Garden Adversity

Submitted by Mark McD on Mon, 10/31/2011 - 19:19

Adverse Weather
I have wanted to start this topic since spring 2011, but it seems I've not found the time, that is until now. Here I am, sitting in a cold dark house, 3rd day without power, with dim candlelight flickering, but bright Android phone screen, with small but fully capable access to nargs forum.

Our long and warm (at times hot) autumn abruptly came to an end with a Halloween surprise, the combination of leaves still on the trees and 14" heavy wet snow created the perfect storm. The damage to trees and shrubs is devastating, 15'-18' ornamental trees looked like 4'-5' snow muffins, how could a big tree possibly be inside? I didn't want to know, but as the snow started melting, it was heartbreaking to see all the shattered stems, the branches peeled off as easy as peeling a banana. For some of these trees, maybe I should just cut them off at ground level and let a strong sucker become the new start.

I don't mind the lack of power, cold house, difficulty finding anything open (such as gas stations), long gas lines... I do regret the waste from the need to throw away most food in my warmed up refrigerator and freezer, but it sickens me to see the devastation to my yard and garden. Pictures coming, once power is restored in a few days.

It is these types of setbacks that surely test a gardener.

Comments


Submitted by AmyO on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 06:47

So sorry to hear about your garden devastation....my parents in western Mass. are experiencing the same, although they have power back on. Up here in central Vermont we were very lucky, but the southern parts...not so much.


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 12:33

The one consolation is how well many plants are able to recover from such severe weather; or if they don't the new opportunities that arise to replant. After the 1987 'hurricane' here, certainly the most dramatic and devastating weather I have ever experienced, there was a great rush to tidy up and repair. In time though it became obvious that those woodlands that were left to themselves recovered best. It is a little different in your own backyard though!


Submitted by Mark McD on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 14:20

Thanks everyone.  I know that trees will come back; I saw this first hand after our record-breaking ice storm of December 2008, where many (most trees) were heavily damaged or destroyed.  I had a Magnolia tripetala 'Petite' (it's still a BIG one in spite of its name ;)) snap off at the base in that storm, and each year I've been selecting out what I think is the strongest sucker-sprout, and each year it would eventually break off at the heal, but finally this year I have a strong sprout and the tree is already about 10-12 feet tall (I haven't even ventured down to take a look at it after this surprise early snow). 

My fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) has been my pride and joy, planted out some 10-12 years ago as a 5-6' "whip".  Each winter it was stripped of bark at the base and girdled by rodents, but one year a sucker survived and became large enough to establish.  Carefully pruning this tree, a rather unwieldy grower but responding to pruning, it has become a beautiful specimen, and a single-trunked version (typically they're multi-stemmed). Sadly, this is one of the worst hit trees in the garden.

I'm at work (with power, still no power back at home), and here are some pics.  I wanted to do a before and after photo display, but maybe later.

Some general views of the snow... remember, just 20 days prior, I ran the Boston Half Marathon, and it broke a 45 year heat record for Boston on that date, reaching 83 F in Boston, 86 F in more inland towns, to my chagrin as it was way too hot to run a marathon yet I did... and a mere 20 days layer we get February arctic blast and early snow well before leaves drop.  No moderation whatsoever.

In this view, these are 12-18' trees under the snow, not 5' shrubs.

Approximate 14' Chionanthus virginicus compressed to a 4'-5' tall "snow muffin"

...after the snow melted off, bonsai version of Chionanthis virginicus.

Cornus kousa 'Milky Way', it was about 16'-17' tall.  It is underplanted with hybrid Epimedium plants.


Submitted by RickR on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 18:09

With global climate change, it looks like your climate is trending toward bad winter storms, Mark.  Not a good thing.  Minnesota is trending with long, dry falls.  The effect of the seemingly never ending La Niñas, we are told.

McDonough wrote:

and each year it[Magnolia tripetala] would eventually break off at the heal, but finally this year I have a strong sprout and the tree is already about 10-12 feet tall 

Adventitious buds are never strong at the point of emergence, especially at the get-go.  It grew 10-12 ft in one season? :o  I would assume a single tall whip?


Submitted by Kelaidis on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 19:57

Your note confirmed my worst frears, Mark. You have had a taste of Rocky Mountain weather: we have untimely snows most years (had one last week, another on the way tonight). In between the snow melts and there were crocuses still blooming...

I urge you not to cut things too quickly: we had an unbelievable spring snow in 2003 (over 4' of wet snow in March) that shattered EVERGREENS and snapped pines and spruces at the base. Few trees were spared some breakage. It was so vast, so colossal that it took weeks and months to clean up after it. It was amazing how things bounced back and plants we thought were goners today show little evidence of the damage they sustained. Nature is amazingly regenerative...

Heed that! As hard as it is to believe! And our thoughts are with you...hope you get your power back soon!

Panayoti


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:58

Mark, just got our power - out since Saturday.  The house was 44 degrees and without lights, heat, water, phone.  Everything back now and life is good.  Damage to trees extensive.  Pictured is Magnolia soulangeana.  It didn't bloom every year due to frrquent late, killing frosts, but made up for everything the years it did bloom.


Submitted by penstemon on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 19:11

This looks too much like Denver, in September, October, March, April, or May. In the March blizzard of '03, I had a 7m tall Cupressus bakeri snap right in half, an equally tall C. arizonica laid out flat on the ground, etc., etc.
The trees recovered, and so did I (sort of), but now I stay up at night knocking snow off things I don't want broken. I even set the alarm for 2 a.m. or so, and knock off the snow with a push broom, and one of those extension poles made for painting the house.

Bob


Submitted by Lori S. on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 19:41

So sorry to hear about the rotten weather and all the damage, Anne and Mark.  I hope things, your prized trees, especially, will prove to be more resilient than they seem at present.


Submitted by Mark McD on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 19:49

Nold wrote:

This looks too much like Denver, in September, October, March, April, or May. In the March blizzard of '03, I had a 7m tall Cupressus bakeri snap right in half, an equally tall C. arizonica laid out flat on the ground, etc., etc.
The trees recovered, and so did I (sort of), but now I stay up at night knocking snow off things I don't want broken. I even set the alarm for 2 a.m. or so, and knock off the snow with a push broom, and one of those extension poles made for painting the house.

Bob

Bob, excellent idea (setting alarm, and push-broom off the snow at night), certainly worth doing.  I did this on my trees and shrubs in the monring, but then it was too late for many of them.  I'm going to do that procedure next time!

Ann, sorry to see the damage on your Magnolia, the magnolias have big leaves that catch snow/ice and have brittle wood that snaps under pressure; my pink star magnolia is a wreck, and my large M. denudata 'Forrest Pink' that got wiped out in the ice storm of Dec 2008 came back remarkable in the last three years, but suffered more damage this time around (extensive).  On the other hand, my black-leaf birch (Betula 'Black Prince'), a fastigiate tree, is incredibly flexible, the tip of the 20' tree touching the ground; I shook off the snow, and it stood back up after a day.  I should grow nothing but birch trees, they're like rubber.

Finally gave in, after 4 days of no electricity and cold in the house, my wife and I are at a hotel tonight, what luxury to have TV, lights, warmth, and internet  :)


Submitted by Mark McD on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 19:56

RickR wrote:
McDonough wrote:

and each year it[Magnolia tripetala] would eventually break off at the heal, but finally this year I have a strong sprout and the tree is already about 10-12 feet tall 

Adventitious buds are never strong at the point of emergence, especially at the get-go.  It grew 10-12 ft in one season? :o  I would assume a single tall whip?

Yes Rick, the sprout grew with remarkable vigor, I think loving the heat and abundant rain.  I still don't know the outcome on this tree, after the morning after the storm I have not been home during daylight to check it out.  There is a single tall main whip, but then more suckers appeared, which i need to remove.

Thanks for your comments Panayoti, I will try to "work with" the remains to see what restorative growth might occur.


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 20:13

I understand, Mark.  Joe and I would have gone to friends who had power but most of them have cats, and Ranger does not accept cats.  So we stayed with the dog (large german shepherd) and it wasn't too terrible.  We were out of the house most of the day someplace warm.  Thank heavens the power cam on late this afternoon.


