Christmas trees are a longtime symbol of the Christmas season, but improperly cared for Christmas trees are unlikely to make it through the entire holiday season. Properly cared for fresh cut Christmas trees, on the other hand, can last several weeks.
First and foremost, the key to long-lasting Christmas trees is to give them plenty of water. Many people have developed outlandish concoctions for Christmas trees, ranging from mixing things such as bleach, sugar, syrup, 7-up or vodka in the water. Research has shown, however, that plain water is the best bet for caring for Christmas trees. Furthermore, the water doesn’t have to be distilled or bottled or fancy in any way. Tap water is just fine.
To further ensure the longevity of Christmas trees, it is helpful to make a fresh cut at the base of the trunk. This cut should be straight and made about an inch from the end of the trunk and the tree should be placed in water quickly. This cut helps Christmas trees better absorb water from within the tree stand.
If the tree is not to be put up right away, it is still a good idea to cut the trunk of the tree and place it in a bucket of water. The tree should then be stored in a shady, protected area that is unheated. When the time comes to set the tree up, the end of the tree should be cut once again to further aid in water absorption.
The type of tree stand used with Christmas trees is also important in their ability to last. For most Christmas trees, the water reservoir should hold at least ½ gallon of water, but the more water the better. Keep in mind that freshly cut Christmas trees will absorb up to one full gallon of water, or even more, in the first 24 hours after a new cut is made. They will continue to absorb one or more quarts each day, depending on the room temperature and the number of lights and other decorations on the tree.
Recognizing Christmas Trees that are drying out:
One of the surest signs that Christmas trees are beginning to dry out is water absorption. For a tree that is drying out, water use substantially slows down or stops altogether. The needles of Christmas trees that are not watered regularly will dry and fall off as the tree dries. In addition, the boughs will droop and the tree will lose its fragrance. Trees kept near TV’s, fireplaces, air ducts, and radiators have a tendency to dry more quickly.
It is also important to keep Christmas trees watered because a dried sap seal will form over the end of them within four to 6 hours after the water drops below the base of the tree. This makes it impossible for the trees to absorb water, even after the reservoir is refilled. This problem can be remedied by cutting the bottom of the tree once again, but this is difficult to do with a tree that has already been decorated.
Apple trees were the most popularly grown fruit tree in colonial America and practically every settlement farm and backyard gardener planted this easily grown fruit tree, or easier, the seed of the apple could be planted to establish a permanent food supply. Growing these apple tree products could be eaten fresh or could be dried and preserved in many different ways to eat at a later time. Historical instances on the existence of apple trees are documented from folklore, legends, stone images on carved tablets, petrified slices of apples on plates for tomb offerings, and overwhelming numbers of references from Hebrew Bible scriptures and innumerable writings from poetry, songs, literary publications, and many other surviving accounts of all civilizations in the ancient world. One of the earliest archeological evidence of apple tree fruit comes from the remains of excavations from Jericho, Jordan, that has been dated 6500 BC by radiochemical analysis of carbon atoms.
The petrified remains of apple slices that were found in a saucer of an ancient Mesopotamian tomb, the burial site of royalty dates back to 2500 BC and was uncovered in southern Iran. In the ancient historical accounts of the fruit of the apple tree, there appears to be an incomprehensible trail of evidence that no other fruit could match. The interest was shown in apples by the Greek and Roman philosophers, poets, historians, and literary masters were even extended to Renaissance painters, royal chefs to the Tsars of Russia and too many other references to mention.
In colonial America, apple trees were grown and planted from seeds in orchards by William Blackstone at Boston, Massachusetts in the 1600’s. Early documents on file at the National Library in Washington, DC suggest that all landowners in Massachusetts had begun growing apple trees by the 1640’s.
