Timothy Lawton

During this sweltering heatwave I have had the misfortune of running into the local electric company butchering trees. As usual they were doing an “over zealous” job. Exactly the type of job that has been done on trees that I have planted. This is not only upsetting on a personal basis, but it is especially irritating when we are in the midst of trying to “reduce our carbon footprint”. Many of these same companies support the cap and trade bill which will do NOTHING to reduce our emissions of CO2, yet they continue to hack any branch that comes within 6 feet of there precious powerlines. How many square miles of vegetation in our country, and around the world, are sacrificed to their inability to realize that they don’t have to clear so much away from the trees in order to preserve power to their customers. In fact they are actually damaging the trees to the point that they are making them MORE likely to fall.

I have had around 20 years working with trees and almost four decades of observing them. My Great Grandfather, whom I knew for the first five years of my life, was not only an avid lover of trees but planted many of the trees in the town in which I grew up. Many of his trees towered well above the wires that they grew around. Some even came within inches of the powerlines, but they never caused problems. This was largely due to the fact that he had his trees manicured instead of  hacked. The power companies of today usually contract their work out to people who have no knowledge of how to cut a tree. So, the end result is short, stubby, unhealthy trees which actually have a greater chance of causing damage to the very infrastructure that they are trying to protect.

I hate power outages and understand that we need to shape our trees to meet the needs of the whole community, but they can also be healthier and more stable. All it will take is a little education to those who are cutting our trees. We can have beautiful and safe trees that are not mowed down below the wire line. The trees that I planted that were hacked have had to be cut again about three times in seven years, This is not a good use of our resources. It is also not a good manner in which to maintain our land. Not only do they overcut trees they make more work for themselves during the process. They also cut at the worst times of year. Trees should be cut from late fall through early spring (unless circumstances dictate). Taking away branches in the summer only serves to take precious nutrients and energy from our trees making them sickly and weak.

We need to do a better job maintaining trees around powerlines. This can improve the quality of our air and the beauty of our neighborhoods. Accomplishing this goal can be cost saving as well. Less work and better timing can yield amazing results. I have seen it with my own eyes. So, whatever your reason join me in the fight to better manage the trees that surround us. I simply like trees, what about you?

When this year’s gardening season started I had such high hopes. The preparations that I had made to deter weeds were the best I had ever laid out. All of my plantings were spaced well and the rain was plentiful. Oh how things have gone down hill from there. What started out so well has possibly become the worst year I have ever had.

First the ample rain turned into deluges that beat my plants into the ground. Then persistent cloudiness and low temperatures proceeded to retard the growth of my gardens. Then came the ravenous deer. It rained so often it was impossible to weed. In fact rather than weed by late June I took to cutting the weeds with scissors and shears because if I pulled them out the plants I wanted to keep were coming out along with them. Yet the greatest problem I have had to contend with has been the deer. They usually come and I lose a few plants here or there, but this season they have come almost every day. Sometimes even in broad daylight. I would not doubt if 75% of all my plants, that are not fenced in or inaccessible, have been eaten one or more times. Not one sunflower has made it to bloom yet in my largest garden. I have tried Irish Sring soap,  pepper, Deer Scram, coyote urine, milorganite, and ultrasonic deterrents. NOTHING has worked!

Aside from these problems the coolness of the summer has delayed all the life cycles in the area. Cicadas didn’t make a sound in northern New Jersey until late July, three weeks later than normal. I have not had a single tomato ripen and my zuchinnis first batch rotted off the stalk. My broccoli and cauliflower are about a month behind in growth and generally nothing is doing well. What has been ok is now starting to succumb to disease. In short 2009’s growing season will be one for the record books. The bad records!! At this point I will salvage what I can and get ready for next year. Thank God I don’t depend on my gardens to sustain me, then this year would have been a tragedy instead of an annoyance.

     My update on battling the Deer is not a good one. I used Deer Scram and only around 36 hours later they returned with devastating effect. The casualty toll has now crossed 100. My sunflowers in the front gardens have been 80 to 90% destroyed. This is especially troubling due to the fact that they are my signature flower. Most years I have at least one that blooms its first flower at over ten feet. This year I’ll be lucky if any even approach that height. Anyway, when I found that the Deer Scram did nothing I decided I had to take more serious action. The first thing was to say scram to the Deer Scram.

     I then got a bottle of coyote urine and spread it along the perimeter of my gardens and placed three bottles of it to hang out. I also got one ultra-sonic motion detector activated Yard Gard. This morning I found the remainder of my sunflowers and a few other plants eaten by the evil Deer. I don’t think they ate anything near the Yard Gard, but I decided to get another because the area I’m trying to protect is greater than the area just one covers. So, now I will wait and see if THIS works. As of now I can safely say that soap, pepper, Deer Scram, and coyote urine do NOTHING to protect a garden from evil Deer. The only problem with the Yard Gard thus far has been that I, and several others, are able to hear the high pitched tone that it makes. If it works I’ll figure out a way to cope. I may just have to turn them over every morning and reset them in the afternoon. If they work I’ll deal with it. It’s better than losing all of my plants.

     This is my third post this season in the gardening section. I have generally had a decent year, but the problems have probably been worse than the average spring. I have been able to plant almost all of the plants I grew from seedlings, yet I still have a lot left over. Soon I’ll have to stick them in the ground or put them in the compost pile.

     The weather since April has posed a fairly consistent problem. Cool temperatures and too much rain. Neither of the two do I have any control over, even though I wish I did. (Maybe someday)  Despite this not being the optimal growing situation it is far better than too hot and too dry. Both of which I have had ample experience. Heat can be devastating  to plants and when it doesn’t rain one has to break out the hose. I have spent countless hours of my life imitating a thunderstorm or soaking down pour. So, when it rains too much count your blessings and never curse it. A drought is always just around the corner.

     My biggest problem this year has been the Deer. Those ravenous monsters have eaten the tops off of at least 50 of my plants and that’s being conservative. They have a bad habit of picking the plants that have the fewest numbers in the garden. They also seem to have a taste for sunflowers. Every one of their ill-gotten meals represents dozens of flowers that will never be. I don’t care what all the idiots have to say about the POOR deer. What about my POOR plants?  No one seems to care about them. I have tried milorganite, a pellet fertilizer that has had a modicum of success in years past, Irish Spring soap cut into three slices a bar, various peppers, and finally yesterday Deer Scram. All except the latter have done little to deter the Deer and  with the Deer Scram only time will tell. I know we’re moving in on their territory, but I’ve been opposed to over development for decades and it’s not my fault that everyone else wants to build over every patch of woods in the state.

     Much of my early preparations in the gardens have served me well thus far. Laying down as much weed preventing fabric as I could has certainly saved me a lot of time. The wet start to the season has also allowed me to spend my time on tending my plants instead of watering them. This has mainly permitted me to do a lot of dead heading of spent flowers which promotes more new flowers to grow. The only downside to this has been that I have had to let the weeds grow much bigger than I want in areas that preventive measures were not practical. The reason for this is that wet ground is not very suitable to pull weeds. When it is wet the soil clumps around the roots that are pulled and sometimes even the plants your trying to protect get pulled out as well.

On April 22nd I planted the seedling spinach, lettuces, arugula, and mustard that I had started in the greenhouses about three weeks ago. They have been outside in the shade for the past week and are OK to be out in the sun. Carrots will be planted from seed outside over the next few days depending upon the weather. I will also start to plant trays of cucumber, melons, and pumpkins inside my greenhouses.