Trees And Shrubs

FIFTH-GRADERS and teachers at Clarksville Elementary School traveled to Lisbon on April 26 to plant trees and shrubs. The Millennium Stream Buffer Planting Project, run by the Howard County Master Gardeners, combines a fifth-grade science unit on ecosystems with a field trip to plant native trees and shrubs. The trees and shrubs planted by the Clarksville children buffer streams flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. "It's a great thing to take off school to help nature," said Amber Hebron, 10, when she arrived at the site.

It is encouraging to see Baltimore making an effort to save our mature trees as well as aggressively plant new ones ("Speak for the trees," March 2). Unfortunately, many new trees are sabotaged from the start by the mounds of mulch that are piled around them. Horticulturists - including the horticulturist at the U.S. National Arboretum - have written about this practice and have tried to explain how harmful it is, but landscapers persist in it, and no one seems to view it as a problem.

Our good-sized tree (not old, but mature) and a couple of our prized shrubs are dying. We can't find any insects or diseases on any of them. What do we do to save them? This year, many well-established trees and shrubs are reported to be succumbing to abnormal weather conditions. Normally, spring and fall rains enable plants to recuperate from summer drought. However, in the past few years we have experienced drought in spring and fall also. By the time a plant shows wilt, it has already suffered some root injury, even when watering revives it. Drought stress, in turn, makes plants susceptible to disease, like canker diseases.

My grass has tiny orange raised bumps on the blades. It started about the beginning of fall. It seems worst where there is more shade and the ground stays moist longer. Will it kill the grass? Numerous blades are completely covered. I fertilize a few times a year, using the recommended amount for my bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass are the grasses most susceptible to rust, a fungal disease. Rust disease is favored by low nitrogen fertility, but this is probably not your cause.

I recently purchased a bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer for my perennial garden. Can I also use this to fertilize my trees and shrubs? Yes. The bag of fertilizer is 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus and 10 percent potassium. It can be used to fertilize most plants; however, I would not fertilize the trees and shrubs unless they really need it. Most of our soils already have an abundance of phosphorus and have adequate potassium. And if your trees and shrubs have good color and growth, they should not need any nitrogen.

Fall isn't just for planting bulbs. It is also an ideal time of year for more ambitious garden projects, such as planting a mature tree that will shade the sliding glass door on your deck next summer. Or replacing those generic foundation plantings with shrubs that are not only lovely in spring and summer, but also offer food and shelter for winter's creatures.

Silvio Quiroga and Estanislao Diaz are building "a lighted doorway to the sky" that will draw a quarter-million people to a hillside above the Capital Beltway.Beginning Dec. 4, the trees and shrubs at the Washington Mormon Temple will twinkle with 400,000 tiny lights, a counterpoint to the powerful floodlights that illuminate the six spires of the Mormon landmark."This is a gift from us to our friends and our neighbors," said Elder Mac Christensen. "This is a time for families to be together and enjoy the spirit."

Hold the salt -- not just your table salt but also the salt you sprinkle on icy driveways and walkways. Be careful about using too much de-icing salt around your trees and shrubs this winter. Severe salt damage may not be visible on a tree until the end of summer, says the National Arborist Association. In some cases, tree decline may not be visible for years. "Salt deposits migrate to the stems, buds and roots of trees," says Robert Rouse, staff arborist with the association. "This causes disfigured foliage, stunted growth and severe decline in tree health.

Although Baltimore may have been spared the worst of the rain and floods that overwhelmed nearby areas, Hurricane Fran was a shattering experience for many homeowners and gardeners.Fallen branches, broken limbs and even downed trees littered many yards after Fran had passed. Most of us have cleaned up the mess on the ground by now. However, other chores -- and questions -- still remain for many gardeners and homeowners whose trees or shrubs were injured.To prune or not to prune is the question.

The Friends of Carroll County Streams expects to receive a donation of 1,000 trees and shrubs for its first restoration project, tree planting along a tributary of the south branch of the Patapsco River on April 7. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has pledged 800 trees and shrubs - worth $6,000 - for the stream-bank reforestation project on a 300-acre state-owned tract off Hoods Mill Road near Sykesville. The Department of Natural Resources will contribute 200 trees, the group said. The group will meet at 7 p.m. today at Bear Branch Nature Center.

