Poinsettia Perfection

One of the perks of my job is getting free plants.  Much to the frustration of my boyfriend Kevin, I always seem to be coming home with a carload of plants given to me by local nursery growers and plants from finished research projects that I’ve saved from becoming part of the fateful compost pile.  Unfortunately, my townhouse condo is not very conducive to plant hoarding – with a front yard full of plants already, I am left with container gardening on the back deck or tending indoor plants.  Thankfully, this last plant I brought home – a lovely poinsettia (NOT a point-setta, ahem) – was an indoor one.  As I drove home from work the other day with my new poinsettia, not only was I thinking my typical thought of, “Where the heck am I going to put this one?”, but I was also thinking about the poinsettia itself… 

Photo: Poinsettias often come in brilliant red or snowy white, but can also be marbled, speckled, or even pink.

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a tropical flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America.  Apparently it has been used in Mexican Christmas celebrations since the 17^th century.  Poinsettias make the perfect Christmas plants with their star-shaped leaf arrangement said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and their red color said to symbolize the blood of Christ. 

The poinsettia I just brought home from work also originally came from overseas.  As a small, easily transportable cutting, it was shipped from the tropics all the way here to Long Island.  Care had to be taken to make sure that the little plants did not dry out, overheat, or freeze during transport.  When the shipment arrived in August at our research lab in Riverhead, Christmas seemed far, far away.  Over the next 4 ½ months, our Floriculture Specialist, Nora Catlin, tended over the plants with the care and fastidiousness of a new mother.  Each baby poinsettia received a prescribed watering regimen, nutrient program, and integrated pest control.  As the little poinsettias grew larger in the temperature-controlled greenhouse, the end buds were “pinched” off to increase branching and develop a fuller plant. 

The months passed quickly and as Christmas drew nearer, perfect care of the poinsettias became critical.  If the air temperature of the greenhouse was too low or there was not enough fertilizer applied, the poinsettias could end up too small.  But if the temperature was too high or too much fertilizer was applied, the poinsettias could come out leggy and too big for their pots.  Getting the leaves or bracts to change color from green to red or white in time for Christmas was also critical.  By increasing the length of darkness at night by using a greenhouse shade cloth, and by increasing the intensity of light during the day, the poinsettias turned a brilliant red or snowy white color.  There were also some really neat poinsettia cultivars that revealed a unique marbled or speckled pattern on their bracts or even changed to pink instead. 

Photo: Poinsettias inside a commercial greenhouse on the North Fork, Peconic

Perfect in size and color, Nora’s poinsettias shined festively in neat little rows inside the greenhouse, just in time for Christmas.  These poinsettias joined the nearly 1.5 million poinsettias grown every year here on Long Island.  So the next time you buy a poinsettia, remember all the hard work that went into growing it and making it ready for the holidays.  Now that the hard work is done, it’s time for us to relax and enjoy all that the season has to offer.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!    

Baby It’s Cold Outside! But Not for Long…

Since the United Nations just met last week for their international convention on climate change (COP 16), I figured I’d give this controversial topic some due attention.  I’m not exactly sure what was accomplished (if anything) at the 16^th international meeting on climate change.  After the big push and disappointment last year at COP 15, it seems a legitimate international treaty on climate change is simply a pipe dream.  At least one thing was an improvement this year – the location.  Instead of being held in Denmark in December, this year’s convention was held in Cancun.  I would think global warming sure seems a lot more bearable while lounging on a Mexican beach chair with a margarita in hand!   

In all seriousness, global climate change is a huge deal.  As I sit in my living room wrapped in a blanket with some hot tea while the thermometer teeters near 30°F, and imagine how nice it is in Cancun right now, it’s easy to ignore global warming.  The dire warnings of ice caps breaking off and melting in the Arctic, causing sea levels to rise and Manhattan and Long Island being covered by tidal waves, as polar bears and New Yorkers alike search in vain for a new home… It all seems rather far-fetched.   Where is the proof, the scientific evidence?! 

Well, my friends, the scientific evidence is already here.  It’s certainly not as exciting as fantastic stories of sea level rise, or as charismatic as loveable polar bears, but it’s real and it’s right here in our own backyards.  A recent study from the Northern Research Station of the federal US Forest Service found that the natural range of eastern trees that thrive at more northern latitudes is shifting due to climate change.  The research station found that over 70% of northern tree species are exhibiting a northward migration.  This occurs when more seeds germinate and seedlings thrive at the northern edge of the trees’ range than the southern edge.  Trees such as balsam fir, paper birch, sugar maple, and northern red oak are shifting their ranges northward. 

Photo: The natural range of trees such as Paper Birch is shifting northward as regional temperatures increases.