Submitted by RickR on Wed, 11/02/2011 - 21:37

The New England version of tuckamores  ;D ;)

I remember once after a series of such storms, one right after another, I built an igloo with blocks of snow cut from my driveway.  It didn't even last the night before it caved in, but for a first try I was quite proud of myself.  In my younger days, toughing out such an "adventure" was labeled fun.  Now, not so much, but it is still an adventure (not that I would ever look forward to it...).

With their sinewy wood quality, one can also add Chamaecyparis (False cypress) to the "rubber tree" list.  This is Chamaecyparis thyoides, in a past season.  A few days later, it too returned to its completely upright position.  
 
             


Submitted by Schier on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 12:40

I'm taking no chances here either, although this morning was the first snow,
just  a skiff.  Well, I guess I am taking a chance, I have only built a protection for
the Pinus strobus 'pendula' that I planted this spring.  The rest of this years' new shrubs
and trees will be on their own.  We don't tend to get as much of the heavy wet stuff
in the fall as in the spring.  Then it can be nasty and heartbreaking, so I really feel
for you all that were blasted with it. I'm really not very fond of snow- but I do hope that we get some before the temperatures really start to dip, and if it's going to snow, there
may as well be plenty of it - just not so much at once! ( not asking for much, am I ..)


Submitted by penstemon on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 19:12

Several years ago I was visiting a country club in Colorado Springs (to show slides) and noticed the columnar conifers were all wrapped with twine. It occurred to me there might be good reason for this and after the blizzard of '03 (or after some other blizzard) the spruce pictured had it branches all askew and they wouldn't grow back upright. I started wrapping it a winter or so after and have had no damage since.
So far ....
(It wouldn't be such a big deal to me if I hadn't spent so much money on a fastigiate blue spruce. I didn't look at the price tag when I picked it up and by the time I'd gotten to the cash register it was too late.)

Bob


Submitted by RickR on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 21:05

Multitrunked arborvitae dominate the nursery market, a terrible trait for areas with heavy snow as the individual stems can splay apart.  But I have only seen single stemmed trees in the wild.  I have inquired, of learned people, where in the world this trait originates, but no one has been able to tell me.  Has anyone ever seen an arborvitae (Thuja sp.) in the wild that was naturally multistemmed?


Submitted by Barstow on Sat, 11/05/2011 - 02:15

Sorry to hear about this severe weather, the complete reverse of last year. I remember we had snow in October and temperatures had sunk to -10C at this time whilst Mark continued to show his onions in bloom! I was struck by how different our climates were! This year, we're well into November and still not a single frost here and the long-term forecast is the same and all sorts of warmth records are being set! I remember the climatologists forecasting a few years ago that in 50 years we wouldn't have frost here until December in some years. Well, we're not going to be far off that prediction already this year! Change is happening faster than we realise... 


Submitted by youngman54 on Sat, 11/05/2011 - 02:17

Gee whiz!! I thought we had it bad the last couple of years but nothing like what you guys on the other side of the pond have been getting.
I suppose we should be grateful we live on a relatively small island ( UK ) in the Atlantic and have a maritime climate. its been so mild +20 oC / 68f we have narcissus 3" above the ground in November? We have had our 1st frost -1 / 30f so should hopefully slow things down. if it doesn't cool down we will have Narcissus flowers for Xmas.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sat, 11/05/2011 - 18:32

Following up on thje damage done to Chionanthus virginicus (Fringe Tree), today was bright and mild, time to do some cleanup.  Most branches were damaged, so the best pruning approach seemed to be to cut it back drastically, hoping that in a few years time with will be able to recover.

Leaving a few long willowy branches didn't make sense, so all was cut back to short solid trunks and severed branch bases.  In the right-hand photo, the red line indicates a cut I made on a large low branch that had split under the weight of snow.

A heap of limbs cut off.  On the right, the finished pruning job. Planted under this tree are many bulbous plants, such as Fritillaries and bulbous Alliums.

I gathered up all the seed, many still hanging on thje branches, like dangling olives, many others gathered up on the ground.  I will sow these. Interestingly, Chionanthus is dioecious, my tree is male, but it has the ability to produce some female flowers and depending on the year, varying quanity of seed set.

And lest we forget, here are some photos of the plant in flower, the flowers richly perfumed scenting a large part of the yard.

Never got a change to see the fall color this year, so here's a view from 2010 (center, yellow leaves), with Oxydendron arboreum (Sourwood Tree) on the right... the latter survived this snowstorm but lost the top 7-8' with 3 leaders snapped off and some other shapely branches.


Submitted by Hoy on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 02:28

A terrible weather you have had over there!

Although I experience heavy snow and broken treelimbs sometimes it has never been like that. When it happens I remove broken limbs and make a clean cut along the trunk or main branch and never leave stumps. Last time i had to do this was 3 years ago when a Magnolia soulangiana was badly damaged (by late snow in April) at our summerhouse. (A lot of mature pines suffered even worse and lost almost all their limbs.)  Now the magnolia is back to its previous heights.

Mark, the fringe tree is (or was?) a beauty! Hope it regenerates well.


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 04:34

Mark, I'm so sorry to hear about the damage to your oxydendron.  Is this the first time it has had snow damage?  I was planning to plant one in the spring.  It's one of my favorite trees.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 05:41

Spiegel wrote:

Mark, I'm so sorry to hear about the damage to your oxydendron.  Is this the first time it has had snow damage?  I was planning to plant one in the spring.  It's one of my favorite trees.

Ann, Oxydendron arboreum is a slow growing but a strong and rugged weather-resistant tree.  It almost never requires pruning. I can't remember its age exactly, but I'm thinking it is about 16 yrs old now, and the first time any branches broke was in our disasterous December 2008 ice storm, where the single leader snapped off, and some minor breakage lower down.

It was worse this time around, the 3 new leaders that grew in since 2008 all snapped off, and some other main branches broke, leaving gaps in the outline of the tree. But having 14" wet heavy snow in October while trees still have their leaves on is not a normal situation.  The photo below is not very good, but shows the tree as of yesterday, with the broken leaders on the grown and other broken branches already removed. It will recover, damage was not that extensive.

I would advise planting this tree, it's one of the most beautiful and elegant trees.  It is also tap-rooted and very late to leaf out, so it provides an ideal plantable home to bulbs underneath.


Submitted by RickR on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 08:24

Hoy wrote:

A terrible weather you have had over there!
When it happens I remove broken limbs and make a clean cut along the trunk or main branch and never leave stumps.beauty! Hope it regenerates well.

When pruning, the general rule is not to leave stumps so as to preserve branch integrity, but I don't think it applies in this case.  

When all the sprouting that will occur will originate from latent or adventitious buds under the bark, I don't see an advantage.  The whole reason for the branch integrity rule is that when branches grow from normal buds produced at the twig stage, their attachment to the base stem is knit deeply into the structure of the base stem wood, making it strong.  Latent and adventitious buds begin at the wood's surface, and so are "pasted" onto the base stem, rather than having a deep anchor that is part of the base stem's internal structure.  

Thus, the area where the new branch attaches to the old stem becomes the weak link in the new branch's integrity.  Witness how young water sprouts (that arise from adventitious buds) in a fruit tree's canopy easily snap off at their base.  (Water sprouts are often erroneously called suckers.)  This demonstrates their weak attachment to the base stem.

However years down the road, the overall branch structure could (and probably would) look better with less initial stubs.  But because the new branches originate from latent or adventitious buds, technically, the smaller the caliper of the base stem, the more sound the branch attachments would be that arise from that stem.  And certainly, as new branches grow, the parts of the stubs that remain stubs should be cut back.


Submitted by Hoy on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 09:30

Rick, I don't disagree with you. When I said stumps I am talking about something shorter than let's say 15cm depending on the thickness. If a "stump" is as long or longer than that and additionally have twigs I cut back to a sound twig. However branches damaged by snow almost always break or are teared off at or near the stem.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 12:55

Optimism springs eternal... if my devestated Chionanthus virginicus tree doesn't spring back from such a drastic pruning, there is always seed!  I know I sowed the seed too thickly, but if I get a few trees out of it, then I can rejuvenate my affair with the beautiful Fringe Tree.  Actually, this past spring 2011, 3 self-sown seedlings appeared; I can pot these up next spring and consider planting them out or offering up at a seedling sale. 

