Category Archives: Our Trees

April Freeze Damage

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I posted the other day about the “freezing weather” and wanted to post an update on the situation.

When I looked at the back yard after the sun came up Sunday mornig it was obviously “frosty” out — the grass was not the bright verdant color that is usual of late. I waited awhile for things to warm up, then waited longer … and finally set out to spy the damage or not.

The apple trees are in a sad state of affairs. They did not have that blooming pink look from afar, and getting closer it was obviously brown droopy looking, the blossoms that had opened mostly all were affected from what I could see. There are many blossom that aren’t opened yet, and I don’t want to disturb any of them yet to check for damage.

The white dogwood (in the back yard too) looked sad, the blossoms just hanging there, the leaves mostly looked alright.

The Eastern Redbud tree is close-by the dogwood, and it was totally drippy looking, the blooms had already faded before the freeze, and it was leafing out so nicely, but the leaves were so delicate, they were black and drippy looking, gooey, icky. The whole tree is full of that black sludge which used to be sweet spring leaves.

We have 3 Autumn Flame Maples in the back yard, and they are done with their bloom and have been leafing out. They are not fully leafed out yet, and the leaves are fairly small. From what I saw they look a bit droopey, but not totally affected –maybe.

We have 2 Paperbark Maples as well back there, and their little fresh leaves that have been coming out lately are super-droopey.

We have other trees that are fully leafed out already and they faired fine.

Out in our front yard the 2 Cherokee Chief Dogwoods we have faire alright, their only blooms are high up and seem pretty much unaffected.

We had planted a new tree a few weeks ago, and it began leafing out just in the last week or so. It’s leaves are pretty much like the Eastern Redbud that I described above, drippy and black-ish. :sad:

My Hostas were coming up, quite large and lovely, and they are brown sludge now. :sad:

The peonies have been putting out growth and they seem alright, we’ll see later. There are a few buds starting and time will tell.

The little irises I have have been growing up, but they look a bit dippy, it’s just the “leaf” part, no buds or blooms started yet.

The Japanese ‘Bloodgood’ Maple is fully leafed out, but the leaves aren’t as big as they’ll eventually get, and they look a tad relaxed. Time will tell whether or not they rebound with strength this week.

That’s most of the damage.

The weather was forecasted to be very much below freezing last night, but I didn’t check the forecast as nighttime drew closer. We did not have freezing temps, probably 39 in reality as a low, if not a bit higher. So there shouldn’t be any further damage to what’s left.

I haven’t seen a Spring Freeze like this since being in GA, and before that I was in S. FL for many years. So I don’t have any experience regarding what will occur. I have seen trees drop their leaves in Summer from drought, and re-grow some later on, FWIW. We had long drought conditions in past years on this property, but that’s not been the case for a little while now. I was looking forward to a vigorous growing season all around, trees, flowers, garden, and it’s the phrase of April now, “time will tell” — time being “the progressive movement of the season” –not the ‘clock’ sort of time. :)

April Freeze and Gardening 2007

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From Friday night to Saturday morning it was supposed to be really cold, just below freezing. I don’t think that actually happened on our property … yes it was cold, but not quite to freezing, from how the grass and blooms and herbs and such look in our yard(s) as of Saturday afternoon …

Now it’s the Saturday night to Sunday morning freeze warning time, and temperatures are supposed to be even lower, in the 20′s tonight/morning as well as tommorow night (Sunday to Monday AM.)

One clue for “how cold is it right now” that I employ to reason about what’s going on outside is the heat pump, which sits outside on the ground with pipes going into the house and up the wall into the attic space … and that’s right behind our master bedroom, right where the bed is situated, of course (the only “real placement” for the bed, unfortunately.) When it’s really cold the heat pump doesn’t do a good job, the closer it gets to freezing, there isn’t enough “warmth” in the air to pull it into the house for warmth inside via the houses air system. It makes a horrid racket when it’s actually freezing or lower and the heat pump is running.

Friday to Saturday it sounded similar to how it sounds right now. It’s the Saturday to Sunday time currently, 5:30am approx. and accuweather “says” right now it’s 28 degrees. Well that’s not exactly right, since our property doesn’t have a weather station nearby, and when I have had a decent temperature gauge for outdoors I was able to compare and know for sure that our temps here are not the same as what ‘they’ say (nor actual weather, like clouds, rain, snow, etc.)

So we are waiting for the daylight hours to see what it’s like outdoors, and I hope things will be alright. We have three dwarf apple trees that don’t always bloom so nice. Guess what? They sure are THIS year, ALL THREE of them at the same time. So it does figure that we have the first late cold snap ever since living here … this late, April.

Not only that, usually the two trees that are alike, Liberty variety, don’t actually “bloom” with their opened blossoms until later in April, and the third tree, MacFree variety, blooms after that (which isn’t really helpful since two varieties are needed to fertilize for apples.) There was definitely something funky going on with the MacFree and I was finally able to prune out major parts of it last year, when they suddenly got such long branches growing, it was obviously the root stock trying to take over. What’s is left untouched now is the real MacFree, as far as it seems, and this Spring 2007 is the first time it’s actually produced masses of buds.

