Heavy heavy lawn thread 2019

[Hoth]

1 hour ago, Ginx snewx said:

This garden runs 100 feet along the Eastern edge of the property.  Last 5 years I mulched the beds but this year I just let it grow. We have mint to the right and other plants like Hosta but the high growing weed in the back I have no idea what it is.  I kept the chain link fence and attached the wooden one to it because I was afraid of blow down. The last thing I want is to lose a dog, ours or fosters.  There are a lot of coyotes here too. It may not look great inside but there safety is paramount.  450 feet up so far but I had 175 left when my back blew out. Friends and Family are going to finish it once it cools. Anyways I am pleased with the garden.  Also have a raised bed 12 by 12 of herbs and vegetables and I heavily weed that.

Looks great Steve. And yeah, coyotes are a menace. Most of the outdoor cats in my neighborhood have disappeared in the last few years. I was distressed last week to find a dead fawn in my shed that had one leg missing and another chewed up. I have no idea how it escaped its attackers, but glad it found a quiet place to expire. 

[Ginx snewx]

54 minutes ago, Hoth said:

Looks great Steve. And yeah, coyotes are a menace. Most of the outdoor cats in my neighborhood have disappeared in the last few years. I was distressed last week to find a dead fawn in my shed that had one leg missing and another chewed up. I have no idea how it escaped its attackers, but glad it found a quiet place to expire. 

Oh man they are brutal. They howl a lot here. Neighbor lost a chicken to a fisher cat during the day when he was letting them free range, killed it and left it. 

[tamarack]

19 hours ago, dendrite said:

What do I do with this crabapple? Looks like sapsucker lunch. Is there a worthwhile way to treat it or if it dies, it dies?

I've been amazed at how much sapsucker damage a tree can sustain and yet survive with a full crown.  Those pics are high end damage for sure, but I've seen basswood and yellow birch nearly as bad - the birch usually stitched with much straighter rows.  I'd leave it alone and watch the crown to see if there's dieback.  Any control/repellant is apt to be costly and probably would require frequent repeats.

[tamarack]

3 hours ago, Hoth said:

Looks great Steve. And yeah, coyotes are a menace. Most of the outdoor cats in my neighborhood have disappeared in the last few years. I was distressed last week to find a dead fawn in my shed that had one leg missing and another chewed up. I have no idea how it escaped its attackers, but glad it found a quiet place to expire. 

The 4:30 AM coyote alarm has been repeated several times over the past 2 weeks - they set up just beyond our informal pet cemetery perhaps 100 yards from the house and have a songfest.  One evening they were much closer, probably within 20 yards, could hear their feet on the leaves.  Sometimes it sounds as if there are 2 families instead of the usual one.  Since losing a cat for the 3rd time (fisher or coyote, though to the cat it makes no difference) we keep the felines inside.

[Baroclinic Zone]

Yay.... 

https://www.tauntongazette.com/news/20190717/eee-positive-mosquito-found-in-new-bedford

[dendrite]

35 minutes ago, tamarack said:

I've been amazed at how much sapsucker damage a tree can sustain and yet survive with a full crown.  Those pics are high end damage for sure, but I've seen basswood and yellow birch nearly as bad - the birch usually stitched with much straighter rows.  I'd leave it alone and watch the crown to see if there's dieback.  Any control/repellant is apt to be costly and probably would require frequent repeats.

Well that's the problem. I've had the damage for years, but this is the first warm season where I've noticed crown dieback. It probably doesn't help that my bird feeders (suet) are right next to that tree.

[Ginx snewx]

38 minutes ago, tamarack said:

The 4:30 AM coyote alarm has been repeated several times over the past 2 weeks - they set up just beyond our informal pet cemetery perhaps 100 yards from the house and have a songfest.  One evening they were much closer, probably within 20 yards, could hear their feet on the leaves.  Sometimes it sounds as if there are 2 families instead of the usual one.  Since losing a cat for the 3rd time (fisher or coyote, though to the cat it makes no difference) we keep the felines inside.

