Firewood

With Memorial Day about to kick off the unofficial start of summer, agriculture officials are warning the public not to take firewood with them if they go on camping or cookout trips - those logs could harbor some unseen, tree-destroying hitchhikers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared this Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, in hopes it will slow the spread of this destructive beetle from Asia, which officials say has killed tens of millions of ash trees so far. Probably brought in on some imported packing material, the borer was first spotted in Michigan in 2002, but has spread to 14 other states since, including Maryland.

With Memorial Day about to kick off the unofficial start of summer, agriculture officials are warning the public not to take firewood with them if they go on camping or cookout trips - those logs could harbor some unseen, tree-destroying hitchhikers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared this Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, in hopes it will slow the spread of this destructive beetle from Asia, which officials say has killed tens of millions of ash trees so far. Probably brought in on some imported packing material, the borer was first spotted in Michigan in 2002, but has spread to 14 other states since, including Maryland.

We're going camping and want to take our firewood with us. We live in the part of Maryland quarantined to prevent spread of the emerald ash borer insect. As I understand the regulations, we can transport wood depending on air temperatures, correct? No! Firewood is the most common way this pest is spreading in the United States. The emerald ash borer is a serious threat. No hardwood, nursery stock, green lumber, woody material, living or dead - including stumps and roots - or even uncomposted ash chips can be moved from the quarantined area.

Just weeks after it turned up in Howard County, the emerald ash borer has been detected in Anne Arundel and Allegany counties. Maryland agriculture officials have responded by placing all Maryland counties west of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay under quarantine. Movement of ash wood and trees, and all hardwood firewood, out of the zone is banned, and all movement of hardwood firewood within the zone is discouraged. "Buy it where you burn it," officials urged. The quarantine is "the best way to secure Maryland's Eastern Shore, where EAB has not been found to date, and protect our riparian forest buffer plantings," said state Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.

Since this weekend was sizing up to be dark and scary - daylight-saving time is ending and Halloween celebrations are beginning - I felt the urge to stay inside and light a fire. Apparently I was late. Judging by what the people who sell firewood tell me, this year's indoor burning season is already off to a flaming start. "Supply of firewood is down and demand is way up," said Ben Cole of Blue Moon Farm, a firewood supplier in Randallstown. One factor is the recent jump in the cost of other home heating fuels, such as oil and natural gas, he said.

With temperatures dropping and snow shovels poised, legions of wood-laden trucks are descending on neighborhoods from Timonium to Annapolis to peddle cozy winter evenings by the fire.Sad to say, many folks will come up a few fires short.Inspectors at the state Department of Agriculture already are fielding calls from people who suspect that they were cheated by their firewood dealer.For many, buying firewood is one of those risky purchases, often made on romantic impulse. The desire to be hypnotized by lapping flames and listen to that comforting crackle sometimes overcomes common sense.

Two Virginia men were arrested Tuesday, charged with leaving "city slicker" customers more than a few logs short of a full cord of firewood.Howard County police say Audrey Moore, 56, of Culpeper, and Michael Todd Dyer, 37, of Rixeyville were released on personal recognizance. They were charged with theft at a home on Knighthood Lane in Owen Brown after allegedly selling a plainclothes officer about 15 percent of an actual cord of wood for $110, the average price for a cord.The pair could face a maximum penalty of 18 months in jail and a $500 fine, police said.

Q. I planted 12 "blue rug" junipers in my yard four years ago. This year the lower branches started turning brown, and they look terrible. The soil drains very poorly where they are planted. Is there something I can spray to save them? A. Junipers cannot tolerate wet soils. Your plant roots and lower stems are rotting due to poor drainage. No pesticide treatment will solve the problem. You can remove the damaged stems, but expect the plants to decline and eventually die. The only solution is to remove the junipers and replant with species that can tolerate wet soil, or remove the junipers and correct the drainage problem.

With his face barely reaching the window sill,he watched his playhouse blow away,tumbling across rumpled backyards,carried as fragile as a brown, crisp leafby ironfisted gusts.and rope-rain.He saw it disappear behind a gray garage.Later he learned a neighbor cut it up for firewood.

Q: On occasion, I use fireplace logs instead of wood for a fast-starting couple-of-hours-long fire. Do they burn as hot as real wood? How do I select the best types of real firewood to buy?A: Fireplace logs, bought at your grocery store, are ideal for a quick evening fire. Depending on the brand, they produce more than twice as much heat per pound as real firewood and burn more than three hours.In addition to the ease of handling and lighting, fireplace logs are friendly to the environment.

