Month: October 2019

Identifying a Hornbeam Tree

A full grown hornbeam will live for up to 350 years (if pollarded or coppiced) and can grow up to 30m tall.

The common beech is often confused for the hornbeam. It has a smooth, stubby and warped trunk, which turns rigged with age. The grey bark is pale and has vertical marking running down them. Twigs have small hairs and are brown to grey in colour. Leaf buds are much like beech buds, only a little bit shorter, with a slight curve at the tips. The leaves are oval shaped, toothed and have pointed tips. They are smaller and more furrowed compared to beech; they also turn from yellow to orange during autumn before they fall.

Hornbeam has a monoecious reproductive system, meaning that the male and female flowers (catkins) are located within the same tree. Once they have been pollinated, usually by wind, they turn into paper thin fruits with wings; these are known as samaras.

Significance to Wildlife

The hornbeam does not shed its leaves and provides all year round shelter for birds, as well as roosting and foraging opportunities.

The leaves are usually eaten by caterpillars of moths such as the nut tree tussock. Small mammals will eat the seeds during autumn, along with small birds like tits and finches.

Myths and Legends

It was thought that a tonic made from the tree useful for curing sleepiness and fatigue. The leaves were also used to heal wounds.

How we use hornbeam

The timber has a speckled grain and is cream to white in colour. You’ll find this wood is very strong and durable, and has many uses for making flooring and furniture.

Historically it was used for making ox-yokes (this is a wooden beam that gets fitted on the shoulders of an ox so it could pull carts along), as well as chopping blocks for butchers and parts for water and wind mills. It was also used to make poles from pollarded and coppiced trees.

The wood burs very well and is often used to make charcoal and firewood.

Threats, Pests and Diseases

As with most trees, the hornbeam can be vulnerable to some fungal diseases, particularly Phytophthora. Grey squirrels can also cause damage to trees by stripping the bark.

How can this be? Don’t we know that flowers can’t be dwarfed, at least to any serious degree? And if we can’t dwarf flowers, how can we make them in scale? Is there a trick? Well, it’s not exactly a trick, but it is a secret of sorts. At least it’s not a deliberate secret, but it hasn’t been talked about much; in fact, it’s even hard to find out much if you were to search for it in “Google” for an answer.

The secret lies in the fact that flowers don’t grow individually but rather in groups which together are called a “florescence”. A florescence consists of many flowers growing out of the same stalk and secondary stalks, as it were. Importantly, the florescence consists of a different kind of plant material with different growth characteristics than the flowers themselves. Thus the flowers don’t need to be dwarfed (which won’t happen anyway) to reduce the scale and size of the overall mass of the flower mass, the florescence. If we could just dwarf and shorten the stalks on which the flowers grow, we could make the florescence smaller without doing anything else. But how?

Here again there is a trick that has been developed over the past few decades and it involves using chemicals which have been formulated for just such a purpose. Collectively, they are called “growth retardants”, PGRs, or “growth regulators”. The part of the plants that these chemicals have been developed to retard are, for the most part, the stems. There are several parts to the stems, primary, secondary and tertiary. All have the same characteristics of growth as a result of which we can treat them similarly. The primary stem that is the attachment of the florescence to the rest of the plant is called merely the stem. The secondary stem, which attaches to the primary stem, is called a peduncle, and the smallest part of the florescence, which themselves carry the flowers, are called pedicels. Fortunately for us, they all react the same way to the PGRs, as “stem” material.

Much work has been done to create different growth patterns, especially including products which can cause a more compact form of growth. That is something that is in great demand in ornamental plants which have, as their purpose, their looks, rather than a particular function of the plant. Even grasses have had formulations prepared to keep them from having to be mowed as often. There is even a formulation designed specifically for grasses, called “Cutless”, for obvious reasons.
Other formulations, which have different effects on different plants, but which are all designed primarily to make the ornamental plant and/or its blooms more attractive, include those with names like: A-rest, B-nine, Cycocel, Trimtect, ethephon and paclobutrazol, or bonzi (not recommended, for when used in a concentration slightly too high, it can cut off any more growth almost permanently), and bud ignitor, which does several phase-specific bud boosters for different aspects of the blooming cycle. And there’s much to discover. To read more on this recent development, Bud Booster, for example go to:
http://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/products/bud_ignitor/bud_ignitor_product_information.php

Ethephon, as another example, which has a different mode of action than inhibiting gibberelic acid (GA). GA inhibition is one of the most used methods of reducing growth. Application methods vary too. Some are designed as foliar sprays and others as soil drenches. The literature has become so all-encompassing that it is impossible to do more than touch on some of the highlights of a few of the best known. For more information, just Google “Plant Growth Retardants” and you will find everything you need to know – and much more.

The crape myrtles, being vigorous growers, for the most part, will generally need more powerful PGRs. The more forgiving sprays are probably the best to experiment with first. We’ve found Cycocel, B-nine and Ethephon among the best – all foliar sprays – for our personal purposes. Much experimentation is still worth doing. For each size of growth florescence, and its speed of growth also, there may be another PGR that is best for it.