William Bartram, the famous explorer, and botanist wrote in his book, Travels, “I observed, in a very thriving condition, two or three large apple trees” in 1773, while traveling near Mobile, Alabama. It is important to realize that these large apple trees found growing in Alabama in 1773 could very easily have been grown from the seed planted by Creek Indians. Those seeds may have been obtained by the Indians from American colonists on the Eastern coast of the United States at a much earlier time or from French farmers who settles in areas of agricultural land grants north of Mobile. General Oglethorpe planned in 1733 to plant “various plants, subtropical and temperate, which might prove valuable for Georgian farms and orchards,” according to William Bartram in his book Travels, published 40 years later. William Bartram’s father, John Bartram, trip to “East Florida” (Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas) was, in part at least, an attempt to inventory the plant resources of England’s new acquisition—after expelling the Spanish from East Florida.
Many modern botanists believe that the improved apple that we know today descended from the crabapple that is commonly interplanted with apple trees for cross-pollination. Old documents record that fact “cultivated apples descended from crab-tree or wild apple-Pyrus malus.” Wild crabapple tree seeds appeared on the list of collected seeds in the Plant List of 1783 of William Bartram and his father, John Bartram. In William Bartram’s book, Travels in 1773, he “observed amongst them (fruit trees) the wild crab (Pyrus coronaria) in his explorations near Mobile, Alabama. Robert Prince established the first operating nursery in the American colonies at Flushing, New York, in the 1700’s, where he offered apple trees for sale at his nursery that was visited by General George Washington, who later became the first President of the United States. President Thomas Jefferson was planting and growing apple trees at his fruit tree orchard in Monticello, Virginia, in the early 1800’s.
The legendary Johnny Appleseed was responsible for the rapid development of the apple trees growing and planting when he established a nursery in the Midwest that sold both apple trees and seed to be planted for growing into trees in the 1800’s. Over 2000 cultivars of apple trees are listed as being grown today, many of the trees resulting from the huge apple seed dispersion that was begun by the memorable ambition of Johnny Appleseed to entirely cover the landscape of America with the fruit of apple trees.
Over the centuries, apple trees became susceptible to many disease problems such as fire blight; however, Dr. C.S. Crandall from the University of Illinois performed several backcrosses that involved modern cultivars and the apple tree ancestor ‘crabapple,’ Malus floribunda. The wild crabapple contained an immunity factor within its genetic composition towards all major bacterial and fungal diseases of apple trees. In 1989, researchers from the pomology department at Cornell University extracted an immune fire blight gene from a nocturnal moth and transplanted it into an apple fruit, resulting in the total defeat of fire blight in that particular apple tree cultivar.
Fruiting of apple trees is perhaps the most troublesome characteristic experienced by an orchardist or a backyard fruit tree gardener. Most cultivars of apple trees require cross-pollination of two separate varieties in order to set fruit on the tree.
It is necessary that the blossoms of the two apple tree flowers develop pollen at the same time, in order that fruit will be set, which can be a tricky problem to correct. The simplest solution to pollinate apple trees is to use the ancestor of the modern day apple cultivars, the crabapple, which sheds its pollen over a long period of time and easily overlaps the apple tree cultivar flowering period. Crabapple trees produce a fruit that is much smaller than the common apple, but it can be used in cooking in various ways, and it is loved by wildlife in the fall and winter when wildlife food is scarce for animals and birds. Crabapple trees are also valuable when used as flowering trees that begin blooming in early spring with huge clusters of pink, white, and even red blossoms. Several outstanding grafted flowering tree selections are available, such as: Brandywine, Red Perfection, Radiant, and Spring Snow.