Mr T can you help me out, are these the same type of hickory tree. First is nut on the left, second is nut on the right 

[dendrite]

2nd looks like a pignut hickory?

[tamarack]

41 minutes ago, dendrite said:

2nd looks like a pignut hickory?

Or bitternut - leaflets look sufficiently narrow.  In CT there are probably 4-5 different native hickories; in Maine there are 2 (shagbark and bitternut) and I've never seen any non-planted ones other than shagbark.  And probably most of the hickories native to the US could survive that climate once established.

[mostman]

Red Thread is all over the lawn now. Surprising since we haven’t had too much rain and I have the irrigation off. Must be the humidity. 

[Ginx snewx]

3 hours ago, dendrite said:

2nd looks like a pignut hickory?

 

2 hours ago, tamarack said:

Or bitternut - leaflets look sufficiently narrow.  In CT there are probably 4-5 different native hickories; in Maine there are 2 (shagbark and bitternut) and I've never seen any non-planted ones other than shagbark.  And probably most of the hickories native to the US could survive that climate once established.

Thanks guys, the bitternut one is so beautiful and an awesome shade tree. The shagbark is straight as an arrow and at least 80 to 100 feet tall but drops nutz like friggin crazy and they hurt and cover the driveway.  The pignut doesnt drop until late.

[dendrite]

Can I get an ID on this? Is this big toothed aspen? I know older trees can get the rippled bark, but one of these looks kinda young for that. It seems to be flowering/putting out a lot of seed now. 

Tree 1...branches/leaves

Tree 1...bough is the tree on the far left

Tree 2...parent tree is in the back. Related youngin’ in the front  

Tree 2...parent. Lots of flowering up top?

Tree 2...zoomed flowering at crown

[tamarack]

Looks more like a basswood.   Aspen blossoms/flowers are long gone, generally before the leaves are fully formed.  Basswoods near our house are full of flowers.

[dendrite]

Thanks...that definitely looks like it. I had no idea what those looked like. 

[Ginx snewx]

19 hours ago, dendrite said:

Thanks...that definitely looks like it. I had no idea what those looked like. 

My all time favorite tree. Often find basswood drift wood at the shore. Makes beautiful carvings

[Lava Rock]

Back lawn looks much better than last year due to new hydroseed and pretty wet spring/early summer, but crabgrass out of control.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

Makes me feel better at least. I have shit soil and minimal crab. You had landscapers dump loam and hydro seed, and you’re fighting it? I dunno...I’d be pissed. 

[dendrite]

4 hours ago, Lava Rock said:

Back lawn looks much better than last year due to new hydroseed and pretty wet spring/early summer, but crabgrass out of control.

How low do you cut it in the spring/now? Hell, I probably would've just let it grow out of control right through warm season this year until any weeds start growing above it and then keep it cut at 4". That looks like all dirt and crabgrass.

[Lava Rock]

How low do you cut it in the spring/now? Hell, I probably would've just let it grow out of control right through warm season this year until any weeds start growing above it and then keep it cut at 4". That looks like all dirt and crabgrass.

Yeah some was dirt cause our plow guy dug up the grass late spring. Regarding mow height,.I cut at 4"; highest my mower will go. I'll deal with weeds next spring

[SJonesWX]

don’t do anything with the crabgrass this year. It’s holding the dirt in place. rent a slit-seeder and overseed this fall. Prior to Labor Day if you can.

[Lava Rock]

Makes me feel better at least. I have shit soil and minimal crab. You had landscapers dump loam and hydro seed, and you’re fighting it? I dunno...I’d be pissed. 

Any loam is gonna have some weed seeds, but it's the large area that is encompassed. It used to grow around edge of driveway because of the higher heat the weed prefers.

[dendrite]

Anyone got any good and safe trap ideas for cabbage worms?

 

Also...a little update on the plan for diversification of the gm american chestnut trees I've been talking about.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10061

[dendrite]

Can anyone ID this seed? I don’t think it’s related to the leaves here, but idk for sure. It’s thin walled and hollow except for a little spikey seed. I have some at my house too, but idk which tree they come from. I thought it was a beech, but I guess those produce actual nuts? 