What does "diversity" have to do with gardening? It seems to be the new catchphrase. You probably mean "biodiversity," which is a concept that's as old as Mother Nature. What's new is the realization of what a big bonus biodiversity is to the gardener. A natural landscape has a mixture of many species of native plants. It provides food and habitat for a host of native animal species, such as insects, birds and amphibians. These species eat pest insects and pollinate plants. When their food source on one plant is finished, they can move to another type of plant.

Giuliani attends game, fundraiser Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani visited Maryland last night for two competitive American pastimes: political fundraising and youth baseball. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, was expected to raise $250,000 at the home of Edward St. John, an area developer. Giuliani was joined last night by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who told reporters that in addition to helping the ex-mayor raise money, Ehrlich would head to New Hampshire next month to help out after a GOP debate at St. Anselm College.

We're going camping and want to take our firewood with us. We live in the part of Maryland quarantined to prevent spread of the emerald ash borer insect. As I understand the regulations, we can transport wood depending on air temperatures, correct? No! Firewood is the most common way this pest is spreading in the United States. The emerald ash borer is a serious threat. No hardwood, nursery stock, green lumber, woody material, living or dead - including stumps and roots - or even uncomposted ash chips can be moved from the quarantined area.

The emerald ash borer, a small beetle from Asia that is blamed for the destruction of 20 million trees in Michigan, has made its way to Maryland. Testing by the state Department of Agriculture last week detected beetle-infested ash trees in Prince George's County between Clinton and Brandywine. The state imposed a quarantine that prohibits moving ash trees, logs, fallen banches, stumps or roots in or out of Prince George's County until further notice. The quarantine also bans transporting of ash firewood or any hardwood firewood - including oak, maple and cherry - in or out of the county.

I want to know the basic care for a Christmas amaryllis so it will bloom next year. Continue to water, place in lighted area, and let it grow through the summer inside or outside, fertilizing every two weeks to increase bulb strength. There are two schools of thought after that. Continue to grow uninterrupted indoors. The plant may lose its leaves but will sprout up and re-bloom around Valentine's Day or Easter. Or, place it in a cool, dark place in the fall and reduce water for two to three months to simulate a dormant period, then take it out and grow as usual.

Since this weekend was sizing up to be dark and scary - daylight-saving time is ending and Halloween celebrations are beginning - I felt the urge to stay inside and light a fire. Apparently I was late. Judging by what the people who sell firewood tell me, this year's indoor burning season is already off to a flaming start. "Supply of firewood is down and demand is way up," said Ben Cole of Blue Moon Farm, a firewood supplier in Randallstown. One factor is the recent jump in the cost of other home heating fuels, such as oil and natural gas, he said.

O'Malley needs to be a better mayor than he ever was a councilman. It's possible.Rep. Dan Burton will be investigating Bill Clinton for something until one of them leaves office or the other dies.Bill Gates is giving $1 billion in minority favoritism scholarships and defies anyone to sue him as unconstitutional.Cheer up. Hurricane Floyd provided the region's firewood needs for the whole winter.

C ALBANY, N.Y. -- Building a cozy fire is still a popular way to trim utility bills, as temperatures turn cooler this fall.And whether you use your fireplace or wood stove only a few times or every day, you can get the most out of your fires by using the right logs.If you want a hot, clean-burning fire, choose dense hardwoods such as ash, apple, hickory, cherry, ironwood, beech, birch, maple and oak. They burn slower than softwoods and with a shorter flame. Oak, which is common in the Northeast, burns with the shortest and most uniform flames and produces a steady bed of glowing coals.

Two winters ago I reached the bottom of my old woodpile and found ants in the lower logs. I sprayed them and discarded the wood, afraid to burn it indoors after spraying. I sprayed the area for ants before and after I purchased new wood last fall. I also sprayed this summer. This week we unloaded some wood and found small black ants nesting halfway up the pile. They are hibernating, but alive. Can I spray the wood with an insecticide that would be safe to burn in the house? It is not possible to eliminate every ant around your woodpile, and that's to your benefit.

CHICAGO - You can rarely go wrong by assuming the government is lying. Right now, the Pentagon denies any plans to restore the draft, even though the military clearly has too few soldiers. I'm the sort of person who grabs an umbrella whenever Donald H. Rumsfeld says the sun is shining. But in this case, the administration faces disbelief even though it's telling the truth. Allowing for all the uncertainties of this world, the chances of conscription being revived are roughly the same as the chances of William Shatner winning a Grammy.