I wonder... my Fringe Tree is male, but evidently it sometimes produces female flowers and I do occassional get some of the dark blue olive-like "fruits" (very hard seed with a thin-layer blue pulp and skin on the outside), I wonder what percentage of male/female seedling trees one will end up with.  May never know, I don't have that much space to grow them on.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 07:42

Garden Adversity - Squirrels

While I have great admiration for oaks (mostly red oaks in my area, Quercus rubra), a major downside to oaks in New England are armies of gray squirrels that spend every living moment of daylight burying acorns in my garden; they're particularly attracted to soft freshly planted beds, so everyday beds of hybrid Epimedium seedlings look like a meteor-riddled lunar surface, with collateral damage of seedlings uprooted and languishing about. Of course in spring, the squirrels are at it again, incessantly digging little potholes EVERYWHERE in search of their beloved acorns, digging millions of holes with failed attempts. For the rest of the growing season I pull out oak seedlings by the hundreds if not thousands... until autumn returns and the cycle repeats.  

Oak seedlings are strongly tap-rooted and difficult to pull out, even in the early stages of emergence. I often find the seedlings popping up in pots, seed flats and even in troughs (I now cover all seed flats with wire mesh).  As I write this message on a laptop and staring out my dining room window, several squirrels are jumping about madly digging and buying acorns in a new hybrid Epimedium bed that I made this summer, each planted acorn ritualistically patted down these infernal rats with fuzzy tails ;) >:(

I haven't even begun to rant about chipmunks yet!


Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 14:29

The biggest problem I have had with squirrels is they like to pull over my oriental lilies and steal the flowers when they are in bud.  The worst part is they break the oriental lilies off at the base when they pull them over.  After this occurs the oriental lilies do not resprout during that season.  I am hoping they will have enough energy to come up again next year.

I have actually been allowing certain weeds like chenopodium to grow in this bed because I think the squirrels avoid the thicker vegetation.  They probably realize the neighbor's cat might be hiding in such a place.

I have learned to cover my seed trays.  I also cover bulbs for a few weeks until the smell of dug earth has dissipated.  This smell is what draws the squirrels to freshly planted bulbs.  The squirrels are very eager to discover what kind of treat you might have hidden for them.

My best humane suggestion for dealing with the squirrels is to use a live trap to catch them and relocate them to some distant woods.  I have been told that some people put a little spray paint on the squirrel's tail to determine if any relocated squirrels have returned. 

It seem that everyone loves them and enjoys feeding them in my neighborhood.  The result being, I cannot relocate them.  I also have to deal with an artificially increased population of these garden menaces.

James


Submitted by RickR on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 17:28

Nearby neighbors have Ohio buckeye, Black walnut and Butternut tees.  Their seedlings are even worse than oaks, in my opinion.  (I've had a lot of experience with oaks at my parents' house, too.)  But there is really only one squirrel that frequents my yard and that's plenty enough.  How do I know there is only one, and not just one at a time?

Well, one day this happened:

             

The poor thing was stuck there for hours.  I was hoping a raptor would swoop down and snatch him.  We have many that reside here at the edge of farm country.  But alas, he finally freed himself and limped away.  I had no squirrel visits for about two weeks.  That's how I know there is only one.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 18:46

I've always wondered about cactus gardens in suburban areas, whether small animals, or even dogs, get stuck.  Now I know ;D  These days I don't have much compassion for squirrels and chipmunks, although I too would feel bad about one stuck in such a prickly situation, thanks for showing this example.

At any given time, there are a dozen+ gray squirrels on or close-by my property, dozens more all around nearby, there are red squirrels too. When I'm inspired to temporarily reduce the population, I use two Havahart (non-lethal) traps, a larger one for gray squirrels, and a smaller one for chipmunks and red squirrels. They're easy to catch with either peanuts or peanut butter as bait.  I release the catch about a mile away.  One has to be discreet about relocating these rodents, as I've heard you can get fined for doing this (although ironically it's perfectly okay to kill them if one is so inclined, but I don't kill them).  This gets tedious, but after a couple weeks of trapping and relocating 10-20 varmints, I can be relatively squirrel/chipmunk free for a couple weeks, but soon new ones move in.


Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 20:04

Having an outdoor cat would also scare off your rodents.  They say females are the best since they actually stick around.

Someone abandoned a cat at an apartment complex where I used to live.  The previous owners had declawed the cat so it was unable to hunt for itself.  We felt sorry for the cat and fed it.  Once this cat had regained its strength after a few weeks we stopped feeling sorry for it.  When it was not desperately hungry, it was a really mean cat.  It started chasing me around my apartment trying to attack me.  I took a towel, caught the cat in it, and put it back outside.

We watched this cat chase the squirrels around.  The fat town squirrels were not very predator savy.  The cat never caught the squirrels, just ran circles around them until they escaped up a tree.  This kind of cat would be a good deterrent to keep squirrels out of a garden.

In the end, this cat ended up in some animal rescue cat barn in the country.  A cat that attacks people is not exactly the adoptable type.

James


Submitted by Mark McD on Sat, 11/26/2011 - 21:20

James wrote:

In the end, this cat ended up in some animal rescue cat barn in the country.  A cat that attacks people is not exactly the adoptable type.

James

There are 3 roaming neighborhood cats in my yard all the time (every day), and they're hunting.  So far, I have only found evidence of moles (rare) and mourning doves being killed (mourning doves love to sit on the ground to sun themselves, thus easy prey).  The squirrel/chipmunk/vole/mole population doesn't seem the slightest bit deterred.  Personally, I think having a cat to do the job is a red herring.  In fact, I'm irritated by cats who come into the yard and spray (stinks) or those who use rock-garden sandy soil as their toilet, either digging up plants in one's sandy beds, or worse yet, burying their turds in the soil and then the gardener "discovering" the foul turd squeezed within their hand while planting or cultivating an area.


Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/27/2011 - 01:39

McDonough wrote:

Personally, I think having a cat to do the job is a red herring. 

Mark, I let someone who actually has a garden/greenhouse cat take this one.

James


Submitted by externmed on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 10:50

Ah yes, garden adversity.  I've been making vole feeders the last two days. Stryrofoam dinner plates on top of  styrofoam bowls, with 3 little feet and a one inch mouse hole on the low side.  I feel like Caddyshack, but the voles girdled almost everything up to a 8 inch apple tree last season *and collected* and ate large mounds of tulips and crocus.  The resurgence of coyotes make cats a doubtful prospect.  Then there are the deer (with Lyme disease for us) woodchucks and rabbits - and - slugs and snails, misc. caterpillars, spider mites and ants which seem to particularly like my sand bed - especially the part that I specially prepared for Lewisia rediviva; and fungus.  (Oh I forgot beavers, they haven't been a problem in the garden, yet as far as I know.) 

So Mark are Alliums impervious to any or most of these?; if so, watch out, I may be converting to all Allium.

Crazy extremely warm November.  Realized yesterday that Allium thunbergii is full of ripe seeds--never matured seed before.  Many Crocus, Alliums and some Colchicum have foliage up, way too much.  Forecast to go to 14F tonight and then 45+F in a few days with rain.  Made up my mind I'm going to cover the tender stuff today with pine needles.  With info from all accounts, will resist the urge to cover cacti. Though covering with a sash open on the ends seems safe.

Good luck to all with  their adversities.

Charles S MA USA Z 6a+/-


Submitted by Peter George on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 11:09

All I can say about cats is that I have 2 that go outside, and in the past 10 years I've had no squirrels, no chipmunks and a very tiny number of voles in the gardens. Once in a while a find a bird, sometimes as many as 3 or 4 a summer, but I find at least 5 dead voles every week from April through October. I grow catnip in my 'butterfly' garden, and the cats love to congregate there, so they stay close to the plants most of the time.

So from my standpoint, cats are a huge benefit. And my property is about 3 1/2 acres, almost entirely surrounded by stone walls, which are normally home to literally hundreds of chipmunks. My cats, by the way, do their 'bathrooming' out of sight, usually behind my barn is the loose soil around the foundation. I don't garden there, nor do I even spend any time there, so it works out perfectly for them and for me.

And one more think; my cats keep neighbor cats off the property, so I don't have to deal with visitors who don't respect my garden beds, etc. And of course being somewhat rural, we have coyotes, foxes, fishers and weasels who also hunt the rodents, and sometimes the local cats, so we don't usually let ours stay out overnight.