I know the leaf on the right is the basswood, but I’m unsure about the one in the left. I think it’s from a bushier/smaller potential tree and not a large deciduous. 

[Baroclinic Zone]

36 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Can anyone ID this seed? I don’t think it’s related to the leaves here, but idk for sure. It’s thin walled and hollow except for a little spikey seed. I have some at my house too, but idk which tree they come from. I thought it was a beech, but I guess those produce actual nuts? 

I know the leaf on the right is the basswood, but I’m unsure about the one in the left. I think it’s from a bushier/smaller potential tree and not a large deciduous. 

Look up Oak Galls.

[dendrite]

7 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

Look up Oak Galls.

Interesting. Oak apple gall wasps. Mind blown.

[Baroclinic Zone]

4 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Interesting. Oak apple gall wasps. Mind blown.

I typically get a bunch of these every year.  They vary ins size from dime sized to half dollar size.

[tamarack]

3 hours ago, dendrite said:

Can anyone ID this seed? I don’t think it’s related to the leaves here, but idk for sure. It’s thin walled and hollow except for a little spikey seed. I have some at my house too, but idk which tree they come from. I thought it was a beech, but I guess those produce actual nuts? 

I know the leaf on the right is the basswood, but I’m unsure about the one in the left. I think it’s from a bushier/smaller potential tree and not a large deciduous. 

I'd go with witch hazel for the left leaf.  Their seeds mature in early fall and get forcefully ejected, sometimes falling 20 feet or more from mama.  Witch hazel is a woody shrub that rarely gets over 20' tall.  And you're correct about beech - their nuts grow in a spiky 3-panel package about 1/2" diameter, with a single triangular nut within a hard-to-remove hull.  Quite tasty straight from the hull, though one might starve to death trying to free them from their covering.  Kind of like celery - chewing that veggie takes more calories than it provides.
Of course, if one eats beechnuts like a bear, spiky covering, hulls and all (and as fast as they can get crammed into the bear's mouth) the energy budget is more favorable.  At least in Maine, bear reproduction is keyed to beechnut crops; lots in the fall, many cubs in the spring.

[Ginx snewx]

55 minutes ago, tamarack said:

I'd go with witch hazel for the left leaf.  Their seeds mature in early fall and get forcefully ejected, sometimes falling 20 feet or more from mama.  Witch hazel is a woody shrub that rarely gets over 20' tall.  And you're correct about beech - their nuts grow in a spiky 3-panel package about 1/2" diameter, with a single triangular nut within a hard-to-remove hull.  Quite tasty straight from the hull, though one might starve to death trying to free them from their covering.  Kind of like celery - chewing that veggie takes more calories than it provides.
Of course, if one eats beechnuts like a bear, spiky covering, hulls and all (and as fast as they can get crammed into the bear's mouth) the energy budget is more favorable.  At least in Maine, bear reproduction is keyed to beechnut crops; lots in the fall, many cubs in the spring.

So they make bears horny? Have to try it

[dendrite]

2 hours ago, tamarack said:

I'd go with witch hazel for the left leaf.  Their seeds mature in early fall and get forcefully ejected, sometimes falling 20 feet or more from mama.  Witch hazel is a woody shrub that rarely gets over 20' tall.  And you're correct about beech - their nuts grow in a spiky 3-panel package about 1/2" diameter, with a single triangular nut within a hard-to-remove hull.  Quite tasty straight from the hull, though one might starve to death trying to free them from their covering.  Kind of like celery - chewing that veggie takes more calories than it provides.
Of course, if one eats beechnuts like a bear, spiky covering, hulls and all (and as fast as they can get crammed into the bear's mouth) the energy budget is more favorable.  At least in Maine, bear reproduction is keyed to beechnut crops; lots in the fall, many cubs in the spring.

Now that you mention it I remember ID'ing that a couple years ago. I picked some seeds off of it and it definitely matches pics online. I now have no more room in my yard, but I need a basswood. lol

[tamarack]

16 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

So they make bears horny? Have to try it

More importantly (since they may have already bred by beechnut time), they make the bears fat.