As species continue to head northward, researchers worry they may be extripated from the US, since many species’ ranges are not only shifting northward, but are also actually decreasing in the US.  Imagine, New England with no sugar maples!

Not only do eastern forests show evidence of climate change, but western forests do as well.  Long-term data from western old-growth forests show that background tree mortality rates have increased rapidly in recent decades.  These increased tree death rates were found across elevations, tree sizes, dominant species, and past fire histories.  After ruling out increased competition and attributing for tree aging, the researchers concluded that climate warming and resultant water shortages were likely the main causes of increased tree death rates.  Drought stress can negatively affect trees directly and indirectly by increasing susceptibility to insects and disease.  Huge outbreaks of bark beetles have ravaged whole mountainsides of western conifers, turning them into kindling wood for massive forest fires. 

Photo: Dead trees in Rocky Mountain National Park as a result of the Mountain Pine Beetle, an insect that takes advantage of drought-stressed trees.

Scientific evidence has shown that our forests are changing as a result of global warming.  Those concerned about climate change should be citing relatable, straight-forward facts, rather than touting calamitous predictions that only believers in the 2012 apocalypse will rally behind.  If you like your maple syrup from New England, or if you don’t want to hike through a tinderbox of our National Parks, then do your small part to reduce your carbon footprint.  The times they are a-changin.’

Firewood Hitchhikers

 Although I consider myself a pretty coordinated person, I’ve never be a great skier.  Each winter, my boyfriend Kevin and I drive up to his family’s ski place in Vermont.  After getting on all our gear and hitting the mountain, I’ll soon find myself feet up and sprawled across the ski trail as other more skilled skiers wiz by me and my poles which are sliding down the mountainside.  After a couple hours, I’m exhausted from the physical and mental strain of trying to not ski into anyone or anything.  We’ll head back to the condo, and after I peel away the cold wet layers of outerwear and check to make sure all my limbs are fully intact, we start a fire.  After a tough day of skiing, there’s nothing better than sitting in front of a warm and toasty crackling fire with the snow lightly falling outside a darkening window.  The warm flames change from yellow to orange to red before my eyes and the dried logs hiss and sputter. 

Photo:  When going on a ski trip or camping, make sure to purchase firewood when you get to your destination rather than beforehand, so you help minimize the spread of invasive tree-killing pests.

As I make another cup of spiced apple cider, Kevin puts another log on the fire.  We always make sure to buy the firewood from the little ski village itself.  That’s because it is actually illegal to transport firewood in New York State more than fifty miles from its source.  It’s also illegal to bring firewood into New York State.  Only if the firewood is heat treated (meaning that it is kiln-dried by bringing the core temperature up to 160°F and held at that temperature for 75 minutes) can you transport firewood greater than fifty miles or into NY State.  You’re also required to carry proof of the firewood’s source, such as a purchase receipt.  If you are cutting your own firewood, you must carry a self-issued certificate of firewood source. 

These are not capricious regulations that have been enacted simply to benefit local firewood suppliers.  There’s actually a very important reason why you shouldn’t move untreated firewood – invasive exotic, tree-killing pests.  Live insects and even diseases can be lurking underneath the bark and inside the wood of untreated firewood.  While there are many insects and fungi that naturally occur in our trees and firewood, dangerous tree-killing pests can also be found.  Invasive pests are insects or diseases that do not naturally occur here.  Instead, they have been brought over from other parts of the world, often accidentally, through increasing world trade and travel.  Our forests have not evolved with pests from across the globe and therefore haven’t developed any natural defenses against such pests.  Full-grown trees can be killed only a few seasons after attack.  Some of the most notorious invasive tree-killing pests include Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle, Oak Wilt, and Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. 

Photo: Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive beetle from Asia that kills native Ash trees like the two growing along this riverbank in the Catskills.  After hitchhiking in firewood from the west, the deadly beetle was found in the Catskill region this summer for the first time ever.  Soon it will be on Long Island, if it isn't already. 

Our modern world is becoming an increasingly smaller one as world trade and travel continue at an unprecedented rate.  We’ve become a melting pot not only of people, but of other species as well.  Each of us can do our small part to slow the spread of invasive pests by not moving firewood long distances.  Also, if you notice that any of the trees in your yard die suddenly, alert Cornell Cooperative Extension to make sure it is not an invasive pest.  The next time you go on a ski trip or camping, make sure to purchase your firewood when you get to your destination rather than beforehand.  We want to keep our trees safe from these firewood hitchhikers!  