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 14:36

I suspect chipmunk and squirrel populations is not strictly even or averaged situations, there might be influencing factors, with areas of population at much greater density than others.  In my area, mature red oaks are a dominant feature of the deciduous woods, as are black walnut trees, probably supporting much greater populations of these varmints.  The oaks produce incredible profusion of acorns; intended on taking a photo this autumn where it would be easy to gather up wheelbarrows full of acorns in minutes... I thought it would make for a funny photo op, never took the photo though.  Judging from the squirrel diggings this fall, it was a big year for black walnuts too... just went out to toss some vegetable matter in a compost heap, and noticed that even with the ground frozen, there were several fresh large "potholes" in my Epimedium seedling beds... with heavy-thick shells of black walnuts in evidence, several Epimedium seedlings dug up as collateral damage and lying there bare-rooted and frozen...grrrrr!

When I first moved to my current town, my wife and I saw three homes that we liked, one was in a more wooded population, and I remember to this day one thing that struck me most; dozens upon dozens of gray squirrels frolicking about, everywhere one looked... the woods were almost entirely red oak.  Instead, I chose my current location, with a whole acre of sun and some distance from nearby woodlands, the flanking woodlands having lots of sugar maples.  Even so, chipmunks, plus red and gray squirrels are plentiful. In my more ambitious chipmunk removal periods, I could catch as many as 10-12 a day.  Each live critter was put into a large trash barrel with leaves at the bottom, and at the end of the day, I would drive them several miles away to be released.  With the squirrels, I need a new regime and will resort to more drastic measures, trapping them and then...  :o

Charles, after 24 years in my current location, only recently have woodchucks and rabbits moved in (the last 2 years), the woodchucks being particularly destructive.  I think it's very possible for pests that have not been an issue whatsoever for many years, suddenly become a problem by moving in, and with subsequent broods of young ones, they keep coming back.

Ever since I've been here, I've been battling mole damage... It never gets any better, no relief.  here are a couple photos last winter / early spring, after a thick mantle of 12-18" of snow receded, the tunneling damage in lawn and garden areas can be extensive (even when I winter baited).  One doesn't see the damage until spring.  Regarding Alliums, it's somewhat of a myth that Alliums keep the critters away, they do not, and I have lost large patches of Allium due to tunneling. At times, I feel like Bill Murray in CaddyShack too, going to war with rats with fluffy twitchy tails, and various tunneling vermin.

 


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 12/18/2011 - 14:43

Sometimes garden adversity happens in small and memorable ways.

I had excellent germination of Aquilegia saximontana from Jane Hendricks seed.  Then one day I noticed a disturbance in the flat, and lo and behold, it was a toad.  Now, I understand the benefits of toads in the garden, invariably I get one or two that'll scoop out a seed pot (they like round ones best) and half bury themselves in their cozy nest,  But why is it they always seem to target the best thing one's growing?  :(

I gently scooted the little fellow out of the flat, replanted the disturbed seedlings as well as I could, then covered the flat with wire mesh (my new seed sowing standard, otherwise chipmunks, squirrels, and occassional toads, will surely dig in each and every pot).


Submitted by Hoy on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 08:01

Seems that slugs and snails - and occasionally a rat or squirrel - isn't always the worse problem after all :-\

You know Mark, toads or slugs  in pots where you have you most precious plants is as it is according to Murphy's laws  ;)

Red oak, is it Q. rubra? And black walnut, J. nigra?


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 09:30

Yesterday was the last day of hunting season and the hunter who has come here for many years bagged his last deer of the year - a mega-doe weighing in at almost 200 lbs.  Her size was probably due to the number of my plants she had been eating.  One more down and too many more to go.


Submitted by externmed on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 22:22

Anne, Congrats on one less deer - probably would have had twins.

Sometimes smoke bombs will work for woodchucks in their holes, usually takes serveral tries.

If I really have to get one, Campanula "Elizabeth" in a sufficiently large have-a-heart seems to work 80%+.  About $7.00 for the plant and nothing left once it's spent several hours in a trap with a woodchuck.

Charles MA USA


Submitted by Mark McD on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 07:55

externmed wrote:

Sometimes smoke bombs will work for woodchucks in their holes, usually takes serveral tries.

If I really have to get one, Campanula "Elizabeth" in a sufficiently large have-a-heart seems to work 80%+.  About $7.00 for the plant and nothing left once it's spent several hours in a trap with a woodchuck.

Charles MA USA

Charles, I have tried the smoke bombs before... one needs to know the entrances to their burrow (if there is more than one), to seal all but one ahead of time, make sure the critter is inside, and light the bomb and cover with some heavy chunks of sod to contain the smoke.  Unfortunately they nest in an area with brush piles that is not easy to access or contain, and of recent, they burrow under my garden shed without any good way of getting at the varmints.  It is yet another project, to excavate around my shed circumferance, and install heavy wire mesh, and backfill.  Maybe I should try your large Havahart trap idea, with the sacrificial Elizabeth Campanula.
http://woodchuck-x.com/smokebomb.htm

Just visited the Havahart website, has anyone tried the Critter Ridder animal repellent?
http://www.havahart.com/store/animal-repellents/3146
http://www.havahart.com/


Submitted by Schier on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 16:48

McDonough wrote:

Sometimes garden adversity happens in small and memorable ways.

  But why is it they always seem to target the best thing one's growing?  :(

Mark I know, almost any varmint seems to pick on the best thing, the thing that you've tried hardest to grow etc.  I've had too many "heartbreaking" mornings in my little greenhouse, almost unable to believe my eyes. It can't be gone, where the **** is it???
But yes it's gone.  I've been doing the screen thing over the seedlings, kind of a pain in the neck but it works, so screening it is.


Submitted by Jeddeloh on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 20:00

Well, I live in the slug capitol of the world.  Red, black, grey, multicolored, introduced, native we have them all.  As to  the native banana slug which, according to the naturalists, doesn't eat living plants just decaying matter, well, I must have a special breed of banana slug because I can assure you they do eat living plants.  Now that we don't have a dog I'm going to use both the iron phosphate bait and the metaldehyde bait this year. And if it takes out a coyote or two that's all to the good.  I have an indoor/outdoor cat and we always worry about her becoming dinner. 

And moles.  I hate moles.  They always unearth a plant you really care about, not something destined for the compost heap.  We used to have a former barn cat who was really good at catching moles- she knocked off five babies in one day-but she died last spring.  Our remaining cat has a sweet disposition but isn't much for "moleing".  And because of the coyote problem any future cats need to be indoor only.  I can't tell you how many "missing cat" flyers I see around the neighborhood......My hands are both very small and not that strong so setting traps really isn't an option for me. My husband doesn't seem to be willing to do this for me and my neighbor is now a former trapper (really the guy used to work as a fur trapper)  Mostly I just curse...

For anyone who wants to try trapping their stray cats my neighbor did say to make sure you get a fair sized trap.  Cats don't like to crawl into small traps.

Jan
Jan


Submitted by Mark McD on Fri, 12/23/2011 - 20:27

This is my new standard seed sowing procedure; all flats or pots must be covered with some sort of protection from digging varmints. This "hardware cloth" is not terribly expensive at a hardware store, it is easily snipped with a pair of wire snips, and easily bent over the flats to hold them in place.  The one thing to look out for is the germinating seedlings popping through the wire mesh and making it difficult to remove the mesh without damaging seedlings.  Typically I watch for germination, and when it occurs, loosen the wire mesh piece and create a sort of teepee or arched "hoop house" effect over the flat... still keeps the squirrels out yet allows the seedlings to grow without getting tangled in the mesh.

Jan, I feel your pain, the slug issue in the Pacific Northwest is not to be underestimated; it was a huge eye-opener when I lived in the Seattle, Washington area.  And yes, banana slugs ate plants like there was no tomorrow.


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 05:14

Good idea Mark - I do very much the same thing for certain seed (umbellifers, hellebores and so on) which seem really attractive to various varmints. I also constructed a seed frame from wire mesh. I had thought one of our greenhouses would be mouse proof for germinating seed pots but they always manage to find a way in! The biggest problem we have had is with flowering size hellebores in the greenhouse - the young flower buds at ground level are chewed off by mice very early on in October before you think of putting down any bait. This happens to a lesser extent in the garden too and is a good reason to cut away the old hellebore foliage early on in the winter so there is no cover for mice. Cats would definitely be good!


