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 ...

Little metalmark Thanksgiving is a day for reflection. A time to pause for a moment and think clearly about the gifts we've been given - and, to a point, the gifts we pass forward. There are a great many things for me to be thankful for, but near the top is the newly created gift of my living landscape. Robin Wall Kimmerer in her amazing book, Braiding Sweetgrass , talks about the concept of reciprocity - the act of giving back to the world what we've been gifted by it. It had and still does have a profound influence on me and my approach here. We live by taking the lives of others. There is no denying it. Whether it's a plant-based life or one that consumes meat as well, we live by consuming. We consume space that was once the home of others and we take resources that could have been used to support another life. We do this daily and often without reflection. Today is a day to do that. We take life with or without reverence. The choice is ours, consciously or not. When we ...

Hawthorn Hill, November 20, 2020 Winters in Florida is not the same as the ones I grew up with in Wisconsin. As a gardener, I'm always happy to be able to putter around my plants here, but I have to admit that there is something wonderful about taking a rest. That's what wintertime is, after all. It's a time for us to catch our breath and a time to evaluate where things stand. To a great extent, that's even true here in my new Pasco County home. Most of my plants are done growing for the year and, although a few are yet to bloom, most are starting to lose their leaves and/or are going to seed. With that, comes planting and planting for a new season brings me great joy. No longer are the weeds trying to stay ahead of me and the attention I have to give to watering the plants in my flats is significantly reduced. Except for collecting and planting seed, I have very little to do right now and that is fine with me.  I don't consider myself to be a lazy man, but there is...

Native red salvia ( Salvia coccinea ) Royal catchfly ( Silene regia ) Evolution is an amazing force of nature. Over time, life evolves to best meet the needs and conditions of each living thing, plant or animal. Plants evolve what they are - their color and shape, for example, by design not to meet an aesthetic consideration. A few years ago, I was teaching a small group of elementary students about flowers and I asked them why flowers are the way they are. The answers surprised me a bit, but shouldn't have. Several of the students answered that flowers were pretty and smelled good because it pleased us as humans; the concept that too many of use seem to embrace - that we are the center of the universe. It never dawned on them that plants use those features to best ensure their survival. It has nothing to do with aesthetics.  As I peruse posts on social media it never fails to reinforce the fact that too many of us fail to recognize this. We all-too-often design and plant our lands...

Chinaberry debris Chinaberry Florida has its share of hurricanes and tropical storms, but none have made landfall close to me since my move here over two years ago.  When I lived in Seminole, my landscape took the brunt of a Category 3 hurricane and escaped virtually unscathed, but as Eta bore down on me in what looked to be a direct hit with 70 mph winds, I wondered if I would be as lucky here. As it struck in the dark of night, I had to wait until dawn to surveil the possible impact of this storm. Much has been written about choosing native trees for a number of reasons, and some have centered around their strength and ability to withstand significant weather events, including high winds. Not all of what is written is true, however, as this sort of strength is not purely confined to nativity.  A mature red cedar across the street from me It is true that a great many of the fast-growing nonnatives planted so commonly here in Florida are weak. Fast-growing trees are almost alw...