The Christmas Tree Conundrum

December is always an eventful month, full of festivities, parties, and traditions.  My family has always gotten a head start on the holiday season by setting up the family Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  My sisters and I would look forward to helping my dad haul up the artificial tree from the basement where it was stored for 11 months of the year, along with the boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments.  We seriously had enough ornaments for three or four trees.  Each year we seemed to accumulate more and more – my mom could never part with the delightful, home-made ornaments my sisters and I made in grade school out of paper plates or glittery yarn, and my dad could never part with his beloved Peanuts or Star Trek ornaments.  Secretly I couldn’t really blame him for the Start Trek ones – I mean who wouldn’t want a miniature electronic Starship Enterprise ornament that could announce the arrival of Dr. Spock at the push of a button? 

One year though, after noticing that the tree had begun leaning under the weight of all the ornaments, we decided to not put so many up, be more tasteful, and go with a themed Christmas tree.  Unfortunately, my dad decided to go with a frog theme and “tastefully” display his entire collection of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy ornaments.  This really brought about a good dose of teenage embarrassment when any of my high school friends came over to visit during the entire month of December and were able to witness the “Frog Tree” in person.  But without an artificial tree, we would have never been able to set up the Christmas tree so early.

And so, this leads to the age-old Christmas tree conundrum – do you get a long-lasting artificial tree, or a short-lived real tree?  What if I said you could have both?  If you get a potted Christmas tree, the tree is still alive and has its roots and you can plant it outside once the holidays are over.  But if you’ve run out of room in your backyard, or you don’t want to be digging through snow and frozen ground, I’d suggest visiting a local Christmas tree farm.  At a Christmas tree farm the trees are still alive and in the ground.  You can meander with your family through a winter wonderland of row after row of perfectly shaped spruce, fir, or pine.  You can drink in the amazing fragrance and enjoy the quiet of a wintery landscape.  At some places you can make the whole day a jolly Christmas celebration with hayrides, hot chocolate, and the occasional Santa Claus.  Once you pick out your “perfect” Christmas tree, they can cut it right there for you on the spot.  In some cases, they’ll even let you cut it yourself the old-fashioned way.  When you get your tree from a Christmas tree farm, you’re getting the freshest cut tree possible.  Although it won’t last as long as an artificial tree, it’ll probably last a whole lot longer than the stockpile of Christmas trees on the side of the road.     

When you go to pick out your Christmas tree, you should know what you’re looking for.  There are actually a number of tree species that make beautiful Christmas trees.  The most popular Christmas trees grown on Long Island are Fir (Douglas, Fraser, Canaan, or Concolor), Spruce (Blue or Norway), and Pine (White).  Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziseii) and Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri) are probably the most popular and most commonly grown Christmas trees on Long Island.  They both have soft green needles and very good needle retention.  Douglas Fir is a little more fragrant, but both smell wonderfully.  Canaan Fir (Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis) is actually a type of Balsam Fir, the quintessential Christmas tree.  Concolor or White Fir (Abies concolor) has more of a citrus aroma and bluish-green, slightly curved needles.

Spruces also make great Christmas trees.  Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) has striking light-blue colored foliage.  Be careful though, because the ends of the needles are very sharp. 

Photo: Colorado Blue Spruce, like this one growing at Bayard Cutting Arboretum, make great Christmas trees.

Photo (below): Norway Spruce is the species of tree that Rockefeller Center uses for its annual tree lighting ceremony. 

Norway Spruce (Picea abies) can get very large, but you might want to wait until closer to Christmas to pick this one out, since needles don’t stay on the tree as well as other species after being cut.  Although it has minimal fragrance, White Pine (Pinus strobus) provides more of an old-fashioned feel with its very long, soft needles.

Below are some local Long Island Christmas tree farms.  Be sure to call ahead and they can help you pick out your perfect Christmas tree, whatever species it may be.  (No Kermit the Frog ornaments included!)

Baiting Hollow Nursery – Calverton. 631-929-6439 or 929-4327

Brightwaters Farms and Nursery – Bay Shore. 631-665-5411

Dart’s Christmas Tree Farm – Southold. 631-765-4148

Elwood Farm – Huntington. 631-368-8626

Muller’s Christmas Tree Farm – Manorville. 631-878-1060

Shamrock Christmas Tree Farm – Mattituck. 631-298-4619

Tilden Lane Farm – Greenlawn. 631-261-6392

Mulch - It Does a Plant Good

Mulch is an easy and cheap way to take good care of your plants.  Adding mulch is the simple practice of adding partially decomposed plant material, including wood chips, leaves, and other landscape waste, to your garden by spreading it in a thin layer on the surface of your soil.  Adding mulch to your garden is one of the simplest and most beneficial things you can do for your plants.