Submitted by Hoy on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 06:01

I have cats - or rather the neighbours have cats in my garden but the cats are doing more harm than goo. They always dig resting places in the bed and make droppings everywhere but I can't say the number of rodents drops!

Besides, the cats don't eat slugs :(


Submitted by TStuart on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 12:47

Quote:

Just visited the Havahart website, has anyone tried the Critter Ridder animal repellent?

The active ingredients of Critter Ridder come from black pepper and chili peppers. Seems like one can test it without visiting the garden center.

A very good repellent for many animals is castor oil. The EPA lists it as effective with dogs, cats, moles, deer, rabbits, and squirrels. This info sheet lists other plant oil repellents, most of them for insects:
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_plant-oils.htm

In commercial formulations castor oil is encapsulated in dry granules. One product is MoleMax. Their claims extend to voles, gophers, armadillos and skunks. Anyone suffering from armadillo invasions?


Submitted by RickR on Wed, 12/28/2011 - 16:21

Thanks for that EPA link, Tom.  I never would have thought of mustard, and it sure seems like a lot of pant oils deter cats and dogs.

And welcome to the forum!  We hope to see more of you and your gardens, here.


Submitted by Mark McD on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 07:47

TStuart wrote:

The active ingredients of Critter Ridder come from black pepper and chili peppers. Seems like one can test it without visiting the garden center.

A very good repellent for many animals is castor oil. The EPA lists it as effective with dogs, cats, moles, deer, rabbits, and squirrels. This info sheet lists other plant oil repellents, most of them for insects:
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_plant-oils.htm

In commercial formulations castor oil is encapsulated in dry granules. One product is MoleMax. Their claims extend to voles, gophers, armadillos and skunks. Anyone suffering from armadillo invasions?

Hello Tom, good to see you on NARGS Forum!  Very interesting information and link, I'll need to explore options more.  Regarding Critter Ridder being derived from black pepper & chili pepper, then I have already tried similar treatment.  With my Epimedium seedling beds currently very attractive to squirrel digging, I tried generous sprinkling with black and hot red pepper. Then I would observe from my dining room window while working on my laptop, and watched as multiple squirrels were busy, busy, busy digging their infernal holes everywhere, completely undeterred by the pepper; in fact, they seemed to enjoy the extra seasoning in their bland diet ;)  I did similar treatment around my garden shed that had a family of woodchucks (gophers) living under it, and the heavy dousing of hot red pepper seemed to do the trick, they didn't like it, and after repeated reapplications of pepper, they seemed to have moved away from that exact location, although I would still spot them in the yard and garden, so they didn't go far.

The problem with the pepper, particularly red pepper, it is extremely expensive (on a per pound basis) if bought at a grocery store.  I would have to find a source for buying it in bulk.  The other problem is that the effectiveness of pepper is quickly diminished when exposed to rain for any lengthy period.

I hadn't heard of MoleMax, but looked it up.  Reading the user reviews of the products on Amazon.com can be revealing... besides the typical spectrum of feedback from complainers to "happy campers", some respondants gave substantive reports of using the product over a number of years, giving credible body of evidence that in the long run this particular product was not effective for them, and it became very expensive, to a point where they decided not to use the product anymore.

But I value these leads and tips, and will explore options in much greater detail, as ammunition in vermin warfare in 2012.  Meanwhile, back to squirrels, I plan on trying a new tactic, and that is to trap them in winter when perhaps they are more vulnerable.  The squirrels remain active all winter (unlike chipmunks), and will probably be easy to trap with some enticing morsels of food.  If I could deplete the local squirrels population in my immediate area well before spring, maybe there would be less breeding going on, thus fewer squirrels to contend with next spring.


Submitted by Peter George on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 07:59

Squirrels, like many other 'critters' that bother gardens and gardeners, won't be affected by trapping them in the winter. They breed like crazy, and they will fill any territory that is available. If you had a 100 acre property, you could reduce their population sufficiently IF you trapped them for the entire fall winter and spring seasons over the entire property, but with a small property such as yours, it won't work. You might consider raising owls. They LOVE squirrels.


Submitted by Mark McD on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 08:07

So, no words of encouragement then?  I was thinking of relocating the captured squirrels to a small central MASS town near Quabbin Resevoir ;D


Submitted by Peter George on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 08:19

My owls would LOVE it. I have 3 breeding pair living in the area that are almost always well fed! My problem is skunks. They dig up grubs in the spring, screwing up my bulb beds, and they breed under my barn, which makes nighttime excursions quite dangerous. I've also got foxes and coyotes in the area, plus the odd fisher and weasel, so generally squirrels, chipmunks, etc. don't fare well on my land. And, of course, I've got 3 cats. You just need more predators.


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 09:59

You know in the UK we have no armadillos, gophers, skunks, chipmunks and coyotes - I am quite envious!


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 10:23

Hmm, maybe I'll have to have a "house owl".  We have a lot of owls who seem to live on the property, including huge barn owls, but none in the house.  Unfortunately, we seem to have been invaded by flying squirrels and getting rid of them has been very expensive.
There are about a thousand places where they might get in thanks to this being a stone house.  They get behind the wood trim and find little places to get behind the walls.  Try sleeping while listening to things gnawing away behind the walls!  I guess hunting season must be over because I'm starting to see deer prints again.  We used to have a salt licks back when we had horses and they attracted deer.  It is now against the law to put out salt licks.  Too bad.  It would be as good as bait.


Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 11:22

Peter wrote:

My owls would LOVE it. I have 3 breeding pair living in the area that are almost always well fed! My problem is skunks.

Peter,  

If you have Great Horned Owls you are in luck... I'm not sure if you are aware, but one of the Great Horned Owl's favorite foods is Skunk.  I have been told Great Horned Owls do not have a sense of smell.  I'm sure this is useful when they eat this favored meal.

Another thing that helps deter the skunks is to spray for their favorite food, lawn eatting grubs.  I personally have not found this to be necessary.  I let the grub turn into Japanese beetles.  They all flock to my one poor Virginia Creeper to devour it.  This is bad for the Virginia Creeper, but having the beetles concentrated in one location makes it easy to corral them into a cup of soapy water.

Sincerely,

James


Submitted by cohan on Mon, 01/02/2012 - 22:16

The castor oil idea is interesting.... We haven't had much trouble with animals, even though we have lots of squirrels, tons of mice (our concern there is having them get into buildings, ditto for squirrels, flying squirrels and bats)  and pocket gophers- which have at times come up under plantings, though usually not (my mother lost some bulbs to them years ago).. So far squirrels and birds have paid no attention at all to pots or plants- although I think birds eat a lot of bugs in my small veg area.(oh yeah-berries- the second they are ripe, or just before that!)
Deer and rabbits are very present as well, but apart from some sometimes significant pruning of shrubs in the winter by deer and probably more so, moose, they haven't done much to gardens- except in late fall or early spring when native plants have not started growing but exotics have-- I presume this will become worse as I have more exotics planted!

In Toronto I very successfully and economically used Critter Ridder to keep racoons from coming onto the small basement entry roof which was right outside my bedroom window-- they were noisy and poopy! Worked very well with just occasional refreshing after heavy rains. I don't think its the same as using fresh pepper/chiles as it is more stable in the treated form.. We have no racoons here, and skunks are very rare or at least very rarely seen.
We do have a lot of coyotes, some number of foxes, and various owls and hawks- of course around buildings, all the little critters are relatively safer from predators.. we currently have one part time outdoor cat- but while he used to be  a very active hunter (tons of mice, occasional squirrels) these days he is more concerned with patrolling for invading neighbour cats, and I doubt he hunts much at all.. While piles of leaves etc should be handled carefully, he has shown no interest in digging in garden soil- I think its too wet and heavy- much easier to use spruce duff under trees etc...


Submitted by Mark McD on Fri, 04/06/2012 - 15:32

Two reports today:  trapping and relocating squirrels has definitely taken the edge off their incessant diggings.  While these beasts are opportunistic and will move in to fill territorial voids, it takes them a little while (weeks) before they do so.

