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Experienced gardeners are well aware of this reality and have even come to enjoy the ephemeral nature of their outdoor spaces.
gardening experts
I bet you’re working on your fall to-do list, and I’m right there with you. But pruning your trees is something you should leave off that list until late winter. Join organic farmer Jenna Rich as she discusses five reasons you should never prune your trees in the fall. Fall is a time for gardeners to clean up their garden beds, sharpen and clean tools, organize sheds and greenhouses, and tidy up so they’re ready for spring chores. It might seem like a great time to prune your trees to get that off your to-do list, but doing so may undo much of the hard work you’ve done leading up to the fall to ensure your trees stay healthy and strong. When adding trees to your lineup, ensure they are compatible with your growing zone. Doing so will set them up for success and make caring for them more enjoyable. A tree out of its element and experiencing high stress levels won’t thrive, so checking that your region aligns with its needs will yield the best results. If you’re like me, your fall and winter checklists are in full effect. When all the items are checked off, I have peace of mind, which allows me to enjoy my winters and feel prepared for spring. Let’s discuss five reasons you should never prune your trees in the fall. Your Tree is Busy Preparing For Winter Humans greatly enjoy watching the transition of summer greens to autumnal oranges, yellows, and reds, so it’s hard for us to understand just how hard the trees are working internally. It’s a significant endeavor that takes lots of energy. Think of everything you do around your home and property as the seasons change to refresh, prepare, and unload for the upcoming season. Trees and perennial plants are doing something similar internally in preparation for the change of seasons. Imagine someone asking you to give a speech just as you fall asleep for the night. It probably wouldn’t be great, right? As their colors change and leaves drop, the trees’ energy shifts into their own fall chores, including sugar concentration, intentional dehydration, and cellular shrinkage. As they adjust to shorter days, colder temperatures, and less water, they slow their processes down to prepare for dormancy. Concentrated sugars serve as a natural anti-freeze, which helps them tolerate freezing temperatures, reduces the risk of them exploding from being too cold, and provides energy in the winter months. Cells shrink and harden, preventing damage from freezing temperatures and harsh winds. Surviving the winter in some regions is an impressive feat, so it takes a lot of preparation. Note that some species produce buds in the summer months that will overwinter just fine. Pruning too early may remove these, giving you a less-than-spectacular show in the spring. They Need To Focus Energy on Their Roots We often discuss the need for a robust root system, which anchors plants to the ground, helps prevent topsoil and nutrient loss, and ensures proper growth and immunity response. When we prune during the fall transition period, we force energy into the wounded areas rather than allowing the tree to focus on its root system. This can be detrimental to the tree’s health and longevity. Instead, take advantage of the cooler working temperatures. Soil temps will remain warm, encouraging roots to expand and stretch deeper into the soil, well out of eyes’ reach. Once trees lose their leaves, they can hone in on underground activity. When they wake in the spring, deep, strong roots mean a healthy start to the season! Damage From Fresh Wounds Imagine having a large, fresh cut on your arm and heading outside into the wind and cold weather without any covering. You can imagine the pain you might feel when the air hits the open wound. Trees may not “feel” the same way we do, but wounds, even from necessary pruning, are still wounds and should be treated as such. Remember also that several types of beetles are still active in the fall, and wounds may exacerbate their damage. The best time to prune is during dormancy when less activity is happening inside the tree, and the risk of disease spread is significantly reduced. Winter pruning encourages new spring growth. Wounds made over winter will heal more quickly during the spring months. Note: Spring flowering plants like azaleas should not be pruned until after they flower. Pruning in the winter removes fresh buds, so you’ll be without spring blooms. While it was once commonplace to see tree wounds closed up with white paint, updated research tells us to leave them be and let them complete their natural immunity response for best results. According to the University of Illinois Extension, trees will respond to a wound with wound tissue, which will seal the pruning cut. Sealing it up with paint is detrimental since oxygen is required for this process to occur. Healthy specimens are more likely to ward off future attacks, so it’s our job to keep them as healthy as possible. Wet Conditions Promote Disease Spread Many fungal and bacterial pathogens thrive in fall’s wet, cool conditions. In many regions, fall brings