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Horsetail

The allure is more in the form than in the bloom.

            It is no wonder that the many specie of horsetail have been around since the Carboniferous Age. They seem to be impossible to kill! Because they can be so invasive and persistent, they should be confined to planters or areas of the garden where they can be controlled. They should probably be kept away from thickly foliated areas where they can spread and mix with other plants unnoticed.

            Even though they are among the oldest plant specie, they seem well suited to modern architecture. Besides, the narrow areas between modern residences, walkways and driveways are confining by nature. Many modern buildings are even outfitted with awkwardly narrow planter areas that could use plants that get three or four feet tall without spreading out laterally, just as Equisetum hyemale, the most common species of horsetail does. The partial shade and potentially bad drainage in these confined spaces is not a problem.

            The hollow segmented stems are rich green with black or dark brown joints. Some specie of horsetail have symmetrical whorls of wiry stems radiating from their joints. Otherwise, no other foliage is evident. Small knobs on top of the stems produce rusty brown spores. The larger types of horsetail are more likely to become invasive. Equisetum scirpoides stays about half a foot tall and is relatively complaisant. I do not know the identity of the horsetail that I got this picture of; but it has unusually large spore ‘blooms’ and a more relaxed texture.  

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A Good Arborist Can Be Difficult To Find.

Some of the most avid garden enthusiasts need help with big trees.

            It was probably best that I was not here when it happened. Although, coming home to it was horrible nonetheless. This is the second major tragedy in my garden in only a few months. Last autumn, just before it could defoliate to be less susceptible to the wind, the most magnificent black oak in my garden was blown down. Now I find that the weather has again flaunted its ominous power by claiming the innocent life of the most glorious Douglas fir, and desecrating the shattered remains in the cold mud.

            How can this be?! I am an arborist! I am supposed to protect trees from such demise! Sadly, the truth is that the fir has been deteriorating for a long time before we became acquainted. There was nothing that I could have done for it. If the tree had been located where it could have been hazardous to anyone in the area, it would have needed to be removed.

            Hazardous trees innately become much more hazardous in stormy weather. Rain loosens their anchorage by softening the soil. Wind can either destabilize trees, or break their limbs away. Ideally, it is best to give trees the attention they need before the weather gets unpleasant. Realistically though, we do not often think about it while the weather is not so threatening.

            Now that the weather is reminding us of how important it is to take care of our trees, we should be certain to do so properly. Large trees may require procedures that we are unable to perform. When it becomes necessary to procure the services of tree maintenance professionals, it is imperative to find qualified arborists. (Arborists are horticulturists of trees.)

            Unfortunately, the arboricultural (tree maintenance) industries are infested with unqualified ‘hackers’ who can inflict serious damage. Real arborists are about as specialized as physicians are. Getting anyone else to assess trees is about a sensible as getting a cardiologist to do brain surgery. 

            Arborists inspect trees to identify hazards such as instability and structural deficiency, and then prescribe corrective procedures. Not everyone involved with the crew that performs any necessary procedures is a ‘certified’ arborist. The crew should though be directed by what an arborist prescribes. Sometimes, trees are found to be too hazardous to be salvaged, and will need to be removed.

            The website of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) at www.isaarbor.com is an excellent resource for finding local certified arborists. This site also features articles that explain in more detail than I did why it is so important to ‘hire an arborist’, as well as many other relevant topics. Perhaps just as importantly, it demonstrates how serious arborists are about arboriculture.

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California Sycamore

California sycamore develops massively gnarly trunks.

The tallest, largest and oldest trees of the World are all native to California. So are the rarest pine, rarest fir and largest oak. California sycamore, Platanus racemosa, is loyal to this tradition of distinction. Although not the tallest sycamore, it might be the grandest. It develops gnarly and sculpturally irregular form. Some develop multiple massive trunks.

Because of its scale, California sycamore is uncommonly available from nurseries. It is simply not proportionate to home gardens or even big landscapes. Most old specimens are older than the landscapes around them. They are somewhat adaptable to landscape irrigation. However, increased moisture increases potential for spontaneous limb failure.

California sycamore can grow a hundred feet tall with bulky trunks and limbs. Old trees may exhibit scars from shedding limbs throughout their long lifespans. The mottled bark is gray and tan, and roughens only slowly with age. The deciduous foliage of such large trees is very copious through a long defoliation. Foliar tomentum (fuzz) is quite irritating.

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Pollard And Coppice During Winter

Proper pollarding and coppicing are rare.