Apple trees are easy to grow, and if a gardener purchases a large tree, he may experience fruit development even during the first year of planting and growing. The selection of the proper cultivar of grafted apple trees is extremely important because even though the apple fruit can be grown in most areas of the United States, the trees require different amounts of chilling temperatures in order to flower. The interesting introduction of low chill cultivars from Israel makes it possible to experience apple growing and planting as far south as Florida. Certain popularly grown cultivars of apple trees in the United States today are: Arkansas Black, Gala, Granny Smith, Red Rome, Anna, Red Fuji, Yates, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Anna, Ein Shemer, and Golden Dorsett. Apples contain some mysterious quality that can preserve it from deterioration for centuries. Apple slices can be dried and kept delicious for long periods of time. This mysterious characteristic may be recognized by man’s association of paradise being connected and related to Eve and Adam picking apples from a fruit tree growing in paradise for their eternal pleasure, that was planted by God and described as the tree of life at the fabled Garden of Eden. We see this fruit of paradise recurs in the history of many other ancient civilizations. A similar account that we read as children in the book of Genesis from the scriptures in the Hebrew Bible.
Perhaps this mysterious genetic quality of apples in preservation makes it so important as providing medical benefits backed up by that memorable proverb, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Experiments from researchers in California have shown that apple fruit is very rich in antioxidants, a biological compound that combats, stroke, heart disease, and many other health problems.
Palm trees, scientifically known as Arecaceae or Palmae, are trees belonging to a family of monocot flowering plants. There are approximately 2,600 different species of palm trees, the majority of which are native to tropical or subtropical climates. Some well-known trees that belong to this group include coconut trees, rattan trees, and date palm trees.
Uses of palm trees
Palm trees have many uses. Palm tree sap is sometimes fermented in order to produce palm wine or palm toddy. To make palm wine from the sap of palm trees, the sap is first collected by cutting between the tree kernels. A container is placed below the cut to collect the sap, a process that takes one or two days. The sap begins fermenting immediately and creates a wine within two hours. If the palm sap is allowed to sit too long, however, it turns into vinegar.
Heart of palm is also derived from several species of palm trees. Heart of palm is also referred to as swamp cabbage, palm heart, or palmito. Heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from palm trees. Because the vegetable is taken from the inner core of the palm trees, however, it kills the tree when it is harvested. Therefore, it is quite costly and salads in which it is added are often referred to as “millionaire salad.”
In addition, oil palms belonging to the genus Elaeis are used to produce palm oil. This form of vegetable oil is obtained from the palm tree’s fruit. The edible form of palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit. This is what is generally referred to as “palm oil” or “edible oil.” This oil is generally reddish in color and contains high levels of carotenoids. It is most often used in margarine or in cooking oil.
“Palm kernel oil” is derived from the kernel of palm trees. This oil is not edible but is used mostly to make soap. Palm kernel oil contains olefins and lauric acid. Both forms of palm oil also contain a large amount of tocotrienol, which is part of the Vitamin E family.
Palm trees in the United States
Very few palm trees are capable of tolerating severe cold. The hardiest palm trees include the Trachycarpus, which is native to eastern Asia, and the Rhapidophyllum, which is from the southwestern United States.
Other palm trees are native to warmer climates in the United States, such as California, Florida, and southern California where a tropical climate is prevalent. Other states with Mediterranean climates, such as the Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and southern Georgia also are home to native palm trees. Some desert states, such as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah are also home to some species of palm trees.
In addition, the Atlantic coast of South Carolina contains numerous palm trees, earning the state the nickname of “Palmetto State.”
Palm trees have also been known to grow as far north as Arkansas and Maryland in the United States, as well as along the Pacific Coast to Washington and Oregon. Some species of palm trees have also been successfully transplanted to states as far north as New Jersey.
One of the most frustrating things that can possibly happen to someone who has slaved for hours and hours in growing a fruit tree is the unexplainable barrenness that can sometimes occur when there should be a plethora of fresh fruit. I know this from experience. My neighbors all consider me the gardening guru because of my extensive knowledge. But this is only because gardening has been my passion for years and years, and like a sponge, I have accumulated so much information in my mind. My learning has also come from past experiences with failure. For about 5 years after I started planting fruit trees, I did not see a single fruit for all my labor. I was nearly ready to give up until I met who I think is truly the guru of gardening.
