Most black walnuts were not planted intentionally, but grew from the roots of old English walnut trees.
Although native, most local black walnut trees, Juglans hinsdii, are secondary growth from the rootstock of what were once grafted English walnuts, or descendents of such trees. (English walnut trees are grafted onto black walnut understock.) However, the massive old trees that flank the old Monterey Highway south of San Jose were planted as large shade trees nearly a century ago. They are now about sixty feet tall, with lofty broad canopies. Their foot long leaves are pinnately compound, with about eleven to nineteen slightly dentate leaflets that are about three or four inches long. The hard nuts and thick husks are far too messy for refined gardens.
Does anyone really know what roots do? We know that they are important parts of almost all plants, that draw nutrients from soil and water, and that they provide structural support so that plants can stand upright. Yet, we really do not know all of what they they could be doing right now, underground, where no one can see them.
Big roots of big trees unfortunately sometimes cause big problems by displacing pavement and other features. They commonly displace pavement because they naturally disperse laterally just below the surface of the soil, and do the same directly below pavement as if it were the thin layer of soil that they require above. Roots of many trees are actually attracted to pavement because it is better insulated than some types of soil, and may even retain moisture better. As roots grow and expand, they displace the pavement above.
They do not displace retaining walls or foundations as commonly because they are not so tempted to go under them. When they do displace such features, it is usually because they disperse against them and displace them laterally.
Although often blamed for such problems, roots only rarely interfere with subterranean utilities like water pipes and sewer pipes. Most pipes are deep enough to avoid the majority of roots. However, very old sewer pipes of unsealed terracotta segments or unsealed iron can leak slightly but enough to attract and become invaded by roots. Also, some types of trees are notorious for invading septic systems.
Various types of root barriers limit lateral dispersion of roots and promote deeper dispersion to protect pavement and features at the surface of the soil. They are somewhat effective for certain types of trees that innately exhibit aggressive roots. Alternatively, trees that innately exhibit complaisant or deeply dispersed roots may be selected for situations in which aggressive roots would be a problem.
Roots that are already causing problems most often need to be severed. Unfortunately, severing substantial roots is very distressful to the affected trees, and can even be destabilizing. Trees with fibrous roots, like redwoods and crape myrtles, recover from minor root damage somewhat efficiently. Many other trees, like oaks and most maples, are very sensitive to such damage. If it becomes necessary to sever major roots or large portions of a root system, an arborist might determine that it would actually be more practical to remove the affected tree than to allow it to be destabilized or to deteriorate slowly before ultimately succumbing to damage.
Rather than addresses, most of the guest cabins at the conference center where I work for part of the week, have delightfully horticultural names; such as Camellia, Lupine, Holly, Dogwood, Huckleberry, Strawberry and Cottonwood. Others have names that are suggestive of idyllic locations, such as Meadowbrook, Creekwood and Rustic Dell. Then, . . . there is ‘Dumpster View’.
Dumpster View is not actually a guest cabin, or a lodge, or any building that any of the guests would ever see. It is part of our maintenance shops buildings. Although large, these building are outfitted with only a few windows. The largest building has only a single window for an office. The smaller building has only four windows. Two of the windows have a view only of dumpsters.
The picture above shows the view from the window in the galley. It was what I saw as…
Mount Shasta very rarely lacks its snow. Its summit is almost always white. Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum X superbum, strives for the same. Bright white bloom starts in spring and continues into autumn. Primary spring bloom is the most profuse. Sporadic bloom lingers between subsequent minor bloom phases. Only cooling autumn weather inhibits bloom.
Shasta daisy is a resilient perennial. It develops dense colonies of tough basal rhizomes to survive winter dormancy. From spring to autumn, upright blooming stems grow almost three feet high. Individual composite flowers are of classic daisy form with cheery yellow centers. They are excellent as cut flowers, with simple green foliage. Leaves are serrate.
