Recently in Plants Category

There was an interesting book review in the Financial Times today about a common plant and iconic fruit, the apple.  The Story of the Apple, by a pair of botanists, Oxford’s Barrie Juniper and the University of Washington's David Mabberley, chronicles their search through cultural, historical, and DNA evidence to trace the apple's origins. Their best evidence points to the forests of Kazakhstan. This is removed from the biblical areas of the middle east and fertile crescent, where temperatures do not get cold enough to help apples properly germinate. It is fascinating to ponder the rich past of such a commonly cultivated plant and leads to curiosity about the sources of other plants we take for granted.

As with any planting, location can be a key factor to the plant's success. As I was walking by an office building today, I noticed a stand of Redwoods planted within feet of an office building's foundation. The trees themselves looked great, and helped to screen the building, but functionally it was clear the trees were misplaced. Half of the tree had to be pruned against the building, leaving them misshapen. Large scale trees may work well in confined spaces when young, but as they grow taller and as their root systems grow more pronounced they can cause significant problems. We have seen this time and again on projects where tree roots are disturbing foundations, and sewer or utility lines.

Practically it makes sense to think about what the tree is being planted to do (screen, provide shade, visual presence etc.) and to take into account its mature size and the needed buffer distance to help prevent problems. Selecting the wrong tree for a particular application can be just as bad. Just ask those with high rooted Birch trees planted in lawns or Liquid Ambar trees planted along sidewalks.

 

I posted an entry a while back about a restoration planting that we had done for a personal project in the Sacramento Valley. On a recent site visit it is interesting to see how the native plants are progressing. Surprisingly, most are doing quite well, and continued survival rates are good so far. One major impact has been the grasses and weeds that have grown in the last month. This combined with lower than normal rainfall has taken its toll.

One interesting specimine was a California Black Walnut sapling that was dead above ground. When pulled up, there was still living material at the top of the tap root, which had grown a few inches in the past few months.

Pictured: Foxtail, Rye Grass and Other Grasses and Weeds Compete for Moisture and Often Crowd Out Native Plantings.