I was in the gardening store, looking for some sort of new fertilizer to put my hope in for my quest to obtain fruit. I don’t know if there was a look of desperation in my eyes, but a kindly old man came up and started speaking with me. He introduced himself as Ralph, and for some reason, I opened up to him and told him about all of my difficulties. I’ve never been the type to spill all my problems on anyone who asks, but Ralph seemed like such a nice fellow that I just couldn’t help it. And I’m glad I did because what he taught me truly helped me to get my fruit trees in gear and start producing.
I learned that generally, the inability to produce can be caused by a number of factors. Sometimes the tree is simply too young; If your tree is less than four years old, you shouldn’t exactly expect it to be producing yet. If it has reached 4 years and you still have seen no sign of fruit, then you should start to consider other factors that might be causing the barrenness.
If the tree is undergoing any type of water stress (this can be poor drainage, too much water, or too little water), then it will have trouble growing. If you suspect this is the case, you should evaluate your own watering techniques and compare them with the needs of the tree to see if you are causing water stress. Also always be on the lookout for any diseases or pest damages. If your tree is constantly being molested by all kinds of little creatures, then you can’t expect it to be lively enough to produce fruit.
If your tree blooms but still doesn’t produce any fruit, this could be because of cold temperatures during the bloom. The coldness damaged the flower bud or damaged the baby fruit. Aesthetically the tree may look fine, but the inside could be damaged beyond any hope of ever seeing fruit. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do in this case except for wait until next year and hope that it doesn’t happen again.
If the tree’s pollination process has not been fully completed, it could have troubles growing fruit. If you planted different varieties, you may find that the requirements are different than you had originally thought and they were incompatible. In this case, you need to replant the correct combinations.
Once I evaluated the conditions of my tree and everything that has occurred in its life, I realized that not only had I cross-pollinated slightly incorrectly, but I was also giving my tree too much water. After I fixed these problems, I had learned my lesson and I have not had any trouble bearing fruit since then.
So if you are struggling with a plant that is not being cooperative, you should consult an expert gardener. If you can find a gardening mentor like mine that is willing to teach you everything they know, then you should be able to get your garden on the right track with no problems.
There are two types of specialty trees, to begin with, but their difference relies not on their plant type but on the meaning behind their classification.
One type of specialty trees are plants that are rare and difficult to find; these specialty trees are also often more difficult to plant and grow. The other type of specialty trees deal with holiday gifts that are specially decorated or accessorized to suit the occasion; these specialty trees can be natural or man-made.
We’ll discuss both types of specialty trees in this article.
RARITY OF NATURAL SPECIALTY TREES
If you’ve had a change of heart when it comes to your garden’s present landscape design, we suggest that this time around, you should take more of a challenge in the form of specialty trees.
Specialty trees are, as mentioned, trees that are difficult to find and also difficult to go because of the special conditions they require; specialty trees tend to have very exact needs when it comes to exposure to sunlight, irrigation, soil type and sometimes even their very location in your garden. So yes, if you’re not exactly born with a green thumb, you’ll be facing a Herculean task when it comes to making sure that your specialty tree would live a long and healthy life.
Tips on Buying Specialty Trees
Unless you’re willing and able to expend the majority of your time in your garden, it’s highly inadvisable to fill your garden with specialty trees. Instead, try to use old standby plants as foundations or anchor of your garden’s landscape design then choose the specialty tree that appeals to you the most and make it into your garden’s centerpiece.
It’s also better to purchase specialty trees from the experts – they usually have their own nurseries – rather rely on what’s being sold in the department stores. That way, you’ll also benefit from their much-needed advice on caring for specialty trees.
There are many types of specialty trees so it’s rare that you’ll find your neighbor taking care of the same specialty tree herself; some examples would be pines, maples, assai palm, cacao, June plum and mamoncillo or Spanish lime.
Remember that plants – of the specialty variety or not – are also living creatures so make your choice wisely; select only the type of specialty tree that you’re certain you can truly take care of.