This is extreme dormant pruning. Pollard and coppice pruning involve complete removal of all new growth. They typically involve growth from a previous season annually. A two year cycle involves growth from two previous seasons, and so on. This repetitive pruning to the same origins stimulates distended callus growth there. It is as brutal as it sounds.

This is why pollard and coppice pruning are vilified in America. The techniques evolved through centuries of horticulture and several cultures. Both are still practical for various reasons everywhere else. However, American arboriculture classifies them as topping or disfigurement. Consequently, very few arborists here know how or want to do it properly.

Like other dormant pruning, pollard and coppice pruning must happen during winter. It is too severe for active vegetation. Also, pollard pruning exposes bark of trunks and limbs. Such bark would scald during sunnier summer weather. Growth from distended callus growth, or knuckles, shades lower stems by summer. It is very vigorous through spring.

That is what pollard and coppice pruning is still useful for within other cultures. Vigorous foliage is useful for fodder for livestock, including silkworms. Vigorous stems are useful for kindling and basketry. Some species bloom more vigorously on vigorous new growth. Others can not bloom to produce unwanted pollen or messy fruit within the same year.

Colorful or variegated foliage is more colorful in response to pollard or coppice pruning. Some eucalypti generate juvenile foliage for floral design. Such foliage is more aromatic than adult foliage. Improved foliar vigor enhances resistance to some diseases, such as mildew and rust. Coppicing can renovate some types of overgrown or shabby shrubbery.

The difference between pollard and coppice pruning is that pollard pruning retains limbs. Coppice pruning retains only a stump near grade. It is less reliant on repetition, and may never need it again. Pollard pruning compromises structural integrity, which necessitates repetition. Otherwise, pruning to restore structure will eventually become necessary. Not many species are receptive to such extreme pruning techniques.

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Do Not Try This At Home

Before and After pollarding

Pollarding and coppicing are very unfortunately vilified here. I just wrote an article about these topics for the gardening column. Arborists are taught that they are comparable to topping, and that they cause irreparable disfigurement.

It is unfortunate because both procedures have very practical application. Both are still commonly practiced in other regions. If performed properly, both are quite sustainable, and can actually maintain some specimens of a few species longer than they typically live naturally. I use both techniques to a minor degree at work, and will likely do more of both within my home garden.

However, I almost never recommend either technique. Because they are so vilified, arborists do not learn about them. Consequently, it is nearly impossible to find an arborist who can perform either technique properly. Trees and shrubbery can very easily be ruined by either technique if performed improperly.

In fact, I am hesitant to allow reliance on pollarding and coppicing by trees and shrubbery at work because I am concerned that no one else will want to repeat the processes after my retirement or resignation, which could be at any time. Coppicing carpet roses should be no problem for whomever performs it in the future, but I can not be certain. Pollarding is a bit more specialized, so concerns me more.

This smoke tree was initially pollarded for renovation. It was previously distressed and weak, but is now quite vigorous. Its purple foliar color is more vibrant through summer. So is its autumn foliar color. I previously believed that it bloomed only on year old stems, so would be unable to bloom on exclusively new canes after being pollarded. Instead, it blooms better on vigorous new stems that it on distressed year old stems.

It is not forming knuckles though. New stems emerge from all over the permanent stems, so leave pruning wounds that do not compartmentalize as efficiently as they would on knuckles. Also, without terminal knuckles, some permanent stems die back an inch or two annually. Although pollarding successfully renovated this smoke tree, it is not as sustainable as I would like it to be.

So, because the procedure is not sustainable for this particular specimen for very long, and I suspect that no one will want to repeat the process annually in the future, I will likely encourage more natural form. I left a few extra new canes for this year. For next year, the twiggy interior growth may be thinned, while upper and outer growth is allowed to develop into a more permanent canopy.

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Dracaena Palm

Modern dracaena palms are more compact, more colorful and more user friendly than old fashioned sort.

(This article was deferred from yesterday morning.)

            While hoping to find some of the uncommon yuccas that I still lack, I instead encountered some of their friendlier kin in a local nursery. Even though dracaena palm, Cordyline australis, is an old fashioned plant that was probably considered to be too common until the past few decades, many more colorful modern cultivars are restoring its appeal. Classic dracaena palm has olive drab foliage. The nearly as traditional bronze dracaena, ‘Atropurpurea’, has reddish bronze foliage. The more contemporary ‘Red Star’ though is deeper purplish red. ‘Pink Stripe’ has bronzy green leaves with pink edges. ‘Sundance’ has pink in the middle with green edges.