Mulch has many plant benefits.  As the cold weather draws near, adding mulch to your garden is especially important because it acts as an organic blanket, insulating the soil and protecting tender roots from cold temperatures.  Mulch also benefits your plants by maintaining soil moisture – with a good layer of mulch, soil surfaces are less likely to dry out under a hot, dry sun.  Mulch also suppresses weeds by reducing seed germination.  If that wasn’t enough, mulch also adds important organic matter to the soil.  As mulch further decomposes, it fuels beneficial soil microorganisms which help maintain healthy soils and healthy plants.

Mulch is cheap.  You can buy bagged mulch from your local garden center, OR you could get it for free.  There are a number of municipal recycling facilities on Long Island that pick up curbside leaves and other landscape debris and recycle it into mulch.   A number of towns give mulch away for free, including the Town of Smithtown Recycling Center and the Town of Southold.  Wood chips and fine screened wood mulch are available free to anyone who wants to come pick up a truckload.  Contact the Town of Smithtown Recycling Center at 631-360-7500 or their Kings Park location at 631-269-6600.

As simple and cheap as the practice of adding mulch may seem, there are also easy ways to mess it up.  The first is by applying the wrong kind of mulch.  Many “specialty” mulches are available including those made from recycled car tires and stone or marble chips.  These specialty mulches don’t decompose and don’t need to be replenished on a routine basis, but they also don’t add any of that super important organic matter to the soil.  They can even be harmful to plants by adversely affecting the soil pH. 

Photo: Mulch that was placed directly against the tree trunk up only six inches caused trunk rot and the formation of adventitious, circling roots on this Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova serrata).

But the most common problem I see with mulch is applying too much of it!  It looks like a lot of people went mulch-crazy and “too much of a good thing” was not in their comprehension.  Mulch that is piled up at the base of trees or shrubs, and that is 6, 12, or even 24 inches deep, is called a “mulch volcano” because of its similar shape.  In order to keep your mulch from “erupting,” you should place a thin layer only 2-4 inches deep on the surface of the soil.  Too much mulch may interfere with water penetration into the soil.  You should also be very careful to not place mulch directly against the trunk of trees and shrubs.  This is the biggest problem with mulch volcanoes because the constant moisture against the tree trunk can cause rot, be attractive to pests, cause improper root growth, and interfere with air exchange between the tree trunk and the surrounding air.       

Photo: On this properly mulched London Planetree (Platanus x acerifolia), you can see that the trunk flare is visible and not covered by mulch.

Adding mulch is one of the least expensive, easiest, and most beneficial practices in the garden.  Just make sure you follow the recommended guidelines, and remember, mulch – it does a plant good!

Freaky Science-Fiction Plants

Sunday night I was flipping through the channels and as always, there was nothing on TV.  As I grumbled to myself about the lack of good networking, one show caught my attention.  “Ladies and gentlemen – what he has created is new life itself – a completely new, synthetic species.  More with that story after these messages.  TICK TICK TICK TICK.”  What?!  Captivated, I stared at that incessant 60 Minutes clock on the TV screen, impatiently waiting to learn if the stuff of science fiction movies had actually come true.  Was Frankenstein created by some sick doctor that spent too much time at the Bodies exhibit?  Was DNA from the Jurassic Era discovered and a whole zoo of prehistoric creatures about to be unleashed?  Or did some crazy engineer actually design a conscious robot that could do all my house chores for me?  I intently watched the story unfold on the TV… 

Indeed – new life has been created.  A new species of single-celled bacteria, unofficially named Mycoplasma laboratorium, was created by the J. Craig Venter Institute in California.  The key thing about this new bacteria, is that it is completely synthetic – its DNA is totally man-made, and yet it is still capable of replicating all by itself.  Woah...  My mind reeled as I tried to grasp this incomprehensible new concept.  The lead scientist, Dr. J. Craig Venter, held up on the TV screen a yellowed Petri dish with tiny specks of black in it that looked more like mold than anything else.  And yet these tiny dots prove that humans are now capable of creating completely new life forms in a laboratory, simply by sequencing, synthesizing, and transplanting genomes – a feat that Dr. Venter called “miraculous,” right after he ironically denounced his belief in God.

60 Minutes explained that news of the miraculous discovery has reached President Obama, who recently held a meeting on the bioethical questions of Dr. Venter’s activities of “playing God.”  After the program was over and I got over the initial shock of the breaking news, I began to think…

Humans have been meddling with genes, shaping new plants, and “playing God” for millennia.  Ever since the dawn of agriculture, people have been selecting for certain plant traits and genes that are favorable to them – nutritional value or drought-tolerance for example.  Through this selection process, people have greatly changed the genetic makeup of plants that are useful to them.  This process continues today in food crops as scientists breed for the ability to be stored for extended periods of time on a grocery store shelf or for resistance to certain pests. 