cool, damp weather, wreaking havoc on freshly pruned trees and shrubs. These pathogens can easily creep into the open wounds when humidity levels are high. Oak wilt, Nectria canker, Dutch elm disease, bacterial canker, fire blight, apple scab, peach scab, and blossom wilt are just a few diseases to watch out for in the fall. Proper pruning, copper sprays, and immediate removal of infected tree parts work to control some of these, but oak wilt and bacterial canker have no known proven home gardener treatments. Trust your sources when bringing new trees to your property. Select disease-resistant varieties and grafts when available. Contact your local experts if you’re unsure what’s happening with your orchard. Swift action is always best! Keep your eyes peeled for elm leaf beetles (Xanthogaleruca luteola). These pests chew holes in leaves and may hibernate in the surrounding areas, ready to cause more trouble in future years. Unfortunately, this pest has few natural enemies, so prevention or chemical control are the only options. You Don’t Want To Encourage New Growth Before Winter New growth is green and vulnerable. Promoting new growth before winter exposes it to extreme conditions it’s not ready for. As mentioned, fall offers the perfect conditions for plants to focus on their root system. Leaving them be for a few months allows them to do naturally what they know to do. Let the tree close up shop for the year (and you do the same) and encourage new spring growth during winter pruning sessions. Waiting until the trees are bare of leaves allows you to see the shape more clearly and create an efficient pruning plan. You can see overlapping and twisted branches, growth outside the desired canopy shape, and dead or diseased limbs. Exceptions To The Rule Light pruning may be recommended if your tree shows signs of disease or has lower branches near or touching the ground. Contact a local arborist or tree specialist at your local extension office for necessary assistance. A Note About Conifers Spruce and pines retain their needles all year and don’t enter full dormancy like deciduous species. Pine needles retain more moisture and allow them to convert sunlight into chlorophyll all year, which is why they are sometimes called evergreens. While they don’t entirely go dormant, their bark and branches offer insulation and protection from the cold, so they should be pruned in spring like deciduous trees for best results. What To Do In The Fall Instead Clean up garden debris Determine your mulching plan Amend your soil so it’s ready for spring Cover crop to suppress weeds and reduce soil erosion Be patient until your trees are in dormancy to perform pruning Are you stuck on which trees to choose? Consider low-maintenance trees like winterberry holly, witch hazel, and serviceberry, which will still provide shade, beauty, pollinator attraction, and height.
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The pinon tree is a lovely pine species that produces delicious, edible pine nuts. It is native to the southern US and has been used as a staple food for centuries. Not all pine trees are created equally. A particularly interesting stand out is the pinon pine, also referred to as pinyon pine or piñon pine. This pine tree produces edible nuts. Most pinyon trees have yellow-green needles and produce pine cones over the course of their very long lifetime. Some pinyon pine trees have been reported to live for up to 600 years, according to the US Forest Service! The edible pine nuts of single-leaf pinyon, two-needle pinyon, and Colorado pinyon pine taste almost cream-like in flavor, with the oiliness of macadamia and just the slightest hint of a pine-like flavor. The pinyon pine seeds are roasted and eaten as a snack and are commonly used as an ingredient in the cuisine of New Mexico, which calls pinyon pine its state tree. During pine nut harvest periods, you can often find them for sale at roadside stands that pop up in states where these pines grow naturally, particularly in the Great Basin. Pine nuts have also been a staple food of Native Americans for centuries and can be found on reservations across the four corners region in southwestern North America and Mexico. The one drawback of the piñon pine is that it can be difficult to grow; they have a very specific and set range where they produce cones filled with those delicious pine nuts. Pinus edulis is native to four states in the US – Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. While they can be grown outside that range, that’s where they thrive best – and that’s also why seed harvest rights are almost exclusively Native American-controlled on this tree species, as they’re a wild-growing tree in reservation country.There are different varieties, such as Colorado pinyon and Mexican pinyon, and within these varieties, there are different types as well. There are two main types of pinyon pines: the single-leaf pinyon and the two-needle pinyon (also known as two-needle piñon). As you can probably guess, the single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) generally has a single pine needle protruding from each growth point. In contrast, the two-needle pinyon has two needles at each growth point.
