MASTER GARDENERS Dig It! Spring 2018 Hi Gardeners! Spring is arguably the favorite time of year for most gardeners. It is so exciting to see those first perennials pushing their way up for a new season of growth! If you’re anything like me, sometimes you see things coming up that you forgot you even planted - I love it when that happens!! Recently, I’ve been reading some articles talking about current gardening trends. I prefer to think of gardening as more of a ‘non-trendy’ activity, but the things I read gardeners will be focusing on this year are really good things! Depending on which articles you read, the lists differ, but here are a few that are worth taking note of: Health Gardening is great exercise and what could be healthier than eating fresh produce from your own garden? Also great for mental health because it promotes relaxation and mindfulness. This was even the theme for this year’s RI Cnty MG’s garden at the Flower and Garden show! Pollinators Focusing on native plants and eliminating pesticides for the health of insects and birds and our whole environment. Houseplants Apparently they are making a comeback, although they never went out of style at my house! Purple! This is the color of the year and not just for flowers. Try some purple cauliflower or peppers! Imperfection It’s all about accepting nature as it is and enjoying the little imperfections. The Japanese call it wabi-sabi. 1 Spring 2018 I think you are going to really enjoy this issue! Two articles originated from ideas submitted by RI County Master Gardeners! (Thank you Jim Knorr and Phil Cray!) Please keep your great ideas coming so we can continue writing articles that are in- teresting and enjoyable for you. We really appreciate it! Feel free to e-mail or text me with your ideas. (Val Waring, contact info in the MG directory) Learn & Enjoy! Val Sources: https://www.gardendesign.com; https://www.americanmeadows.com; http://www.lewisginter.org For program information or to register for events: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/hmrs/ For additional events and up to date information: Master Gardener Calendar 2 Flower and Garden Show - 2018!! 3 “The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben A Book Review By Sherry Holmstrom I would like to thank fellow Master Gardener Phil Cray for his suggestion on writing a book review on this wonderful book that was full of insightful information on how trees and plants communicate and even what they may possibly be feeling. I grew up amongst a vast array of undisturbed bur oak trees. We lived just far enough from a small town and off a busy highway to make it difficult to ride our bikes into town to play with friends. We spent our days playing in the forest that sat just feet from the back of our brick house and with some oaks even scattered in front and around it. I didn’t know back then how fortunate we were to have this for a playground. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t a common experience to see a herd of deer grazing in your front lawn or to see a mother quail walking with a line of little ones behind her. I took for granted all the various kinds of birds, owls, and creatures we were living by. I can remember eating my cereal in the morning and seeing flying squirrels jump from tree top to tree top. There was a meadow on the right side of our house and down below water. There was a creek that ran through the forest and we found arrowheads in that area. There were hedge trees and hedge apples to play with and blackberries and gooseberries at the edges. When nightfall arrived, the bats came out. It was the perfect place to see nature untouched. My mother didn’t allow anyone to hunt in those woods. I didn’t fully understand how wonderful it was that we were able to play in an atmosphere like that. What I mean by that is when you walked into the forest it was like walking into a different climate. Cool and humid and something of its own world. The book by Peter Wohlleben explains this very thing. It had its own smell. When I look back now I remember all the wonderful plants living among these great and mighty trees. In the spring there were bluebells as far as the eye could see and I am sure I read somewhere that bluebells do well with oaks and deer don’t usually graze on them. There were what I realize now, shooting stars, may apples, wild violets, wild geraniums, wild gin- ger, buttercups, and so many other plants. You could smell the earth and decay of the older trees that were slowly turning to humus and part of the whole survival of these trees which is explained in Peter’s book. He explains how very important it is for trees to get old instead of being removed so they can die and break down and become beneficial for the rest of the trees. How some trees (like the oak trees) thrive being close to one another and how they actually help each other and don’t’ like to be ‘thinned out” except if it is a different type of tree that might take them over. Peter Wohlleben has been a forester for many years. In this book he mostly shares his experienc- es with beeches and oaks and how they survive, communicate, and some of the difficulties they face. He points out that it makes a beneficial difference for trees to develop gradually and at their own pace rather than to be planted. 4 “The Hidden Life of Trees” cont. Peter points out that in his experiences with trees, he has seen evidence that they have a social existence with each other and can recognize if they are related or family. He gives an example in the very first chapter of how he came upon stumps of beech trees that had been there for hun- dreds of years, but they still had chlorophyll. Since they didn’t have leaves for photosynthesis, he realized they were being helped by their family of trees either somewhere in the root ex- change themselves or fungal networks by the root tips. Peter gives examples of trees communicating in a variety of ways. One such way being scent. He tells of scientists noticing giraffes having a meal on the umbrella thorn acacias in Africa. They noticed that within a brief period of time, those trees started pumping toxins to rid themselves of the pesky giraffes. What I found interesting was that the trees that the giraffes were eating also put out a warning gas called ethylene which the trees next to them then got the signal to start pumping the toxins as well. Peter also gives examples of electrical signals that trees can communicate with to their root sys- tems such as when an insect starts biting their leaves. He gives examples of trees sometimes even knowing which insect is attacking by their saliva. These electrical impulses help the tree to decide what form of defense they can use like when oaks use toxic tannins to kill an insect or taste so bad they will be left alone. Peter tells about how the fungi help roots of trees to receive information. This benefits both the fungi and the trees. In one part of the book the fungi were compared to the forest internet. There is so much going on underground and it is fascinating to read in this book how plants and organisms in the ground join together to help each other survive. Trees even communicate Peter explains, with other trees spe- cies that are their competition. This book explains how trees know if another of their own trees is not doing well and they will in turn help them with needed nutrients. It appears that tree fami- lies distribute nourishment so that everyone is equal, and no one gets too much or too little. There is also a part in the book that shows that even when trees are very close together and there is competition for sun, that they all decide how tall they will all get and how they will branch out, so it works out for their family. Beeches and oaks even decide when they are going to reproduce or have mast years. I learned in reading that reproduction is decided at least a year before. When they don’t bloom every year, it helps keep the herbivores population from getting too plentiful. Conifers on the other hand usu- ally bloom at least once a year and have ways in which they avoid inbreeding. One way is using timing. The chapter that is on “Street Kids” made me think a lot. It explains how important it is for trees to grow to an old age. The trees that are planted in cities, on roadsides by themselves don’t de- velop the root systems and have communications with others of the same species. They will at first flourish because they have sunlight but then their roots may run into boundaries from man made things and being confined and then their branches cut so they don’t touch buildings or 5 “The Hidden Life of Trees” cont. electrical lines. That chapter explained that its harder for those trees to fight diseases and their natural predators. These trees do not live to be old.