In the realm of ornamental horticulture, plant breeders also “play God.”  By identifying individual plants with desirable traits such as uniform habit or flower quantity, breeders select for certain genes.  Most ornamental plants for sale these days are grown from cuttings - which means that they are actually clones of one another with exactly the same genetic makeup.  This guarantees that all the plants of a cultivated species will express the desirable trait. 

Perhaps the craziest genetic feat of ornamental plant breeders is that they have managed to develop new plants from two wholly different genera.  (If you remember, a genus is the taxonomic classification before a species.)  If you go to your retail nursery shop in the spring, you’ll see one of these science fiction-worthy plants – Foamy Bells (X Heucherella).  Foamy Bells were created by plant breeders who hybridized Coral Bells (Heuchera spp.) and Foamflower (Tiarella spp.). The intergeneric hybrid Foamy Bells would be like breeding a new animal from a domestic cat and a lion!

Photo: Foamflower is one of the parents of Foamy Bells. Above is 'Sugar and Spice' Foamflower (Tiarella 'Sugar and Spice'). 

Photo: Coral Bells is the other parent of Foamy Bells. Above is 'Citronelle' Coral Bells (Heuchera 'Citronelle'). 

Photo: Foamflower + Coral Bells = Foamy Bells. Below is 'Sunspot' Foamy Bells (X Heucherella 'Sunspot').

This photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder. (http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/plant.asp?code=B197)

Foamy Bells make great plants for a partially-shaded woodland garden with moist, well-drained soil.  They come in a never-ending variety of colors and their bold leaves add unique texture to the garden.  I guess we should blame all this meddling with genes on the Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel – if it wasn’t for his experiments with pea plants in the monastery garden, I’m sure the modern world would have no Foamy Bells. 

I don’t know what the upshot was or will be of President Obama’s recent meeting on the bioethical questions of synthetic bioengineering, but I am sure that Dr. Venter will continue with his synthetic bacteria research.  I’m also sure that plant breeders will continue to keep developing new, unique, and beautiful plants for the garden.  Dr. Venter says it’s only a matter of time before his synthetic cells give rise to new biofuels and pharmaceuticals...and maybe even conscious robots to clean the house too, which would be great especially around the holidays!  I guess we’ll have to wait and see… TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK



Is Fall Really for Planting?

It seems like all the plant nurseries have great big signs out now that say, “Fall is for Planting!” right next to their signs that say “50% Off Trees and Shrubs!”.  Fall is for planting mums, ornamental cabbages and kales, and spring-flowering bulbs, but is it really a good idea to plant trees and shrubs in the fall?  Who wants to be outside on a blustery fall day digging a planting hole while their fingers are turning blue?  Couldn’t it wait until the spring?

Photo: Early fall planting give roots ample time to grow before the following summer.

The idea behind fall planting is that trees and shrubs will get a head start on root growth before hot, dry weather comes the following summer.  With a larger root system, they will be better equipped to mine the soil for water than trees planted only a few months ago in the spring.  Long Island summers certainly have their fair share of droughts and heat waves, and lack of water is the most common cause of transplant failure, so this is a valid concern.  Yet some research has shown that fall planting is worse than spring planting or makes no difference.  So what are we to do?   

Provided you give your new plants enough water, you should be fine planting in the early fall, in September or October of a typical year.  But in late fall, in November or December when there may have already been a couple frosts, you should be careful planting the following plants:

·       Evergreens (especially broadleaf ones such as rhododendron or andromeda)

·       Balled and burlapped trees with a coarse root system

·       Extremely large trees (think 30 feet tall!)

The key to successfully transplanting evergreens in late fall is to make sure that they do not dry out over the winter.  Typically winter soil is wet because trees are dormant and aren’t using water.  But if a relatively warm day with bright sunshine and high winds comes along, the temperature of the leaf surface of evergreens can increase enough to cause transpiration and water loss.  If the soil is still frozen or even at a cold temperature that restricts water movement into the roots, the plant can suffer from winter drought-stress known as winter desiccation.  Evergreen leaves will turn brown and crinkle and may drop.

If you want to test your luck and plant evergreens in the late fall anyway, make sure to: 

·       Irrigate during a relatively warm winter day, especially when there has been no precipitation for a while and it will get cold again the next day.

·       Apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch to insulate the soil and keep it moist.

·       Situate the plants in a non-windy location in partial or full shade (as long as they don’t require full sun) so that their leaves do not heat up as much in bright sun on a warm winter day.

·       Consider applying an anti-desiccant at the beginning of the winter and following up with repeat applications.

