood chip application

Summary: Newspaper mulches can be effective in gardens where the soil is continuously worked and irrigation is applied. On less maintained sites you might want to use free or cheap wood chips.

(1) The Myth of Paper-based Sheet Mulch, Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., Washington State University Extension, www.puyallup.wsu.du

More information: www.theinformedgardener.com

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Good quality, weed-free soil is a must, same for good Contractor wheelbarrows

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Before picture with newspaper showing

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After picture

Sep 20
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Mundy Park World Record Weed Pull

By | Education, Events, Landscaping | No Comments
Here is your chance to participate in a world record weed pull attempt, help take out invasive weed species in a local park and improve your resume! Mundy Park is a great place to walk and run. My running club, Phoenix Running Club, holds weekly runs in the park.
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I will be there on Sunday October 4. Can YOU come?
Sep 18
0

Woody Vegetation Chontrol….

By | Arborist Insights, Education, Resources, Tips | No Comments

What do you do with deciduous trees that continue to re-sprout and regrow from cut stumps? What if those trees are located in areas where harsh ( but effective) chemical herbicide use is restricted? Think urban areas and community watersheds.

As I recently found out while visiting a water quality pond, you can use a bio-herbicide called Chontrol Peat Paste.

Details: www.mycologic.ca.

The procedure is fairly simple. Apply a thin layer of the paste to freshly cut stumps from late summer to fall. The pictures below show our native alders, Alnus rubra (Betulaceae family). The trees are interfering with the water quality pond whose function it is to prevent sand, coarse silt and other contaminants from entering environmentally sensitive streams; and to help maintain the flow required to support aquatic life.

The product is only available commercially and it will be interesting to see effectiveness data come in.

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Fresh stumps on Alnus rubra

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Chontrol Peat Paste after application to freshly cut stumps

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​Four years after application

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Water quality pond where alder forest would interfere too much

Sep 11
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Book Review: The Gardener of Versaille

By | Arborist Insights, Books, Reviews | No Comments

This French best seller, written by Alain Baraton, gardener-in-chief at the palace of Versaille, is fantastic! It will appeal to all gardeners and green professionals. Baraton offers us an intimate look at his career path and the history of the famous grounds. His job is not easy. Working under him are eighty gardeners, and they manage 350,000 trees, flowers and plants, plus thirty miles of walkways on 2,100 acres of land. No more enthusiastic amateurs; all new gardeners are required to pass standard government exams.

The gardens have been frequented and loved by kings and queens. Baraton includes many paragraphs on young French kings and their many escapades. Versaille is frequented by lovers looking for secluded spots and this leads us to an interesting quote: “A garden capable of attracting lovers is a success”.
Totally unexpected were the hordes of grandmothers making secret cuttings to take back home.

I was personally fascinated with the details of a gardener’s life and the many great gardeners who worked on the grounds before Baraton. If you like French history or just good stories, you won’t be disappointed. The absolute best story, well worth the price of the book, is that of Louis XIV and his new Superintendent of Finances, Fouquet. Fouquet created an amazing garden at the chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte and threw the party of all parties. Some guests received horses as door prizes! In one account, the young king Louis XIV got very jealous and poor Fouquet was stripped of all of his possessions. Court judges wanted him exiled but that was too mellow for the young king. He threw Fouquet into prison and he died there! Another account says Fouquet was set up. It was his predecessor who abused the treasury.
I highly recommend this book. Five stars.

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Sep 04
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Get Inspired!

By | Arborist Insights, Education, Events, Landscaping | No Comments

The Inspiration Garden run by the City of Coquitlam is a fun place to visit for all home gardeners and green professionals. I often bike by and stop to brush up on my plant identification skills. And I visit one of my favorite tree species, a specimen of Albizia julibrissin. Its flower fragrance has to be experienced. I can not describe it. It is blooming right now….

There are Ask the Gardener sessions on Thursdays from 6 and 8pm; the iGarden is staffed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

If you find yourself in Coquitlam or have some spare time on Saturdays, stop by for a visit. It is located in Town Centre Park, on the corner of Guildford Way and Pipeline Road. Bring your questions, walk through the garden and test your plant knowledge. Or just sit down and relax.

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Living wall, a developing trend

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Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria)

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Aug 28
0

Fight Invasive Plants with One Simple Step

By | Arborist Insights, Landscaping | No Comments

At a Starbucks recently, I ran into a friend who fights invasive plants with a municipal department. After covering the usual enemies -see below-, she shared with me her number one frustration. Homeowners who dump their pots into wild municipal zones. Yes, the local garden stores sell the plants and they’re fine nicely contained in your home garden. Once they’re dumped into open spaces they spread and displace native vegetation, affecting local ecology and soils. Municipalities then spend tax money fighting this problem. Discard your unwanted pots and plants with your Proper landscaper or at your local transfer station. It may even be free for residents.

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Lamium in the woods, five meters from the road

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Discarded pot full of bulbs and who knows what else……

Two other common invasive plants.

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Hedera helix

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Vinca minor

Aug 21
0

Annual Cuts

By | Arborist Insights, Education, Landscaping, Seasonal | One Comment

Every year I look for new experiences, both in my personal life and at work. This year I got a chance to work on annual cuts for the first time. This involves line-trimming meadow like fields and buffer zones using heavy-duty line. It can take days, and it will not be done for another year. Large areas are covered by Deere ride-on mowers.

Sometimes it feels like harvest time and the view can be great depending on your exact location. If you are working close to people, stop and let them pass.

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Annual cut detail shot

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Not a bad place to spend a day….

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Stop to let people and pets go by…..

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Heavy duty line

​If time permits, harvest ripe blackberries (Rubus discolor) before pushing back the thorny invasive canes. There are other hazards! The tall growth can hide all sorts of objects and small animals. I recommend using a full face shield but they are awkward and expensive. Goggles, ear protection and pants are mandatory. Use a hat, sun screen and bring water.

Best Advice: if you are not using a full face shield, CLOSE YOUR MOUTH! Little voles usually run away from the noise but I did not expect to decapitate two garter snakes in the space of three minutes. And I hate snakes. Harsh previous experience has thought me to look out for improperly discarded doggy bags; the contents defy description after six months of sitting in a meadow. Then there is garbage and rocks which can become nasty projectiles.
It feels great once the work is safely completed.