Re: orchid/weather/yard

A clumping paper birch. They are real water hogs, but did well until they were "pruned" by the power company. They topped one before I came home & lopped off the ends of branches. Seemed that gave the borers a toehold. They are a short lived tree at best, but I expected another 5 or 6 years. As much as I love the white bark, I won't plant any more. I do get seedlings. They live 5 or 6 years, then die. I always let a few grow, but will never get any to this size again.
From: "Cathy Carpenter"
Reference birches - what kind are they? Most birches are trees of the
northern forests and cannot stand heat stress. Stressed birches are
sitting ducks for borers. Once borers get a foothold, the tree is a
goner. Which reminds me, their cousin, the emerald ash borer is on
the move down from Michigan and has been sighted in IL. Only a matter
of time before it makes it to my neck of the woods. I no longer
recommend ashes to anyone as landscape trees.

Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Aug 8, 2006, at 4:20 PM, Jesse Bell wrote:


OH..I take that back Judy...I saw that was for Noreen and Andrea
(about
the orchids). And about the borer problem with your trees. We had some
old oak trees in our yard that were dying. On closer inspection, I
realized there were little holes in them from insects. I filled the
holes up with paint (as many as I could find) and then painted the
weakened area a solid brown (to match the bark) and thought to myself,
"if it works, great, if it doesn't....I did what I could". It
worked. I
had to do it twice in one summer but it worked. One of the trees was
completely DEAD on one side. No leaves, branches breaking off in the
storms. I thought it was not very attractive, even if I DID save it.
Well, this year new growth is showing up on that "dead" side. I was
amazed.

We have so few trees around our house, I just hate to lose them
them. I
have planted several small ones, but they take years to grow up.


Judy Browning <judylee@lewiston.com> wrote:
  Mr. Singer,
Do Phalenopsis grow for you? I have one languishing in my bathroom
you can
have. Pretty magenta with white striped lip. Definitely not happy
here. Let me
know if you want it. I've decided I should enjoy the blooms & not
feel guilty
if they don't do well.
Andrea & Noreen,
let me know if either of you would like some of my hand me down
orchids. I
usually buy pink or white phalenopsis or dendrobiums.
We had some nice weather last week. mid 80s to low 90s. 90s & 100s
again this
week. Wildfire in the canyons so the air is full of smoke. Trying
to get the
weeds down to an unobtrusive level. Ed dug out the area by the
street and laid
weed barrier & bark mulch over the past few weeks. Looking a little
better.
It's been a mess since the city did utility work a couple years ago.
Kitty, how did your street work situation turn out?
My birch (by the street) & pine trees (west side of house) are
dying. Borer
infestations. Will have the big birches out when the tree service
can get to
us. There will be some open space for some small trees or large
shrubs. I'm
looking at 'Nikita's Promise' persimmon and saturn peaches, maybe a
small
bamboo or some grass. The Cornus Florida have seedlings there too.
I think I'll underplant the pines with rhododendron, & witch hazel.
Maybe some
clump bamboo there too.
Judy B z 6 Idaho

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index