You should also be cautious of planting balled and burlapped trees with a coarse root system or extremely large trees in the late fall.  Some tree, such as oaks, naturally tend to have a coarser root system than others.  Very large trees will also tend to have a coarser root system.  This means that relatively few roots remain within the harvested root ball - the tree is more susceptible to drying out, and it has a smaller stored food supply which it needs to grow new roots and leaves in the spring.  (Trees store a lot of the carbohydrates they make during photosynthesis in their roots over the winter.)

Photo: 25 foot tall Littleleaf Linden trees were successfully transplanted in early spring in Southampton.

If you are still thinking about planting a coarse-rooted species or very large tree in the late fall, consider:

·        Planting a smaller-sized tree.

·        Planting a container-grown tree.

·        Planting a balled and burlapped tree that has been root-pruned to have a more fibrous root system during production.

So is fall for really for planting?  The answer is the most common answer in horticulture – it depends.  Know which trees and shrubs are risky to plant in the late fall, and think twice before you fall for some great end-of-season sales at the nursery. 

STOP Drop that fertilizer!

Fertilizers are not pesticides.  They are not toxic and are not meant to kill anything.  They can be applied without gloves and your dog could walk all over your yard directly after application without getting hurt.  Heck, little Rex could roll around in it if he wanted to!  Fertilizers are non-toxic and are composed of salts.  Just like people take supplemental nutrients in the form of vitamins, plants may also need to take supplemental nutrients in the form of fertilizers.  Essential macronutrients that plants need include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.  Plants can’t simply eat a banana or drink some more milk to obtain their daily dose of vitamins – instead, they need to get their nutrients from the soil.

Photo: Everyone wants a lush lawn like this one in East Hampton

Some concerned citizen groups have eliminated the use of pesticides and fertilizers on their lawns and are advocating for others to do so as well.  If fertilizers are just plant nutrients, then what’s all the hype about?  Well, just like everything in life, a proper balance needs to be struck – not too little fertilizer, not too much fertilizer… just right.   A nutrient deficiency may cause a plant to have little or no growth, not photosynthesize properly, or be more susceptible to certain pest problems.  On the other hand, too much of a particular nutrient may cause a plant to grow too rapidly and decrease flowering, develop toxicity symptoms, develop other types of nutrient deficiencies, or be more susceptible to other types of pest problems. 

Too much fertilizer is certainly problematic for the plant, but environmentally-concerned people are worried about a much bigger problem - nutrient runoff and leaching.  If plant nutrients do not go into the soil and are instead carried off by rainwater, they can easily find themselves in one of the many bodies of water that surround Long Island.  Too many nutrients in the ocean, bay, or estuary is not good.  In very basic terms, what happens is that algae in the water quickly use the added nutrients and then multiply rapidly.  “Algal blooms” form which then deplete the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water creating a state of hypoxia.  Little oxygen is left for the fishes and shellfish and fish die-offs occur.  (Of course it is a bit more complicated than this, but you get the gist.)

So how do we find the amount of fertilizer that is just right?  The best way to do this is to take a soil sample and send it to the laboratory for analysis.  Soil tests are quite cheap and range from $15 - $65 per sample depending on how much information you want.  The other half of the story in protecting Long Island’s water bodies from nutrient loading is to follow the proper guidelines on how to fertilizer.  This includes applying fertilizer just before or when plant roots are actively growing.  Generally, spring and early fall is when the soil is warm and moist enough for plant roots to be growing and able to absorb nutrients.  But now that it is getting cold out, plants are preparing for dormancy and closing-up shop for the winter.  Both Nassau and Suffolk Counties have made a determined effort to protect Long Island’s water bodies from nutrient loading.  According to county laws, as of November 1^st, it is illegal for a landscaper to apply fertilizer to your lawn if you live in Suffolk County.  When November 15^th comes, it is illegal for a landscaper to apply fertilizer to your lawn if you live in Nassau County.  (Trees and shrubs are not included in these laws.)  The idea of these laws is to minimize the amount of fertilizer applied to turf grass when it is not actively growing or the ground is frozen.  April 1^st of next year, lawn fertilization can begin again.  Surprisingly, it is still legal for you to apply fertilizer any time of the year to your own lawn - you just can’t have the landscaper do it for you. 

Photo: Not fertilizing your lawn after Nov. 1st or 15th helps protect Long Island's water bodies like the Peconic River in Riverhead

So pack up your fertilizer for this season and when spring comes, remember that plants and the environment are like Goldilocks – they want their fertilizer just right.       

Back to Biology Class

The other week I signed up for my first adult continuing education class held at Commack High School.  Although I never attended Commack H.S., it is an eerie feeling to walk through the empty, locker-lined halls as your own memories of high school creep up on you.  The night of my first class I felt like a freshman again hurrying through the labyrinth of corridors trying to find the correct classroom and hoping that the teacher wouldn’t notice as I snuck in late.  I scurried past the language hall, the history wing, the art classrooms, and, after getting myself completely turned around, past the science department.  Ah yes, I thought to myself, the good old science department.  Where everything a high school student ever needed to know about science could be learned in Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics class.  Or could everything be?  I remember learning about the solar system in Earth Science, the inner workings of the digestive system in Biology, the components of the atom in Chemistry, and the law of gravity in Physics. 

