I never like to have trees cut down unless it is necessary. Some deciding factors are obvious, such as storm or equipmen damage. Or, maybe they have grown too close to your home or other buildings. Dead and dying can be obvious, but when damage just starts – not always so obvious.
Recently a larger tree cut on my property was removed because it was very crooked and impeding other trees close by. I felt less sad when I saw that insect or larvae had been tunneling in the trunk. Eventually, it may have been destroyed by insect activity. Woodpecker activity is a reliable indicator that insects and or larvae are under the bark of your trees, tunneling and feasting away. The tunneling work that destructive beetles do interrupts water flow up and down the trunk. Overtime, the lack of adequate water can result in portions of the tree crown dying.
Betula Papyrifera — White Paper Birch — is a perfect example of a tree with an insect issue, the Bronze Birch Borer, to be exact. In their native wooded regions, where they are shaded by neighbor trees including their trunks, with cool feet (root zone), problems are few. Take these trees out of their normal/natural environment and plunk them down on a sunny, hot yard with a piece of rail fence and a few perennials, and that’s when the trouble starts.
The Bronze Birch Borer loves sunny tree tops to lay eggs, which hatch and tunnel in. Check out your neighborhood, I bet you can see more than one White Paper Birch with part, if not all, of its crown dying back. Other birch trees, like Betula Nigra – River Birch, do beautifully in urban areas. Heritage River Birch is a favorite of mine and, as it ages, the bark peels in big papery chunks on the trunk. The bronzy, tan-colored bark adds a nice element to the usual gray/brown tree trunks in the landscape.
Birch are also one of the trees least likely to be pruned by the homeowner. Driving through the neighborhoods, most young birch look like big shrubs, not trees. Prune those birch – don’t be scared! You should eventually prune enough lower branches that you can at least mow or walk under the canopy, unless they are dwarf fruit trees.
Right as rain
Rainfall has been adequate so far (hooray!). Many of my perennial plants are enormous this year. I can nearly hide under the peony plants that are loaded with buds. Intermediate iris and tall-bearded Iris are also loaded with buds and starting to bloom. Purple Sensation Alliums are in full bloom, and creeping phlox is in its glory as well. I do admit I sprayed with some liquid fertilizer this spring for the first time in years. Maybe Miracle Grow should get the credit?
Hopefully everyone has their vegetable transplants in the garden by now. Perhaps after Sunday night’s brief thunderstorm they are looking a little beat up. How bad is “too bad”? If the main stem is broken on tomatoes or peppers, then you should replace it unless like me, you already have planted more than you can use.
Typically, vine crops transplanted in the garden will look worse before they recover and take off … even without stormy weather. Starting vine crops from seed is always the best option for strong vines and stems to develop right from the start. Last year I purchased some beautiful squash plants that were quickly beat up in the garden, looking horrible. It took them about three weeks to recover and start to flourish. I guess I needed to learn my own proclaimed lesson just one more time. This year, back to seed again.
I almost made the annual mistake of planting potatoes again that never get dug. After finding a nest of them in a 10-gallon pot from last year, I was reminded to give up on growing potatoes.
Check out my new Facebook page “Lakeside Gardens & more.” I have open house dates set for the season and on each date, there will be a free garden class at 1 pm. The classes will be different each time. May 31, June 7, July 12 and August 9.
The outdoor Mankato Farmer’s Market is open 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays in the Best Buy parking lot on Adams Street in Mankato. We have nearly 50 vendors with a wide variety of goods and food items, produce, honey, flowers, plants, eggs and local meat! Weekday markets start in June.