Secondly, it's been an unusually dry spring, the soil becoming very dry, an attraction for cat on-the-go litter box activity.  I noticed today that the spot where my rarest and moist choice of Chinese Alliums, the true Allium forrestii, was disturbed and somewhat dug up.  I tried to smooth out the dusty soil depression and grabbed right into a big, fresh, stinky cat turd :-X  :(.  Not only are the several cats that occasionally wander through my yard useless for any rodent control that I can tell, not only do they leave their fresh turd calling cards, but of course they select the most prized plant received from a European correspondant to carry out their dirty deeds.  I don't like cats; grrrrr!


Submitted by RickR on Fri, 04/06/2012 - 18:57

I would have thought that cats would leave onion-smelling plants alone!

My condolences, Mark.


Submitted by Mark McD on Fri, 04/06/2012 - 20:11

Ultimately the Allium will be okay.  But today, I spotted a woodchuck (groundhog) scurrying about here and there under my garden shed; marking the third year of battling with this large and voracious garden devastator.  Tomorrow, begins woodchuck wars.


Submitted by Hoy on Sat, 04/07/2012 - 00:47

McDonough wrote:

Two reports today:  trapping and relocating squirrels has definitely taken the edge off their incessant diggings.  While these beasts are opportunistic and will move in to fill territorial voids, it takes them a little while (weeks) before they do so.

Secondly, it's been an unusually dry spring, the soil becoming very dry, an attraction for cat on-the-go litter box activity.  I noticed today that the spot where my rarest and moist choice of Chinese Alliums, the true Allium forrestii, was disturbed and somewhat dug up.  I tried to smooth out the dusty soil depression and grabbed right into a big, fresh, stinky cat turd :-X  :(.  Not only are the several cats that occasionally wander through my yard useless for any rodent control that I can tell, not only do they leave their fresh turd calling cards, but of course they select the most prized plant received from a European correspondant to carry out their dirty deeds.  I don't like cats; grrrrr!

Cat turds, I know those from my own experiences with the neighbour's cat's remnants >:( >:( My only comforting thought is that I assume they take some rodents and not only birds :(


Submitted by cohan on Sat, 04/07/2012 - 22:31

Our cats generally show very little interest in garden beds-- apart from some summer resting under shrubs, or in cool/damp spots of open soil, so far not on top of plants... though any time there are plants I might worry about, I lay some bare spruce branches around plants to make the spot unappealing..
I don't think they care to dig in our garden soil, when there is dry spruce duff under many trees to use!


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Mon, 04/09/2012 - 04:38

I just finished removing chicken wire from the crevice gardens and am keeping my fingers crossed.  So far the word has not gone out among the antlered rats.  Everything here is very, very dry.  With an almost snowless winter and very little rain since, we will soon be in serious trouble.  Our well is very finite and I'm unable to water except for seedlings.  No rain forecast for the next few days and nursery orders will be arriving soon.


Submitted by Hoy on Mon, 04/09/2012 - 04:54

Spiegel wrote:

I just finished removing chicken wire from the crevice gardens and am keeping my fingers crossed.  So far the word has not gone out among the antlered rats.  Everything here is very, very dry.  With an almost snowless winter and very little rain since, we will soon be in serious trouble.  Our well is very finite and I'm unable to water except for seedlings.  No rain forecast for the next few days and nursery orders will be arriving soon.

Hope you will get some rain soon! I have the opposite problem. It is raining every day and it is too cold and wet to do anything serious in the garden. Even the slugs seems to think it is too cold and wet.


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Mon, 04/09/2012 - 07:51

It seems there's a distribution problem - you have too much rain, I don't have enough rain.  If only there was some way to parcel this out better.


Submitted by cohan on Tue, 04/10/2012 - 00:24

We still have winter snow melting, and keep getting fresh snow so the ground never dries (last week's 15cm is still very much with us in shady places, besides the old stuff).. and rain/snow forecast several days this week; we aren't overly wet in terms of the water in sloughs etc, I'd just like to get the surface of the yard dried out once...lol


Submitted by Boland on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 11:50

I consider myself so lucky I have no digging creatures in my garden....my biggest problem are pigeons which are currently trampling all the new shoots in one of my beds below my bird feeder...guess that was my own fault!  I've moved the feeder and hoping the pigeons move with it.

However, I was wandering around our botanical garden today and am amazed at the damge done by moose!  I knew we had one around in winter, but with the snow recently melted and the ground super wet, the moose has been sinking up to 9" in the soil.  Many perennials have holes in the middle of the clump and dwarf rhodies have been devastated


Submitted by cohan on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 12:29

Todd wrote:

I consider myself so lucky I have no digging creatures in my garden....my biggest problem are pigeons which are currently trampling all the new shoots in one of my beds below my bird feeder...guess that was my own fault!  I've moved the feeder and hoping the pigeons move with it.

However, I was wandering around our botanical garden today and am amazed at the damge done by moose!  I knew we had one around in winter, but with the snow recently melted and the ground super wet, the moose has been sinking up to 9" in the soil.  Many perennials have holes in the middle of the clump and dwarf rhodies have been devastated

We had a recent moose visit- I don't think they stayed long, as they'd already pruned all of the shrubs! but one did leave a hoof print in front of my semp bed- luckily they didn't step up on it!


Submitted by Hoy on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 12:56

No (European) elks, I am glad to say! But a pair of the common wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) is nesting in the garden. I've come to believe that they do some damage in the garden although I've never seen them do it. I also have a pair of magpies (Pica pica) nesting in another tree and they do a lot of damage by picking plants and moss to line their nest.


Submitted by RickR on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 17:46

A bird trampling anythings is foreign to me.  I have robins and juncos hopping around in my pots daily.  Except for the occasional dropping, there is never any damage, but they don't mill around in just one spot either.  Pigeons are a little bigger too: maybe they sit on your plants  ;D.


Submitted by Hoy on Sat, 04/14/2012 - 01:05

RickR wrote:

A bird trampling anythings is foreign to me.  I have robins and juncos hopping around in my pots daily.  Except for the occasional dropping, there is never any damage, but they don't mill around in just one spot either.  Pigeons are a little bigger too: maybe they sit on your plants  ;D.

Pigeons mostly roost in the trees  ;) but they are vegetarians and eat seeds and shoots of young plants on the ground. They're especially fond of peas and seem to know exactly where you have planted them! I have come to the conclusion that they are responsible for eating some of my small bulbs planted on the shed roof! Also the blackbird do some damage when digging in the beds for food (worms etc). They cover some of the smaller plants with soil when digging up other plants. Even in my little rock bed do they make havoc! Kicking the smaller pieces of rock away, turning stones around etc. They are pretty strong!


Submitted by cohan on Sat, 04/14/2012 - 01:33

No sign of bird damage here either in spite of tons of birds- though I do wonder about the grouse that repeatedly visited one of our apple trees this fall-- presumably eating off the winter buds... will it make more? Between that and the moose, those fruit trees don't have an easy time of it- and to think a couple of years ago I had to prune them back...


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 21:48

Sometimes stuff just happens. In the corner of my yard, the anchor to my woodland garden, is an enormous Sugar Maple tree.  It has been on the decline in recent years, with some limbs dying off, and posing a definite "under tree hazard" one windy days when I worry that sizeable dead limbs will come crashing down.  In fact, with limb and trunk decay, sometimes limbs just decide to fall without any wind provocation.

But, I was not prepared for what happened this past Saturday, when various isolated weather fronts were passing through, announcing themselves with sudden bursts of refreshing gusty air.  My wife and I on our deck, were witness to the cornerstone goliath tree simply snapping off near the base during one of gusts, with a thundering crash as it fell in a direction away from our house.  But due to its size and branching, large limbs crashed down into my garden, snapping two ornamental Magnolias and a Japanense maple off at the base, and a host of choice woodland plants now concealed by a monstrously large trunk and hefty limbs.  

 

The real damage will come when I call the town highway department to cut up and remove the tree.  This work is dangerous (removing such huge tree trunks and limbs), and the trampling by the tree cutters will surely be devastating in a garden full of woodland treasures.  Directly underneath the gigantic fallen trunk and limbs, is Cyprepedium reginae, C. parviflorum, Arisaema sikokianum, Iris koreana, Jeffersonia dubia Korean Form, Kirengeshoma koreana, and dozens of other choice items. I have a variety of Cimicifuga cultivars in this area, most have been squashed and snapped off, already cleaned up what I could and disposed of the damage.  It seems in a year, when I have lost much of my Allium garden due to invading grasses last year when I took on a job after long unemployment, and having to work many weekends so little time to spend in the yard and garden, this is just another step backwards in the whole gardening scheme of things.