We planted these trees in early Spring of 1998, and then did move them to another area a few years later. In any case, the Liberties have blossomed well in the past, but given us few apples. The MacFree never did blossom very well, though when it did better it was not of use to the Liberty trees. Last couple of years there were a few apples on the MacFree (so there is something else in the area that bees are using to fertilize my trees, obviously.)

Such promise I put in the apple trees this year, and then the Spring was so warm, and the trees started to form buds in March. That is not usual. We didn’t have a freeze in March really, it was regular last freeze around March 15, but nothing major, and temperatures were very warm most of the time, very warm indeed. Last (2005/2006) winter was a warm one, and things were so very mild, but the apple trees still didn’t set blooms until into April in 2006. This past winter (2006/2007) was fairly mild overall, and we didn’t have much “weather” in the way of ice or snow, no major storm at least. We did have rain more often than usual, though not so much overall. In any case, everything has been blooming so nicely this year, and that includes the apple trees, and unfortunately for them it’s not a good thing this year. :sad:

Dogwoods are blooming right now too. The Cherokee Chief variety we have in the front don’t have a lot of blooms, but where they do is at the top and they are lovely (we need to do some work on those trees, pruning.) We have a white dogwood in the backyard and it’s in full glory of bloom. It’s gorgeous. Driving around the area, Dogwoods are bursting forth in massive color and bloom. It’s a grand year for Dogwoods. Or it was. We’ll see later on. :sad:

So many other plants are past bloom already and in the process of leafing out, some leafed out in full already (like our Japanese ‘Bloodgood’ Maple tree, our Weeping Willow tree, and our wild Blackberries are in full leaf and actually setting blooms and some are opening already.)

As I write this the heat pump is starting to struggle for the first time this night-time. It’s not super bad, but does sound bad enough, so it’s near 32 or below a tad … but doesn’t “sound” like it’s in the 20′s, while currently accuweather says right now it’s 28, oh I just loaded the page again and now they say “30″ but that’s where anyhow? Miles away.

Hubby did put a blanket on my herb garden (which doesn’t have much in it, but does have a super-duper verdent perennial Chives that is just about ready for harvesting — already!) — it’s the whiskey barrel garden. I have lots of new herbs to plant in it, we got them last weekend, but I didn’t plant them due to the weather outlook. So they are in the garage awaiting their time to transplant.

I have lots of seeds to start and since it did snap so cold I’m fine with the fact that I haven’t even started my seeds yet –it is something I do need to do in the next couple of days, though.

Apple Trees will bloom soon

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Our Liberty Apple trees will be blooming soon. The buds are setting and two on one of the trees opened today. I supposed many will open tomorrow and Monday. The problem with this is that the tree that needs to bloom so that the Liberty blossoms can be fertilized is our MacFree, which rarely has put out more than a handful of blooms and usually those only open when the Liberty trees have nearly finished there bloom. It’s frustrating since we bought these trees through a catalog nursery which said these two are good together for making apples. Hmph. We do need to trim down the MacFree, it may be growing all wrong, from the root stock more than from the MacFree. These are Semi-Dwarf apple trees. So really I want to get Crab Apple trees … they’ll do the job of looking nice and helping out the Liberty Apple blossoms. We don’t have any plans to get any Crab Apple trees installed though, at this point.

One day I hope we can move from this property and I’ll be sad to leave these Apple trees. I’ve wanted to do good by them and get sprays and helps for them, so far they are au’ naturel except for some pruning and fireblight spray help in past years. It costs money to upkeep apple trees. Money that we would have had but didn’t have after all the job changes in the past years since we got the trees. So we got the trees with good intentions.

If we are able to go sooner than later, or perhaps get some land first that we will build upon … then we could move these trees, but I wouldn’t want to do that later than sooner. I’d feel better about it moving them to another place where we would be with them for longer, while we still had this property and could replace the trees here with something else before selling. It’s a sort of silly attachment to the trees that I have. I don’t think they are doing as well here as they would do on another property. We got the trees right when I first was pregnant with Victoria, and we planted them after we had just known for certain our second child was on the way for a week or so. They have special meaning therefore. I chose them for the type and name and they ended up being more special due to baby stuff afterthefact.

So it goes that we have another year of Spring Fertilization beginning and little hope of a nice apple crop once again as well. If the bee population is higher it would be helpful, and if there are other apple trees in the area that could be a help under higher bee population conditions. I would have bees on our own larger property, for fertilization of apples and veggy garden, and for honey. I won’t get into that sort of thing in our little subdivision though. So we are dependant on whatever conditions prevail … and that will be blessed by God this year I hope, so we can have some apples in September, just a few would be nice. Liberty apples are so crisp and sweet. So very nice. We have had only a few but never enough nice ones to have for long. Just a few for a day or two’s use, then none. Or not even that. Disease and yucky who-knows-what kind of things take most of the apples that form. So I’m anxious for the day when I can have pro-active sprays to increase yield, and bees and other trees to aide fertilization!