Shasta daisy prefers systematic watering, but can survive with less. It tolerates only a bit of partial shade. Removal of floral stems after bloom or cutting should leave no tall stubs. Removal of all upright growth as it deteriorates into winter promotes tidier spring growth. During winter dormancy, Shasta daisy is very easy to propagate by division of rhizomes.
All weeds are plants. Not all plants are weeds. Weeds are a specifiable subset of plants. Specifically, weeds are plants that grow wildly where they are undesirable. Similarly, dirt is likely soil, although it could be anything that is dirty. Soil is not merely dirt, though. Dirt is soil or a similar matter, where it is undesirable. Plants and weeds know the difference.
Most simply, soil is the loose material on the surfaces of most land. Obviously, looseness is relative. Some is quite dense and hard. It is not solid rock though. All of it consists of a combination of various inorganic aggregates. Most also includes various organic matter. Inorganic aggregates range in size from microscopic clay particles to substantial stones.
Soil provides stability and nutrients for vegetation that inhabits it. Roots disperse through it for structural support of their associated stems and foliage. Roots also absorb nutrients and water, as well as conduct respiration. Soils are naturally quite diverse. Vegetation is naturally more diverse to exploit various soils. Very few soils can not sustain vegetation.
Lawns are the carpets of a garden. Hedges are the walls. Tree canopies are the ceilings. Soils are the foundations. They support all vegetation that is not self-reliant in containers or epiphytically. Some soils are sandy, so drain very efficiently. Some are denser clay, so may drain slowly. Like climate and exposure, soils can limit what grows within a garden.
Most common and popular vegetation is satisfied with most common types of soil. Some, particularly vegetables and annuals, are more demanding. Even within good quality soil, they appreciate amendments such as compost. Amendments improve aeration, drainage and moisture retention. Organic amendments also provide nutrients as they decompose.
The most demanding vegetation also appreciates fertilizers. Most fertilizers are chemical or synthetic fertilizers of very precise formulation. Organic fertilizers are only slightly less precise. All allow application of specific amounts of specific nutrients for specific results. For example, nitrogen enhances foliar growth. Also, phosphorus enhances floral growth, and fruit growth.
I believe that this is a young Chilean wine palm, although I am not certain.
Italian Americans, particularly Californians, are expected to be experts in regard to wine. I am not. I can not explain it. I dislike wine, especially the best of it. It smells and tastes like rotten grapes. When I learned that Chilean wine palms were, and might still be, decapitated for the collection of their sap, from which wine is made, I learned yet another reason to dislike wine.
This little Chilean wine palm, Jubaea chilensis, pictured above, lives just a block or so away from the bad date palm that I wrote about last Sunday. No one here will try to make wine from its sap. The utility cables that seem to be too close in the background actually pass with plenty of clearance to the right, so will not be a problem in…
Before: There was not much hope for the Chinese maple underneath this mess.
It will be just fine. The Chinese maple that I mentioned earlier this morning sustained surprisingly minimal damage when part of a bay tree fell onto it. The situation initially seemed hopeless prior to the removal the heavy debris that was pressing the diminutive Chinese maple downward. Yet, the little tree somehow regained its composure, and is expected to recover.
The little Chinese maple was always rather sparse in the shade of the surrounding forest. Also, it exhibited an asymmetrically sculptural form. That is likely normal for the species within its natural environment, where it lives as an understory tree (within the shade or partial shade of larger forest trees). The distinctive form and open canopy were part of its allure.
As the debris was removed, most of the stems of the Chinese maple sprang back into…
Summer was late this year. This is sounding redundant, so I will not mention last winter again. Nor will I mention last spring or early summer. Now that summer is about a third over, it seems as if it is merely beginning. Lily of the Nile, which never fails to bloom for Independence Day, began to bloom only a few days ago. Bloom is catching up though, or at least trying to. These summer flowers are doing well, and were actually doing well last week, when I was unable to post these pictures because of bad reception. Easter lily was done right after I got these pictures. The preponderance of red here is mere coincidence, but summery.