This week is impossibly busy, with lots of travel; I'll have to try and not think too much about what the garden will look like after a crew of men come in to cut up and remove the mega-trunk and trample my garden mightily... I'll be traveling, I'll just have to wait and see what it looks like when I get back.


Submitted by Lori S. on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 22:26

Oh no!  So sorry, Mark!  How devastating to one who loves plants and gardening! 
It is little comfort, I know, but thank heaven it fell away from the house, at least.  We don't even have trees anywhere near that girth and height around here...
Well, I hope the clean up goes as well as possible, and that the resilience and "life wish" of plants come through for you, so that the perennials, at least, are able to recover through the season.  :'(


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 06/24/2012 - 22:41

Thanks Lori.  I think rhizomatous perennials like Epimedium will make it okay, even if herbaceously damaged this year, but with things like two diffferent Cypripediums, they rest with an easily damaged "nose" and I fear I shall lose them if squashed.  The few "woodies" might sprout from the base, but the beautiful Acer japonicum 'Ukigomo' which snapped off at the base about 2" above soil line might resprout, but as most Japanese maples are grafts, I won't get the true plant.  

I was just about to show my enlarged circle around this beautiful Japanese maple, planted with one flat of about 120 Jeffersonia dubia seedlings, but as the maple is no more, I either just have to leave the "Jeffersonia ring", or if I want to replant a tree, remove all of the Jeffersonia to replant with a new ornamental tree.  Not sure what to do yet.

My younger daughter always worried about this tree hitting the house, but it was far enough away it was not a threat to the house, but was very much a threat to anyone working beneath the tree canopy.  I'm glad it came down.  But a huge long arching branch sticking out to the right remains, defying gravity, another danger,. only a matter of time before it falls, I will request the highway department to cut it down; it leans into my yard and is posed to squash a row of hemlocks I planted, and a variety of choice perennials growing below.


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 01:05

Mark - what drama! I'm sure Lori is right; plants are always more resilient than we can imagine. We had a huge willow in our garden, partly weakened way back in the 1987 'hurricane', but which grew away strongly. Come another gale in the winter of the '90's and the whole thing came down as I was working in the nursery near by. Very dramatic. There weren't all the treasures under the tree that you have, but the end result has been a vast improvement to the garden. Mind you I cut it down myself and very slowly.


Submitted by RickR on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 01:22

That's quite a blow, Mark.  A gardener's life is certainly never status quo, even without such devastation.  With that severe summer drought, the ice storm and now this, you have sure been having a run of bad luck.  At Mom and Dad's place, we would just leave a 12ft stump there for the woodpeckers.  There would be a lot less trampling of your garden ...
But seeing as how you are confined to that one basement window or indoor gardening, I guess that's out the window, too.  (And, not sure what the neighbors would think.) ;)


Submitted by Hoy on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 03:01

I am sorry to learn about all your losses, Mark; what a blow! I'm glad however you weren't under the tree trying to protect your gems!
In stead of digging up all your newly planted Jeffersonia seedlings to plant a new tree, can't you just plant a maple (or other) seedling? I sow seeds of maple (and other ornamental trees) and get small seedlings, but they grow fast enough and are easily planted without digging too much.


Submitted by Howey on Mon, 06/25/2012 - 04:22

What a tragedy, Mark.  I know how you must feel.  I had two old apple trees here in the yard that, through the years we have lived here, have given us a lot of pleasure - baby squirrels hatching in spring (or whenever), birds, my son's tree "fort" (on which I used to lie with binnoculars to gaze on the antics of baby squirrels getting to know their new world).  One came down during a storm not long after my husband died and the other was down (old age and a storm I guess) on my return from a visit with the late Fred Case in Saginaw.  Like your tree, they both fell away from the house but there was considerable cleanup from kind neighbors and co-workers at the University, one of whom gave me a Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree) to plant in its stead.  This, in turn, has become very tall and spreading.  The other original apple tree was replaced for a Honey Locust I thought was a red Robinia and have been meaning to cut down but haven't - it may become a problem.  Hmm...  But these days I am very careful with trees although they are hard to resist like Pterostyrax hispida, a "small" oak, Cornus floridus and now I have a tiny seedling of a Copper Beech - and me with neighbors' birch, apple and a Norway Maple already encroaching on all sides, plus a Little Leaf Linden out front that needs constant pruning.  I'm just too old for all that sort of thing.  Anyway, take heart Mark - the Phoenix will arise from the ashes.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b


Submitted by cohan on Sun, 07/08/2012 - 20:34

Mark-I read in the woodlanders thread that you got most (all?) of the tree clean-up done by a sensitive arborist with minimal damage- good to hear! What about the loss of shade, will that be a problem for the remaining plants?

Fran- how big does the little leaf linden (Tilia cordata?) get for you? we have one here, and I really like it, but its not super far from the house and the last thing I want is more shade! So far (my mom doesn't remember when it was planted, maybe 15 years ago or so) and its around 15-20 feet with several trunks, but does not seem to be getting taller in any hurry.... I'd be thrilled if it stayed this size...


Submitted by Mark McD on Thu, 04/04/2013 - 12:07

GRRRR, gardening can be frustrating. I have 7 patches on the beautiful white Crocus malyi. Two 5-yr old patches are from inplace scratch-and-sow technique, sown as soon as seed ripens in June/July. Each had ~30 buds ready to pop, holding off the last couple sunny but cold days, today is warmer and I went out to photograph. I was so excited, because a few had blue color to bud tips, others had blue petals; I was aching to see the potential hybrids. Today, every one of approx. 60 buds was eaten, not one left. Several of the other patches of C. malyi (named forms) were about half eaten. Here's a close-up photo showing some eaten stubs, the petal "rings" visible. Notice in the upper left, the long arrow pointing to one that has a blue ring of chomped petals.


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Thu, 04/04/2013 - 14:22

Do you know what is likely to have eaten them? My only patch of Crocus malyi has been decimated by rabbits over the past three or four years, and only now that the garden is fenced properly is it growing away again. But hybrids of this lovely species would be really exciting - I can understand the intense frustration.


Submitted by Mark McD on Thu, 04/04/2013 - 15:54

Interesting, that you had the same species decimated by rabbits.  There are a few things I noticed:

1. In the past, squirrels have shown a penchant for nibbling Crocus blooms, but they don't typically eat the whole flower, just nibbles. Often they simply snip off flowers at the base of the stems; there were a few severed blooms on C. angustifolius lying like fallen soldiers today.

2.  Squirrels invariably leave some little divots from their infuriating digging, I saw no such holes today.

3.  Many other crocus buds were in the same ready-to-bloom state; the fact they weren't touched, and based on your own experience with varmints devouring C. malyi, this Crocus species seems particularly attractive to whatever varmint is eating the blooms.  This is the first time ever that C. malyi has been eaten, and I've grown some patches outside in the garden for a decade.

4.  I'm inclined to believe it is a rabbit, or a groundhog.  In the past several years, there is a single (or maybe two) rabbits that I see regularly, they mostly wiped out Viola pedata and a couple other viola species, decimated Vernonia lettermanii last year (several times).  Then for the past 4-5 years, I've been battling a family of groundhogs (we call them woodchucks here), that all but decimated any Aster species, and a favorite native plant Porteranthus trifoliatus (syn: Gillenia trifoliata).  They have burroughed under one of my garden sheds, making it extremely difficult to get rid of, and making the shed smell strongly of animal urine.  Last year I finally had them leave by dusting the shed perimeter with pepper (many animal repellents are pepper-based), although I was never able to discourage the rabbit.  I only have Hav-a-Hart traps sizes for chipmuncks and squirrels, may need to get a larger one for rabbits and groundhogs.

5.  Today I dusted my crocus with black and red cayenne pepper as a deterrent, I hope that works (has no effect on squirrels, hopefully does deter rabbits and/or groundhogs).