Locust Nursery

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A nutty thing I’ve been doing is collecting our Locust Tree babies. They are springing up everywhere in the circumference of that dear tree. It’s the only tree that existed on our property when we first moved in, November 1997. It’s right by the property line, so not quite all ours, but mostly. It gives late afternoon shade, it shields that western sun from baking that front corner of the backyard. It gives shade earlier afternoon too, just less, and that grows to a huge swath by mid-late afternoon as the sun moves across the sky. Every year the tree gets bigger and the swath of shade grows.

That tree was a little skinny “weed tree” as I called it when we moved in. It has grown magnificently. There is an offspring of it that sits in the pathway of our backyard gate. It should have been moved last year, or the year before. Lethargy of mowing stopped Frank from mowing as often, obviously, and that tree sprang up. It got very big last Summer, and has some branches that stretch high into the heavens, nearly as tall as the garage roof which the tree is next to. It must still be moved. I have a space for it all planned out, and several other babies in that nursery actually growing since a few weeks ago there. I have hopes of a nice Locust Grove.

On the deck I have several bowls and jars of various sizes, glass. Water babies inside. That’s water and babies. I haven’t counted them. Numerous ones there are. Over a hundred easily. They won’t all grow up to be healthy trees. If they survive my care and are actually planted one of these days, I’ll have to cull some of them of course. I can’t really let them all grow to tree-hood. That would be immensly stupid on my part. We’d have a Locust Forest before too many years given that.

I don’t know what variety of Locust Tree this big parent is, but it’s wild. It was there when the developer wrangled the soil for this subdivision in whatever year that was, 1995 or 1996. It was left there. Amazingly. I’m glad for it. It has become my friend, that’s for sure.

The first year we were here it had pods hanging from it. Those pods dried out and rattled and fell all over the place. Messy, yes, but it wasn’t so bad. The next year and following years it did not make pods. I’ve written about this tree before, recently too I think. Anyway, it did bloom in the last year or two finally. This spring the seeds from that podding are sprouting abundantly. My eye spots every one of them that is in open area. It’s a curse almost. I dig them out with my fingers. I have dirt embedded under my fingernails this season. It’s a disease, dig out baby locust sprouts.

So I take them to the deck and plunk them into water. They send up two leaves with their thick sprouting trunk-ish self. Those two leaves open out then the real locust looking leaves come up from that middle and spread … frondy and beautiful. That’s the stage to which I’m putting them in water to. From there I’ll plant some of them. I don’t know exactly what I’ll do, but I must put them in the ground. I put some, years past, in a planter, and they all died because I forgot to water them for awhile. Bad me.

So I will probably ask Frank to Mantis me out a plot of ground for Locust Nursery, and then maybe I can grow some fine specimens and get good at growing them and knowing what to do and what to look for in a good locust sappling. Maybe someone somewhere would like some of them. I don’t know. All I know is, they are free trees. They grow wonderfully, become great shade trees. They aren’t ugly, they are thorny, they do bloom fragrant tiny white blooms eventually then set up big green pods that turn brown and then rattle as they mature and dry out. They fall in autumn and winter to the ground, and in the coming years those pods open up and the brown thick little seeds germinate, sprout to become new trees, as long as they aren’t mowed over.

They aren’t climbing trees. They have messy pods, but those pods aren’t gooey, just abundant when they are formed. They are easy enough to rake up and dispose of. I don’t know, as I said, what variety of Locust this tree is, but here it is nice looking, and has bloomed for us only once in 7 years. It must have bloomed in Spring 1997 since the tree had abundant pods on it that September when we first saw the house being built.

I’ll find a picture of the tree from way back then, and find a recent photo of it to compare growth. I’ll see about pictures of the seeds and seedlings too.

Spring Plant Profile

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Our trees, etc:

Autumn Flame Maple – 3 : blooming
October Glory Maple – 1: nearing readiness to bloom
Weeping Willow – 1: leafed out and getting longer
Apple: 3: waiting until April
Yoshino Cherry – 3: getting ready to bloom soon
Cherokee Chief Dogwood – 2: getting ready to open blooms
The mystery tree we forgot the name of – 1: blooming and leafing out
Various other little trees are starting to grow and put leaves out, no blooms on them.

Pussy Willow bush is ready to go, but isn’t yet.

Peony bushes are pushing up their burgundy spikes still.

Hostas are pushing up their purpleish spikes now too.

Iris – several plants – are growing more again

Lambs Ear – 1: is getting new growth going and extending itself further

1 unknown bulb is putting up leaves, but don’t know what it is. (it’s never flowered in previous years, it’s something left from something I planted there a few years ago that never did anything)

In my herb garden the two varieties of Thyme there are growing more, the Spring Thing! I gave them a hair cut the other week as well.

BeeBalm is getting a bit more spunky, expect it to start growing upwards again soon.

Chives are getting spunky too, starting to put out bigger greener Springy tubes.

That’s not all, there is more, but those are the main plants. It’s Spring!