Photo: Back to class

I was a hard-working student and excelled in all these classes.  But looking back now, I realize how much was left out of my and my classmates’ high school science education.  So many basic questions remained unanswered such as, Where does our food come from?  Where does our water come from?  How do you plant a tree?  What used to be on Long Island before strip malls and subdivisions?  I don’t mean to be overcritical of my high school (which is a School of Excellence I am reminded).  I am just raising the question of why are we pushing our kids to learn quantum mechanics and DNA gel electrophoresis when so many of them don’t know how to plant a seed?  And so, before I get too carried away, I am dedicating this article to one of our most basic biology questions…

What makes a fruit a fruit?  A fruit is the part of a flowering plant that houses the plant’s seeds.  Botanically speaking, the fruit is the part of a plant that develops from the ovary.  After the eggs are fertilized inside the ovary, they develop into seeds and the fruit ripens.  In common, everyday language, fruits must be sweet, but in the botanical definition, they do not have to be.  So pumpkins, corn, tomatoes, and chili peppers are all really fruits because they are flowering plants (not all plants are flowering) and they enclose the seeds of the plant.   

Photo: Eible, but not sweet - Red Chokecherry

Many fruits are edible because it is the plant’s tricky way of enticing people and other plant eaters to ingest the fruit and disperse its seeds.  Why does a plant want to disperse its seeds?  Because if all the seeds fell in one place and started growing beneath the mother plant, there would not be enough water, sunlight and nutrients for all of them.  And, of course, the plant wants to produce as many baby plants as possible.  Some plants use other tactics to disperse their seeds like wind, water, or being sticky and being carried on the fur of animals.  The seeds, not the fruits, are what give rise to other plants.  So plant some seeds in your yard in the spring and see what happens.

Photo: Surprisingly edible - Kousa Dogwood fruits

As I tried to navigate the maze of Commack H.S. the other night, I walked past posters for student clubs, student-painted murals, and athletic department trophy cases.  I hoped that these students were already learning answers to basic science questions and that our schools are teaching them the foundation for a sustainable and “green” future.

Easy as apple pie?

It’s mid-October and the fall season is now fully upon us. To some that may mean winter and ski season are just around the corner, but to me, fall means FOOD.  When I think of fall, I think of harvest and all the bountiful food that comes with it.  To me, fall means cinnamon pumpkin pie, acorn squash drizzled with maple syrup, roasted corn on the cob, salty pumpkin seeds, shiny red candy apples, and of course, enough chocolate and candy to give you a stomach ache for two weeks.  Fall is the one time of the year when eating is celebrated and gluttony is expected, and I love it! 

Photo: Bountiful Harvest at Bayview Farms

Fall also means apple picking.  Orchards brimming with bright red fruits entice even the most devoted city people to come out and enjoy the pleasure of harvesting their own food.  The other week, while out the North Fork wine tasting with my boyfriend Kevin’s family, we passed an apple orchard.  Kevin and I, and his sister Suzanne and her boyfriend Scott, pleaded like little kids with their dad, Clif, to stop the car.  Although we didn’t go apple picking since it was already late in the afternoon, the conversation quickly changed to apples.  We debated with great gravity whether apple cider tasted better warm or cold, which family member made the best apple pie, and what was the best variety of apples (Macoun was my choice!).  “It would be so awesome if we had our own apple tree and could pick fresh apples whenever we wanted,” Suzanne thought aloud.  “Yes!  Let’s do it!” Scott interrupted enthusiastically.  “We already have a mulberry tree growing in our backyard, so how hard could apples be?”

Photo: Wine Tasting on the North Fork

Well, my friends, I hate to break it to you, but growing an apple tree is not as easy as pie.  Growing up, my family had a crabapple tree and a pear fruit tree in our backyard, planted by the previous owners.  The crabapples were inedible, but the low-branching tree was great for climbing, so I was a bit upset when my dad cut it down when I was 10 years old.  Not soon after, he also cut down the pear tree, which we were all glad to see go, since its fruits were brown and mushy and had the texture of gritty sand.  In their place, my dad planted two spectacular apple trees – a rare ‘Early Blaze’ apple tree and a more popular ‘McIntosh’ apple tree.  I remember being amazed that the white spring flowers could really turn into tiny little green fruits which got bigger and bigger and then suddenly turned a flushed red in the autumn.  The first few years were great – we had enough apples for school snacks and my mom even made some delicious apple pies.  I felt like we were real farmers and I bragged at lunch to my Garden City schoolmates that yep, I GREW this apple myself! 

