EverWinter

It's late fall now and the thoughts of the holidays begin to take hold. Many are still raking up the leaves in our yards and may be noticing that our evergreens are getting some brown spots towards the inner needles. This is Fall Cast-Off. Like deciduous trees, evergreens react to the changing sunlight exposure that fall and winter bring. Since there is chlorophyll in the needles just like in deciduous leaves it needs a certain amount of light to be maintained. When the light decreases the tree will shed or cast-off some of the older inner needles. this helps it to conserve the available energy that it has. There is no cause for alarm, this is as natural as the leaves falling off the trees around it. The  reason the tree loses the inner needles is because they are not as exposed to the open sunlight as the surface needles. That is why when you look at an older tree, you will notice that it grows out like an umbrella. Do not mistake cast-off for other diseases that can materialize ...

In one of my earlier posts I stated that the "Firs" were my favorite of all the conifers, but, the true soldiers of Winter are the "Spruces". Their shape and branch structure differ slightly from the Firs in that they are a more dense tree. Their conical shape is more defined and consistent. There are less gaps in their branches. The needles are evenly distributed at 360 degrees around each branch. Typically Spruce needles are prickly to the touch. The cross-cut of a needle is shaped like a cross. In the valleys of the cross running the length of the needle is a thin white line. This feature tends to make the tree present with an overall lighter shade of the main color. One species that does not have this additional color is the Colorado Blue Spruce. All other Spruces have this. Their trunk bark is generally smooth with small randomly scattered ulcers approximately 3mm in diameter. The true calling of these green giants is in creating a privacy line or a wind break...

"Solemnly they stand, unwavering under a frozen blanket, the soldiers of Winter. God's sentry's over the forest as it sleeps. The wind blowing through their branches, transformed into the whispers of the ages." Thomas R. Marcucci

Today I had the privilege of putting out flags on the grave sites of our veterans to prepare for the memorial holiday. It was part of my sons Tiger Cub Scouts Project. Every year they get together with our local V.F.W. and help them. It was a great chance for me and my son to do something together. He had no trouble understanding why we were there and how important they were. We were there for about 3 hours. There were plenty of volunteers. In all total 1500 flags were placed. When we were done we looked across the cemetery and the first word that came to mind was...sobering. This was the local cemetery in my home town of Bensalem. There was a sea of flags. Add up all the cemetery s of our country and the picture would be staggering. I told my son that this is what it took for our family to be able to live the life that we live. This Memorial Day will be particularly important for us as our nephew has just deployed with the Marines to Afghanistan, this is his first o...

The Hollies, one of my favorite berrying evergreens. They are comprised of both evergreen and deciduous versions. There are many variations of holly available to the home owner. First we'll discuss the evergreen version. Typically they have tough glossy green foliage that has sharp points to help discourage foraging animals from eating all the fruits (berries). Varieties that grow in the northern regions tend to be tougher to survive harsher climate levels. The scientific classification is: Illex, the most common specimens available is Illex Meservae, sometimes called "China Girl" and "China Boy" its male counterpart. Another popular version is called Illex Opaca, it comes in two different berrying colors, red and yellow. Their common name is "American Holly", the yellow version has an additional common name, "Canary Yellow". Illex Opaca has been depicted in countless Christmas representations. Holly is found throughout the globe. There are ...

These are my favorites out of all the conifers. One key feature of Firs is their needles, They are an Emerald Green on the top side of their needles and a silvery blue on the bottom. This presents in a duel colored tree and the color changes if the wind blows. The needles on a Fir are not positioned in a 360 degree circle around the branches. Rather they are concentrated at 180 degrees to the branch. This gives the branches a fuller almost fuzzy appearance. It's no surprise that the firs are the most popular choice for Christmas trees each year. The most commonly used are the Balsam and Frasier Firs. These two also provide the best aroma inside the house that we all know and love. If you want to do something special one Christmas, consider getting a live tree instead of a cut tree and plant it outside in your yard after the holiday. But, enough about that, I'll do a post that goes into more detail closer to the holiday.  There are quite a few different specimen choices when i...

One of the key things to be aware of when designing your Winter Garden is the range of your palette. It is comprised of four things; size, shape, texture and color. Generally your tree evergreens such as Spruces, Firs and Pines will be the largest and tallest elements in your design. there are many small evergreens that you have to choose from as well. Many of the Cotoneasters and Hollies make fine additions and help to add small accents of color. these plant types will be individually described in detail in later posts along with many others. The next thing to consider is shape. Many of the Spruces, Firs and Pines generally have a conical shape, however through crossbreeding efforts many new shapes have come to be readily available. I have seen many free form Spruces being used to accent a landscape bed. They can also be seen as bush shaped or global. There is a wide variety to choose from. The next thing to consider is texture. Evergreen leaves can vary from the needle form of mo...