As trees and shrubs start to flaunt their fall foliage, there's one shrub - the burning bush - that's certain to turn heads with its three-week-long display of bright-scarlet leaves that are so vivid the shrubs look like living fireballs. How burning bushes got their genus name, Euonymus, is rooted in Greek mythology. Euonyme, you see, was Earth's mother. She was also the mother of the Three Furies, angry deities who avenged the victims of crimes when their wrongdoers went unpunished, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators to the ends of the Earth.

Once a year organizers of the Maryland Home, Garden & Living Show invite ChesapeakeHome to evaluate the dozen and a half or so gardens designed and installed at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and select a winner. A major draw of the spring show, these elaborate landscapes are carefully crafted to get visitors thinking about the long growing season ahead. And while spring is a natural time to get outside and start gardening, autumn has its own advantages for growing trees and shrubs.

A trip to Sherwood Gardens is a spring ritual worth repeating. I've been going there all my life, and it never gets old. If anything, on a recent warm evening, nearing nightfall, it seemed fresh, fertilized and healthy. The place was full of families who were there for the same reason I was. It was a chance to take in the glories of a Maryland spring. I am not sure I would want to be surrounded by all those pinks, purples and yellows year-round. But in April, after what we endured in February, give me all those tulip beds, flowering trees and shrubs.

If ground ivy is permitted to climb a tree, will it eventually kill the tree? We believe you are referring to English ivy, not ground ivy, which is a lawn weed also known as Creeping Charlie and cannot climb trees. It is true that English ivy should not be allowed to grow up trees or shrubs; it envelops branches and blocks sunlight, causing branch dieback and potentially fatal weakening of the tree. The added weight also makes trees susceptible to blow-over during storms. To begin controlling English ivy, cut it off at the base any time of year.

Fall isn't just for planting bulbs. It is also an ideal time of year for more ambitious garden projects, such as planting a mature tree that will shade the sliding glass door on your deck next summer. Or replacing those generic foundation plantings with shrubs that are not only lovely in spring and summer, but also offer food and shelter for winter's creatures.

Turn off a nondescript highway in Prince George's County, pass through an electronically controlled gate, drive a mile on a rutted one-lane road, and you'll find America's response to agricultural Armageddon. Here, on the south side of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, researchers are raising trees from seeds in one of 28 federal repositories set up to ensure survival of the planet's agricultural products - and the humans who depend on them. These 64 acres of trees and shrubs, along with the seeds that produced them, contain genetic weapons to battle the droughts, blights and bugs often brought on by invasive species, habitat loss and climate change.

Do you know? Where do pelicans live? Answer: Pelicans live around the world -- even in Maryland! Learn more! Visit the pink-backed pelicans at The Baltimore Zoo. Read "The Adventures of Pelican Pete" by Hugh Keiser. 1. Pink-backed pelicans nest in trees and shrubs. Other pelicans nest on the ground. 2. Both parents care for pelican chicks.

The Friends of Carroll County Streams expects to receive a donation of 1,000 trees and shrubs for its first restoration project, tree planting along a tributary of the south branch of the Patapsco River on April 7. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has pledged 800 trees and shrubs - worth $6,000 - for the stream-bank reforestation project on a 300-acre state-owned tract off Hoods Mill Road near Sykesville. The Department of Natural Resources will contribute 200 trees, the group said. Sher Horosko, one of the group's co-founders, said state agencies and environmental organizations have been eager to work with the group since it formed two months ago. "It's tremendous that they're doing this because we could never afford to do this ourselves," she said.

Our good-sized tree (not old, but mature) and a couple of our prized shrubs are dying. We can't find any insects or diseases on any of them. What do we do to save them? This year, many well-established trees and shrubs are reported to be succumbing to abnormal weather conditions. Normally, spring and fall rains enable plants to recuperate from summer drought. However, in the past few years we have experienced drought in spring and fall also. By the time a plant shows wilt, it has already suffered some root injury, even when watering revives it. Drought stress, in turn, makes plants susceptible to disease, like canker diseases.

I love butterflies. I planted a butterfly bush. What do I plant next? Butterfly bushes attract butterflies but cannot sustain a single native species. Surprisingly, to "grow" butterflies, the best plants are oak, willow and black cherry, followed by other native trees and shrubs including birch, maple, pine, walnut, blueberry, sassafras and spicebush. Top perennials are goldenrod, asters, sunflower, joe pye weed, morning glory, sedges and honeysuckle. Every year ragged holes make my hostas an ugly mess, and I hate them.