But like real farmers, our apple trees were not immune to pest problems.  In the heart of the suburbs, it only took a couple seasons for the worms to find our apple trees.  Our once crisp apples were now brown-spotted and distorted and were criss-crossed by brown twisted tunnels of rot on the inside.  Tiny apple maggots had made our fruits inedible.  Sometimes we’d cut open a seemingly healthy apple and inside was a large brown cavity of decay.  The larvae of fruit moths were to blame.  My dad tried spraying the trees with insecticides but nothing worked – the timing of the spray was incorrect or the insecticide he used wasn’t effective against the apple maggots and oriental fruit moths.  Any healthy apples that did miraculously form, we couldn’t eat anyway until my mom meticulously scrubbed them of any trace of insecticide.  Eventually my dad gave up on the apple trees, and the Alvey Fruit Farm was no more.  

I now have a great appreciation for the orchard growers who supply our food stores and farms stands with fresh, healthy apples.  I have an even greater appreciation for the fruit farmers who’ve decided to eliminate insecticide sprays and try other methods of pest control.  How they get any healthy apples is a miracle in and of itself.  So, Suzanne and Scott, my suggestion would be to stick to apple picking and leave the growing to the experts – getting healthy apples is not as easy as pie.

 

Places to go apple-picking on Long Island:

Wickham Fruit Farm – Cutchogue. 631-734-6441

Lewin Farms – Wading River. 631-929-4327

The Milk Pail – Water Mill. 631-537-2565

Baiting Hollow Nurseries – Calverton. 631-929-6439

Davis Farm – Wading River. 631-929-1115

Fort Salonga Farm – Northport. 631-269-9666

Seven Ponds Orchard – Water Mill. 631-726-8015

Thirsty Little Bloodsuckers

Now, I must warn you that this is not my favorite subject.  But since it can seriously affect the health of all Long Islanders who enjoy being outside, I figured it’s an important topic.  What I’m talking about is TICKS – nature’s tiny parasites that live off the blood of animals and people.  Not true insects, ticks are more related to mites.  Once they find a host, they attach themselves using their cutting mandibles and insert their feeding tube directly into the skin.  I think even my entomologist friends would agree that ticks are pretty disgusting. 

I’ve hated ticks for a long time - since 3^rd grade in elementary school to be precise.  I distinctly remember the feelings of frustration and anger when I learned that our class field trip to Fire Island was cancelled because everyone was worried about ticks and getting Lyme disease.  As a feisty little 3^rd grader, I chalked it up to all the neurotic moms in my town not wanting their precious Mary or Jonny traipsing around in the swamp.  That whole day I sulked in my chair, looking out the window and daydreaming about what the salt-marshes of Fire Island were like. 

But three years later in 6^th grade, I had a wake-up call.  My best friend Allison was in the hospital with an IV to her chest and no one knew what was wrong with her.  I was scared for her and hoped she would get better quick so we could play together and ride our bikes after school and not worry about anything again.  The doctors finally determined that Allison had Lyme disease.  Lyme disease is the most commonly transmitted tick-borne illness.  Thankfully the antibiotics worked well, and the infection did not spread to her central nervous system.  In no time at all, Allison was feeling better and back to school.

Since grade school, I’ve met a lot more people who have had Lyme disease.  At least three of my co-workers in Riverhead and many of the landscapers I work with out east have had Lyme.  Lyme disease is much more prevalent in eastern Long Island than western, because the main vector of the disease is the black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick.  Appropriately named, the deer tick must also feed on deer, which are necessary for the ticks’ successful reproduction.  So, without deer, there can be no deer ticks or Lyme disease.  For all of you in Nassau County who just let out a sigh of relief, deer have recently been found in Oyster Bay and are pushing farther and farther west as their population expands.  Who knows, maybe someday we’ll see little Bambis walking around the streets of Hempstead (Hey, if Manhattan can have coyotes, then Hempstead can have deer!). 

Photo:  Perfect deer and tick habitat - David A. Sarnoff Pine Barrens Preserve, Riverhead

But in the meantime, if you are going to be in parks, woods, fields, or seashores where deer may be, make sure to check yourself for ticks afterwards and know the symptoms of infection.  Symptoms may include fever, headache, and fatigue.  The characteristic bull’s eye skin rash occurs in only about 80% of people infected and will appear 3-30 days after a bite.  If left untreated, the disease may progress to the heart, central nervous system, and joints causing arthritis.  Thankfully, Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics, especially when caught early, so don’t let those thirsty little bloodsuckers get you!