There Were No Fences

Basswood December 2020 Someday, a very smart entrepreneur will start a lucrative business selling the fallen leaves of deciduous trees. In much the same way that folks realized that pine needles were not a waste product, they will realize the great value that fallen leaves have as mulch.  Here in Florida, the fallen leaves I often encounter are those of live oaks ( Quercus virginiana ). In my former landscape, I raked great piles of them every year in later winter (Live oaks are not truly evergreen no matter what you read) and then used them as mulch beneath my woodlands plantings, but live oak leaves are inferior to the leaves of many deciduous trees as they are thick and leathery and this slows down the rate in which they decompose. After all, leaf mulches are supposed to decompose. That's really what any good mulch does when not used as a trail or activity center. When I first moved into my new home here in Holiday, there were no trees of any kind to provide the mulch I wanted a...

I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with squirrels. On most accounts they are a real pain in the a$$. Each year as I plant my flats of wildflower seed, they venture up onto my potting benches and dig them up. Furiously... They chew things up that shouldn't be chewed and they do their best to rob my bird feeders of all they contain. On the other hand, I am reminded that they are part of this natural world that I claim to find sacred. As a former wife once told me as I complained about them - You landscaped our yard for wildlife and you got what you deserve - or something like that.  She was right of course (not sure I ever admitted that before now).  We cannot pick and choose which wildlife species are deserving of our attention and which are not - at least we shouldn't try. Over the years, I have had to field so many questions like this; the folks that don't want a native plant landscape because it might attract snakes, for example. To be honest, I've s...

 As I grew up, I was often reminded of this simple concept: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is a truism that I embrace. In a world so focused on outer beauty, it is a concept that needs more embracing. The media constantly bombards us with ads designed to sell us products to enhance how we look to the world and almost nothing that challenges us to beautify what's inside of us. Sadly, the world of horticulture does the same. So many landscapes are "sold" to us for their outer beauty. We grow up believing that there is beauty in a well-manicured landscape of "perfect" turf grass; one without weeds or bare spots, one that is lush, forever green, and needs constant tinkering to keep it that way. We plant for color and interest with no consideration for other attributes. As we proceed with this model as the norm, we've spread a lifeless covering across the areas where we live and work - without a clue as to what we've done. It is time that we looked ...