1. Lilium longiflorum, Easter lily was likely left behind after a wedding in the old Chapel. It lives in a garden across the road now. It is the only of these six that finished blooming.
2. Hydrangea macrophylla, hydrangea is pleasantly pink even without the fertilizer that maintains its pink color. Blue hydrangea faded to lavender without their pH adjustment.
3. Pelargonium hortorum, zonal geranium is quite a bit more prolific in bloom than the old fashioned sorts that I am accustomed to growing. The floral color is impressive also.
4. Gerbera jamesonii, Transvaal daisy is as bright and bold as 1984. However, I still fail to be impressed. It is certainly pretty, but looks like a squirting daisy that a clown wears.
5. Papaver rhoeas, poppy grew from seed that got sown prior to the last torrential storm of last winter. I thought that all the seed got washed away. This was a delightful surprise.
6. Hemerocallis fulva, daylily grows like a weed. We move it from one garden to another as it outgrows its space. This double orange cultivar may be ‘Kwanso’, but I do not know.
Many relocated mature date palms were recycled from date orchards.
It seems that recycled large date palms, Phoenix dactylifera, became trendy in the past few decades while vast date orchards around Las Vegas were displaced by urban sprawl. They are stately trees with airy but bold rounded canopies between twenty and thirty feet wide. Mature trees are more than fifty feet tall on single trunks. Varieties with multiple trunks are shorter and rare. The ten to twenty foot long leaves are pinnately compound with folded foot long leaflets, and nasty basal spines.
Each date palm tree is either male or female (dioecious). Orchards are almost exclusive to fruiting female trees with only a few male trees grown separately for their pollen, which gets applied manually. Without male pollinators, recycled formerly productive female trees are fruitless, and therefore not messy.
Date palms may have been in cultivation for nine thousand years! The Judean date palm was grown from seed that was lost in storage for two thousand years, which (until recently) was the oldest known viable seed!
Spring was mild and started late. Summer if now getting started.
Just like the moon is always either waxing or waning, but is really only full or new for the brief moments in between, the seasons are always flowing from one to the next. Even though it is not yet half way through summer, plants in the garden are already planning for autumn. Summer has been mild, but still warm enough for most plants to do what they need to do by this time of year.
If weeds were not pulled when they should have been in early spring, they really should be pulled now. They have already started to sow their seed for the next generation that will grow at the end of next winter. The ground has dried and hardened since early spring, so pulling weeds will take a bit more effort. That is the punishment for procrastinating.
Weeds that are still somewhat fresh and green may not have dispersed all of their seed yet. If pulled soon enough, their next generation may not be so prolific. Those that have dried have likely dispersed their seed already. Their progeny will be back by next spring.
Pulling out the roots of annual grasses is not as important as getting the roots of perennials like thistles. Heck, they are annuals, so will die at the end of the season anyway. Getting their seed in the priority now. Some people are satisfied with simply pulling the seeded tops off of annual weeds, and leaving the lower portions to die out naturally.
Most fruit trees finish their production sometime during summer. Small fruit like cherries finished some time ago. Larger peaches, although related to cherries, may still be ripening into August. They should be picked as they ripen, not only to get the most use out of them, but also to avoid sharing with unwelcome rodents, birds and other annoying wildlife. The ground under fruit trees should be cleaned of any fallen fruit that might otherwise rot and perpetuate disease. Apples and pears ripen later and into autumn.
Warm season vegetables should be picked as they mature to promote continued production. Leaving extra zucchini on the plants inhibits production of new zucchini, while the old zucchini grow into tough and insipid baseball bats. Leaving extra tomatoes both inhibits new tomatoes and also makes a mess of rotting fruit.
Location – Locations – Location 
I believe that this is a young Chilean wine palm, although I am not certain. 
Before: There was not much hope for the Chinese maple underneath this mess. 
Tony Tomeo 