            Modern cultivars also stay shorter so that their abundant foliage can be appreciated on a more personal level. The individual sword shaped leaves are about three feet long and three inches wide, a bit larger than traditional dracaena palm leaves. However, I actually prefer the traditional dracaena palms that can get taller than twenty feet and spread nearly half as wide, with sculptural bare trunks and high branches.  

            Any dracaena palm that gets too tall can be cut back to a more proportionate height. One of my colleagues recommends cutting about a quarter through trunks a year or more prior to cutting back, to stimulate new shoot growth just below the cut. The new growth prevents the trunks from being bare immediately after getting cut back. Overgrown heavily branched trees should first be thinned to decrease their weight before cutting partly through their trunks. Young plants can be cut back to the ground to regenerate with multiple trunks.

            Billowy trusses of tiny pale white flowers add interest at the end of spring, particularly against darker foliage. I am told that the flowers of modern cultivars are slightly fragrant. However, against the olive drab foliage of older dracaena palms, I think that the blooms look rather dusty, and do not smell any better.

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Six on Saturday: Bucket List

Hyacinth Bucket of ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ might say, “It’s ‘Bouquet’.” However, this really is about the contents of two buckets, two cans, a bin, and a terracotta pot, without flowers. Most of these items must be processed prior to the end of the rainy season.

1. Agave ovatifolia, whale’s tongue agave bolted and bloomed too soon after installation. It is monocarpic, so died an ugly death while trying to replace itself with fresh new pups. I planned to later select the biggest pup to replace its original. Unfortunately, a gardener who did not know what they are pulled them all with nearby weeds. I scrounged through the debris to find these. Incidentally, I must still find homes for Agave americana pups.

2. Chrysanthemum X morifolium, mum contrarily will not die. It was abandoned after a wedding, but then potted into a landscape as it bloomed again. Removal for replacement as it again finished bloom revealed that each of these many stems is rooted individually.

3. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile is getting to be rather tedious. These shoots are of the same batch that I featured last week, and that I processed more than a month ago. I processed too many, so must now get the leftovers into the ground before winter ends.

4. Forsythia X intermedia, forsythia will bloom soon, but for the moment, is dormant. I relocated an old specimen that was always in the way. These spare twigs can be forced.

5. Actinidia deliciosa, kiwifruit vines grew easily from a broken bit that I found in a load of debris that someone left here last winter. They are female without pollinators though. These are dormant pruning scraps of its male pollinator, and should grow just as easily.

6. Rain was falling yesterday and is forecast to continue lightly through most of Monday.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

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Learn How To Prune Dormant Deciduous Fruit Trees Properly

(This article is recycled from 2010, so includes outdated information. It is deferred from yesterday because Wi-Fi was not operational.)

Deciduous fruit trees require very specialized pruning.

            So many of the kids I grew up with now have an apricot tree in their own back yard, even though not many of us actually like the fruit. We all remember the remnant orchards, mostly apricots, which were scattered about the Santa Clara Valley when we were young. We also remember how we consumed vast volumes of apricots in every form imaginable; including fresh, dried, canned and stewed, and in jams, jellies, compotes, syrups and pies. I could go on, but it would ruin my appetite.

            Deciduous fruit and nut trees are certainly not ‘low maintenance’. Most need to be pruned annually, while dormant in winter. If not pruned correctly, they become overburdened with their own fruit. Also, the process of selecting from the many different cultivars of the many different types of fruit is quite a chore. There are many more cultivars to choose from for home gardens than for orchards, particularly with the many modern cultivars introduced during the past few decades.

            Because those who maintained the orchards are now as nearly extinct from the Valley as the orchards are, we need to know how to care for our own trees. This is why Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens has scheduled the Dormant Fruit Tree Pruning Class with Sean McGrail in only a few days, on January 23, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.. Tools, techniques and basic pruning concepts will be explained and demonstrated among the many fruit trees, including apricots, cherries, prunes, apples and others, of the Historic Orchard of Guadalupe Gardens. Participants will then get to participate in pruning some of these trees. The Historic Orchard is located just south of Taylor Street in San Jose, adjacent to the Guadalupe River Park Trails. Admission is $15. 

            A week later, on January 30 from 9:00 a.m. to noon, the Best of the Best class, also with Sean McGrail, as well as Nancy Garrison and the California Rare Fruit Growers, will discuss many of the best fruit cultivars for the Santa Clara Valley. Afterward, planting, site selection, drainage and pruning of new trees will be demonstrated in the Historic Orchard. Admission is $30. Required registration can be arranged by telephoning 298 7657. Information about both classes can be found online at www.grpg.org.