Lastly, if it becomes apparent that you’re not fully capable of taking care of your specialty tree, there are companies that offer specialty care services. They assist you in all ways to improve the health, stability, and livability of your special trees. These companies, for instance, can help you in rot pruning, cabling, administering soil and plant tissue tests, bracing, providing protection from lightning for your special trees and making adequate aeration systems.
SPECIALTY TREES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Specialty trees are fast becoming the most popular fad in gift-giving nowadays for all occasions. Although specialty trees are often used as corporate and wedding giveaways, they can also serve just as well as a birthday gift or a get-well-soon-present for someone who had just recently undergone an operation.
Specialty trees are most popular come Christmas time and families are given a wide variety of specialty trees to choose from. Some are simply natural trees that are accessorized with holiday ornaments while some are made of fiber optical materials and even hung upside down from the ceiling!
Most malls – land-based and online – sell such products so just remember to choose the specialty tree that’s most able to symbolize your message of care for a loved one or the heart of an occasion.
There are two kinds of winter gardening. The first method usually starts in January as the gardening catalogs begin to arrive in the mail. This type of gardening is as easy as sitting in your favorite chair, browsing the catalogs, and either dreaming about what you're going to do this spring or actually drawing designs for the gardens you intend to work on.
The second type of winter gardening is to actually get out in the yard and do a little work. Of course, if it's bitter cold, you'd be better off waiting for a good day. Winter is a good time to do some pruning if the temperatures are around 30 degrees or so. I don't recommend pruning if it's considerably below freezing because the wood is brittle and will shatter when you make a cut.
One of the advantages of pruning during the winter is that you can see much better what needs to be cut out and what should stay. At least that's true with deciduous plants. The other advantage is that the plants are dormant, and won't mind you doing a little work on them.
Ornamental trees should prune to remove competing branches. Weeping Cherries, Flowering Dogwoods, Flowering Crabapples etc. have a tendency to send branches in many different directions. It is your job to decide how you want the plant to look, and then start pruning to achieve that look.
But first, stick your head inside the tree and see what you can eliminate from there. This is like looking under the hood, and when you do you'll see a lot of small branches that have been starved of sunlight, that certainly doesn't add anything to the plant. They are just there and should be cut out.
Any branch that is growing toward the center of the tree where it will get little sunlight should be cut out. Where there are two branches that are crossing, one of them should be eliminated. Once you get the inside of the plant cleaned up, you can start shaping the outside.
Shaping the outside is actually quite easy. Just picture how you want the plant to look, and picture imaginary lines of the finished outline of the plant. Cut off anything that is outside of these imaginary lines. It is also important to cut the tips of branches that have not yet reached these imaginary lines in order to force the plant to fill out.
For the most part, plants have two kinds of growth: Terminal branches and lateral branches. Each branch has one terminal bud at the very end and many lateral branches along the sides. The terminal buds grow in an outward direction away from the plant. Left uncut they just keep growing in the same direction, and the plant grows tall and very thin. That's why the trees in the woods are so thin and not very attractive.
When you cut a branch on a plant, the plant sets new buds just below where you cut. When you remove the terminal bud the plant will set multiple buds; this is how you make a plant nice and full. Don't be afraid to trim your plants, they will be much nicer because of it. The more you trim them, the fuller they become.
Lots of people have a real problem with this. They just can't bring themselves to prune. Especially when it comes to plants like Japanese Red Maples. It kills them to even think about pruning a plant like this. Just do it! You'll have a beautiful plant because of it.
Look at the plant objectively. If you see a branch that looks like it's growing too far in the wrong direction, cut it. If you make a mistake it will grow back. Not pruning is the only mistake you can make. I hope this helps and doesn't get you in trouble with your significant other. Many a family feud has started over pruning.
Many people think of tiny little Japanese trees cut and pruned to a miniature size but literally speaking Bonsai means ‘plant in a tray’ and while they are smaller than their wild counterparts they don’t have to be a couple of inches tall; they can be grown in a pot in the garden and will be smaller than their wild counterparts.
Misconceptions about Bonsai trees.