I posted this to facebook as well, someone suggested that I should be looking for an animal pooping little red arrows ;D


Submitted by externmed on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 17:00

Good luck,Mark.
Woodchucks are difficult to trap (and rabbits probably more so) and effective traps are outlawed.  My variety of woodchuck will go for Campanula x Elizabeth for "bait" in a have-a-heart type trap.  I have also, over the years, caught 2 woodchucks and one rabbit that just couldn't resist going into empty traps.  Last year house finches or some other bird developed a taste for crocus anthers and wrecked the lot.  Will deploy a mist net if that happens again. Nature's natural gardens are quite astonishing, considering how much predation there is out there.  I'm developing a great fondness for Aconitum, Colchicum, and Melanthiaceae.  Slugs seem to be immune, though.
Charles Swanson
Massachusetts USA Z6a


Submitted by Lori S. on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 20:28

Errr, a mist net?  That's a very fine net in which birds feet and claws get tangled, normally used for banding (for that obvious reason).  It would take constant observation to ensure that birds aren't being caught and possibly dying from apoplexy, injuries, lack of food and water, etc..  Perhaps a normal, coarse net or a chickenwire/hardware cloth cover would serve the same purpose without risking fatality to predating and non-predating songbirds?  Just a thought...


Submitted by Mark McD on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 21:01

Next year I plan on using lightweight "hardware fabric" or rectangular wire mesh, which is easily cut and bent to form heightened wire covers for plants.  I could make these in sections, then re-use them in subsequent years..  The 1/4" screening is not exorbitantly expensive, and has become a regular defense in my "gardening toolkit" in the last two years to prevent infuriating squirrel and chipmunk digging into seed pots left to the weather outdoors.

Charles, I'm encouraged by your successful attempts to humanely trap at least a couple rabbits and woodchucks over the years, I might buy a larger have-a-hart trap and give it a try.  With chipmunks, they are easily trapped, often minutes after setting the traps; I once caught 12 in one day, put them in a large barrel with leaves, kept in shade during the day, then released to a new lovely woodsy spot miles away.


Submitted by RickR on Fri, 04/05/2013 - 21:43

I've use a cut apple slice as bate for rabbits in a live trap sized for raccoons.

  Incidentally, raccoons love marshmallows.


Submitted by IMYoung on Sat, 04/06/2013 - 06:29

McDonough wrote:

Then for the past 4-5 years, I've been battling a family of hedgehogs (we call them woodchucks here............. They have burroughed under one of my garden sheds, making it extremely difficult to get rid of, and making the shed smell strongly of animal urine.  Last year I finally had them leave by dusting the shed perimeter with pepper (many animal repellents are pepper-based), although I was never able to discourage the rabbit. 

Hedgehogs, Mark, in the USA?  I thought those spiny little critters were absent from the Americas? They don't eat plants here - they are  helpful devourers of slugs and snails.
I think of Woodchuck  as being  another  name for a Groundhog - that  burrowing rodent , Marmota monax ?
:-\


Submitted by Mark McD on Sat, 04/06/2013 - 07:07

IMYoung wrote:

McDonough wrote:

Then for the past 4-5 years, I've been battling a family of hedgehogs (we call them woodchucks here............. They have burroughed under one of my garden sheds, making it extremely difficult to get rid of, and making the shed smell strongly of animal urine.  Last year I finally had them leave by dusting the shed perimeter with pepper (many animal repellents are pepper-based), although I was never able to discourage the rabbit.

Hedgehogs, Mark, in the USA?  I thought those spiny little critters were absent from the Americas? They don't eat plants here - they are  helpful devourers of slugs and snails.
I think of Woodchuck  as being  another  name for a Groundhog - that  burrowing rodent , Marmota monax ?
:-\

Yes Maggi, no hedgehogs in the USA (and I do know what these creatures look like, cute lil buggers); I did say groundhog 3 other times in the same post, but somehow introduced a mental slip and said "hedgehog" once.  Thanks for the correction and keeping me on my toes, I might not have caught the blunder otherwise. By the way, do they still play croquet with hedgehogs and flamingos in the UK these days?  ;) ;D

As fans of the many versions of Alice in Wonderland, when my wife and I and our two daughters would play croquet, the girls would imagine the croquet balls were indeed hedgehogs.


Submitted by IMYoung on Sat, 04/06/2013 - 09:33

Thanks Mark, I thought it might just be a slip but I wondered if there was some new beastie out there that I didn't know about. ;D

I believe the habit of playing croquet with hedgehogs and flamingoes has died out everywhere now :rolleyes:

Not as many hedgehogs round the place here last year as there usually are - hope this year will see greater numbers again.


Submitted by Anne Spiegel on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 05:35

The pictures show deer damage to my dwarf daphne collection.  Usually I cover a very large part of the garden in the fall with chicken wire.  Bambi won't walk on it and the plants do well in their "stalag".  Last fall I never got to it and my daphnes really suffered as a result.  They were severely chopped, stepped on etc.  Someone on the talk circuit has been saying that deer do not touch daphnes - they must be living in an alternate universe.  Here Bambi thinks it's caviar.  The last one, Daphne x hendersonii 'rosebud' had been doing so well and was so tight and floriferous - not much left of it and I don't think it will come back.


Submitted by Zonedenial on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 06:42

Our garden was just finally starting to be interesting, when two days ago we got >8 inches of rain in 24 hours with several rounds of hail; the hail was so thick that, washing off the roof it plugged up all the eavespouts and washed down in piles. The whole garden now looks like a giant sat on it. I was going to post some pictures of trilliums and erythroniums, but they really got trashed. We had a monumental drought last year; now we've had more rain in one day than we had all last summer. Stamp collecting is starting to sound more and more attractive as an alternative hobby!


Submitted by Tim Ingram on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 10:13

Very sad to see those daphnes - they are such special plants in the garden. At least with rabbits they tend to eat certain plants and I actually spent a year getting over my frustration with them by recording the damage they were doing. Deer must be so difficult to deal with; most people here end up with a very high fence but it must be a big investment.

Mark's game of croquet made me think of armadillos - presumably these are only found way down south? I imagine they would take a bit of controlling.


Submitted by cohan on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 15:46

Anne and Don- sorry to hear about the trials :(
I was expecting bad vole issues this spring since the snow was (still is in places) on the ground so long this year, and they are most active under the snow, but so far have seen no signs of them on the beds that have/partly melted out... still many beds/areas snowcovered, though so too soon to say overall, but one bed I was especially worried about since it is near one of the mowed areas they have usually been most active, is looking okay on the part that is out of snow..


Submitted by RickR on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 20:20

All those Daphnes....
Really heartbreaking, Anne. :(

Iowa seem to be really suffering from climate change, compared to most of Minnesota.  Drought, flood, walloped by huge blizzards.... and now hail....

Well, yesterday (April 18) I did get 11.5 inches of snow...!


Submitted by Mark McD on Sun, 04/21/2013 - 10:29

Anne, how sad to see the damage to your daphnes, the antlered rats at their worst.

Don, hopefully your area has recovered from the winter-weather-in-spring situation that seems to be plaguing many areas of the US & Canada this year.

We had two late snows in March totally nearly 3', but April has been fair and seasonably cool, with a few nice warm days thrown in, so flowering on spring plants, bulbs, and Magnolias has been excellent.  Although tonight supposed to go down to 25 F, so I will be protecting a few plants, and accept the fact Magnolia blooms will be fried and turn brown for the several types currently in flower.  But overall, I really can't complain, it seems we have escaped some of the worst of temperature and weather swings.  

We don't see much of our friend Panayoti on NARGS Forum these days, as Facebook and his own blog take up much of his time, but apparently Colorado has experienced a terrible spring so far, with lots of plant devastation. Panayoti has written two blog entries describing their winter-in-spring conditions:
http://www.prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2013/04/winners-and-losers.html
http://www.prairiebreak.blogspot.com/2013/04/you-dont-know-what-youve-go...

My continuing frustration is a stealth varmint that I have not yet seen, but does serious garden munching, eating the blooms off of crocus, and now moving on to tulip species, I suspect it is a rabbit.  Saw a tip for using a sprayer, and a mix of common tabasco (1 tbsp) and water (1 gal), and spraying favorite bunny-food plants each night, I might give it a try.

Below is Crocus malyi 'Sveti Roc' (photo on the left), a dwarf form of C. malyi that is nearly stemless; normally the species has tall-ish tubes. One may notice one eaten off flower. After this photo, the following day, every flower was gone, eaten off.  Next to it (photo on the right), is Tulipa bifloriformis, now each day when I go out, more and more of the flowers eaten off.  Grrrr.