Another thing that needs to be kept in mind is that many of these are designed only to be applied in commercial quantities and thus only available in large (and expensive) quantities. If so, you will want to share your acquisition with others to make it affordable. However, there are some good ones for our purposes which can be bought in smaller quantities. Bud Ignitor is one such PGR; Bud Blood is another that is similar. These last two mentioned are commonly used in the marijuana growing trade, but I am not suggesting this. The fact is, there is a great growth of knowledge among those growers, perhaps for obvious reasons, and as a result their prices are coming way down as they become more popular. They are still expensive, but perhaps affordable, and available in smaller quantities – and for our purposes and quantities used for bonsai, they will last a very long time.

There’s another way we can reduce the size of the florescence, also: by reducing the number of flowers in the florescence. Simply cut back the remaining flowers on the remaining stem to only the bottom few, perhaps even just one, while they are in the budding stage, and remarkably the remaining flowers will fill the gaps to create a complete mass of flowers that look as well as if they were the complete florescence from the start.

The first tip to creating a successful container garden is to get the right-sized container. There are many different types of containers one can use to grow their plants. It can be simple pots that are catered for specific types of gardening or one can get creative and use recycled materials. For example, one innovative gardener used an unused cabinet to her container garden. You want to make sure the container is big enough to support the root system of the plant you intend on growing. You also need to make sure that the proper drainage system is in place. In some cases, it can be as simple as having a few holes at the bottom of the container. In other cases, you may need a more complex drainage system in place to make sure that the soil does not get too wet.

The second tip for container gardeners is to use the right type of soil. One should never buy the first pack of soil they see on sight. You want to get soil from a reputable seller. Otherwise, the soil will come with plenty of unwanted visitors that will cause all sorts of havoc in your apartment. Ideally, you want to get organic soil, especially if you intend on growing vegetables and fruits. It also would not be a bad idea to get some organic compost to make sure there are plenty of nutrients for the plants to strive on.

The third tip is to find a suitable location for the plants. Most plants will need plenty of sunlight to grow properly. Make sure you have enough space by the window so that plants can receive at least a few hours of proper daylight. If there are no suitable locations then it may be possible to use artificial light instead. However, those types of growing lights are better suited for hydroponic systems so you will want to check with your sources first before making any moves.

Watering and feeding your violet. The African violet likes a humid atmosphere and moist soil. I found that the bathroom works well. You can also provide humidity for your plant by standing the pot on pebbles in a partly water filled saucer. The pot should not be touching the water. When the plants soil starts to dry out, water well with lukewarm water. Take care not to wet the leaves. You can feed your plant with water soluble plant fertilizer every month except in winter.

The potting and re-potting of your violets. African violets tend to bloom more freely when their roots are a bit crowded. Only re-pot them when more than a third of the rosette of leaves extends beyond your pots edge. The best time for re-potting to be done is either in spring or summer. You can re-pot the violets into African violet potting soil or you can make your own potting soil from equal parts of peat moss, perlite and your garden soil. If your plant grows extra rosettes of leaves, nip them off with a knife. If the leaves turn yellow or rot or become too crowded, break or cut their stalks. Do not leave any stem part behind on the plant as it will rot. African Violets can very easily be propagated from leaf cuttings. Select a healthy leaf keeping about 2 – 4 cm of the stem. Plant this leaf in your pot that is already filed with potting soil. You will see in approximately 3 to 6 weeks tiny new leaves appear. When this happens, transplant the rooted cuttings into separate pots. Cover them with plastic bags where a few small holes have been made.Keep the new plants in a warm but shaded area for up to 3 weeks.

First, it is important for parents to understand that children have little patience. If they don’t see results quickly then they will move their attention elsewhere. Therefore, it is important to start off with small projects. Pick a plant that takes a short amount of time to grow. For example, vegetables with short growth periods include green beans, spinach, onions, and sweet potatoes. Once your children get the hang of it, introduce plants that require more care.

The second way to get your children interested in gardening is by getting them to grow something that is consumable. For example, if your children grow tomatoes then they will be instantly proud of the fact that it can be used for a beneficial purpose. While the plants are growing, try and give your children as much ownership as possible. It is possible for the children to learn that the health of plant is their responsibility.

The final way to get your children interested in gardening is by educating them. There are many things to be learned while maintaining a garden. For example, it is a great opportunity to teach your children the basics of biology. How do plants survive? Why do they need sunlight? These questions should come naturally if your child is curious about the way life works. Gardening can become even more interesting if you make it a competition. For example, you may set up a competition to see who grows the biggest tomato. If your child is up for the challenge then he or she will search online to find out the most productive way of growing healthy tomatoes. As you can see, gardening introduces a sense of responsibility. It is a great way to help your child develop into a responsible adult.