Many people believe that training Bonsai trees are a cruel pastime because the cultivator starves the tree and cuts it to such an extent that it becomes unhealthy. Quite the reverse is usually true; while they are cut and pruned quite heavily to keep them to the size of the pot, they are usually transferred from pot to pot regularly and are fed and watered much more often than their wild cousins.
Contrary to belief, Bonsai trees do not originate from Japan, but there are records dating back more than 2000 years that show Bonsai being grown in China. These Bonsai weren’t as small as the Bonsai that people often envisage and were grown on an individual basis outdoors in pots. It was, though, the Japanese that took this art form and progressed it to the level it is at now. This has led to quite different styles in Japanese and Chinese Bonsai; the Chinese Bonsai being much more freestyle and more lightly pruned than the Japanese miniature Bonsai that are very heavily groomed and pruned and look much more like miniature natural versions of the full-sized versions.
Bonsai trees do not live shorter lives than wild trees. They regularly live for many centuries and are traditionally passed down from generation to generation of the family. They lead nearly exactly the same length lives as their wild cousins and are often much healthier because of the attention they receive.
The advantages of growing Bonsai.
Not everyone has a large garden where they can plant numerous trees and let them grow as big as they want, and even those who do have large gardens still need to wait for many years before the tree becomes truly established. By growing Bonsai you don’t need any more room than the size of your pot and because you only need them to grow too much smaller proportions it really is accessible for anyone who is interested in growing Bonsai trees. You can even grow them inside if you can recreate the correct conditions for the tree you want to grow.
Growing Bonsai trees can fast become an addictive hobby and requires attention to detail, the foresight of how the tree will grow and plenty of time and care. You will undoubtedly feel massive satisfaction if you decide to grow Bonsai and are any good at it.
There are two types of chinquapin trees, also called ‘chikapin trees,’ that are available commercially in the United States, the Allegheny chinquapin, and the Georgiana chinquapin. The Allegheny chinquapin, ‘Castanea pumila’, is considered a shrub by some; however, some researchers claim that its dwarf size does not justify its reclassification. Many old-timers remember sweet memories from their youth when baskets were filled with the spicy, sweet, nutty-flavored chinquapins.
These nuts were eaten fresh, roasted or baked into snack confections for any occasion. The nuts from chinquapin trees grow with only one nut to a burr, whereas chestnuts, a close botanical relative, produce two or more nuts per burr. The Allegheny chinquapin, ‘Castanea pumila,’ is widely distributed throughout the Southeastern U.S. and is cold hardy up to Zone 6 and all the way down to Zone 9. The Allegheny chinquapin prefers to grow in a neutral, uphill soil, especially at higher elevations. These nuts are often gathered by local inhabitants and are available at many locations at nearby markets and roadside stands.
The Georgiana chinquapin, ‘Castanea alnifolia,’ is best described as the creeping chinquapin and it readily spreads in shady thickets by means of giant underground stems that produce many shallow roots. These plants are found in huge colonies throughout South Georgia and produce numerous nuts in late summer and early fall with a distinct sweetness and characteristic spicy flavor that remains indelibly bonded within the memory. The plant is easily grown and transplanted but is more vigorous in a shady location. The burr is about one inch in diameter, producing a brown waxy nut in the center. The Georgian chinquapin ‘Castanea alnifolia’ is cold hardy in zones 8-10, growing about 4 feet in height, slow growing but excelling in poor sandy soils that are well drained.
Luther Burbank reported in his book Trees, Volume 8, that chinquapin trees appeared to be almost immune to the chestnut tree blight of the American chestnut trees that, within a 50 year period of history—beginning in 1912, practically had eliminated the American native chestnut tree. Burbank hybridized thousands of chestnut trees in an effort to renew the American chestnut forests to their former splendor. He noted that any hybrid that had successfully survived the chestnut tree blight to become a viable commercial orchard selection would undoubtedly contain the immune qualities within the chinquapin that had been implanted into the American chinquapin tree genetic makeup.