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Do you ever wonder how far apart to plant potatoes? In this complete guide, we explain everything you need to know about potato spacing, from raised beds to rows. Maximize your harvest this season! How do you plant potatoes in a way that maximizes their production? Potatoes are a garden favorite that are easy to grow but require a little planning in advance. As long as your conditions are right, a successful yield is not hard to achieve! We’ve discussed growing potatoes in a bucket, and how to grow potatoes in general. We’ve even focused on harvesting potatoes at the perfect time. But before you get your potatoes in the ground, you need to know how far apart to plant them for optimal growth. When you grow potatoes, spacing is key. Let’s talk about potato plant spacing for a bountiful harvest! How Far Apart To Plant Potatoes by Location Spacing is crucial. After all, you’ll need room for your plants to develop. The question is how much space you have available. Whether your space is measured in inches or feet, potatoes can be grown. It’s just a matter of planning! Square Foot Gardens Raised bed made from wood with square foot spacing for planting potatoes. In square-foot gardens, plant one plant per section. Is your growing area compact or do you have room for sprawling rows? If space is limited and you’re maximizing it using a square-foot garden set-up, try planting a fingerling variety that can adapt to 12 x 12 inch spacing. People who want to grow full-sized potatoes in a square-foot garden should begin by enriching the soil. It should be at least 12 inches deep. Then, remove all but an inch or two of the soil, reserving it for later. Evenly space and plant potatoes at a rate of one per square foot. A square-foot grid will help with spacing. Once you have your potatoes in place, cover with another inch of soil. As the plants grow, hill more soil up around the stem. Make sure that the potatoes themselves are never exposed to direct sunlight, as this can cause the potato to develop a green splotch that will be inedible. A 4 x 4 foot garden bed can house a total of 16 potato plants using this method. The potatoes may be baby potatoes (a little smaller than if they were grown in a larger garden bed), but they’ll still be good to eat! Farm-Style Young potato plants in trenched farm growing in clay soil. Start by digging a trench to space your potatoes correctly in rows. For a more traditional potato planting approach, start by digging a trench in the garden. Aim for one that’s at least 6 inches wide and about 8 inches deep, as this allows you to amend. Apply a couple inches of compost to the base of the trench. Space your trenches 2-3 feet apart. Make sure each seed potato has at least two eyes. These eyes are where the plant develops. Large seed potatoes with lots of eyes can be cut into pieces. If you do slice them into smaller segments, wait a few days to let the cut sides dry to prevent rotting or disease susceptibility. Once your seed potatoes are ready to plant, set one into the trench every 12 inches. Add enough compost to ensure that your seed potatoes are about 2-3 inches deep. Once planted, water and maintain the growing potatoes. As they develop, add more compost and soil to keep them covered. Bags And Buckets Gardener mulching potted sweet potato plants with garden straw. Use a large container to leave room for the plant to mature. Are you really limited on space? Don’t panic. I’ve planted potatoes in grow bags or 5-gallon buckets in the past, and still harvested plenty of potatoes. When growing potatoes in containers, drainage is key. Add about 3 inches of compost and soil to the bottom of the container. Plant no more than one to two seed potatoes per container, depending on size. Treat them as you would with other methods, adding more soil as necessary to keep the potatoes covered.
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Do you have an American beech tree on your land that you’d like to preserve and maintain for many years to come? Perhaps you’re thinking about transplanting a young, container-grown American beech somewhere near your home? These U.S. natives can become massive, living for hundreds of years if healthy. Plant biologist Emily Estep will tell you everything you need to know about the great American beech. The American beech tree is an iconic species in the eastern United States, native all the way up through Canada and down to the tip of Florida. These enormous perennials can grow up to 80 feet tall with branches surprisingly low on the trunk. Due to their size and the amount of shade provided by their leaves, you absolutely must have enough space before committing to this tree. Fortunately, this native beech is a fairly low-maintenance tree as long as it gets enough water. There’s not much you need to do for this perennial when it’s planted in the right spot in the right zone, and you may enjoy gathering its edible nuts in the fall. Like other species in the Fagus genus, there are a few detrimental diseases that find their way into these trees, so if you’re growing one, keep a sharp eye out. If you’re somewhere in the range of zones 3 through 9 and looking for a giant centerpiece tree, read on to learn more. The American beech is a large, deciduous tree. It is the only one out of 13 total beech species that is native to the United States, found growing naturally throughout the eastern third of the country. Large, open areas are the best locations to plant these trees due to their immense size. They produce edible beechnuts that ripen in the fall. This enormous tree can grow up to 80 feet tall with a trunk that may get up to three feet wide. It has smooth, gray bark, and its branches are relatively low. American beeches may live for up to 250 years. Note that growing other plants in the shade of this tree can be challenging, between the dense canopy of leaves and shallow roots that can monopolize the soil. American beech is native to the eastern United States and Canada, growing as south as northern Florida. This temperate region experiences seasonal weather, ranging from freezing, snowy winters to hot summers, especially in the southern tip of the range. Transplanting established American beeches is difficult because of their shallow root system and enormous size, but you can purchase container-grown options to transplant instead. You can also grow these trees from collected beechnuts.
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We’re hot and spicy… literally!
So buttery, garlicky and loaded with Parmesan cheese goodness – grilled (or roasted) to absolute perfection!
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"Most Icelandic asparagus recipes use canned asparagus as fresh asparagus is usually only available in very up-scale grocery stores at a price most would refuse to pay. However, this recipe from *French Bistro and Cafe Cooking* by Pierre-Yves Chupin would make such a purchase worthwhile, for me at least. *Enjoy* !"
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