June: Survival of the fittest
Gotti Kelley
Green Scene

With hurricane season just around the corner (oh yes!) you need to know if your trees will be safe from the possible wrath of Mother Nature. The following suggestions from the International Society of Arboriculture, www.treesaregood.com, might prevent serious losses:

+ Investigate the condition of your trees. Look for cracks in the trunk or in major limbs; identify hollow and decayed trees and those that lean significantly. Reducing tree hazards increases the safety of your property and that of your neighbors; it also improves the tree's health and may increase its longevity and chance of survival.

+ Some species are more prone to storm damage. Evaluate your trees for hardiness and resilience. Be aware which trees may succumb to harsh weather conditions; it will help you decide if you want to replace them.

+ Curb the urge to cut back all of the top branches on the mistaken assumption that it will help avoid breakage in future storms. "Topping," the cutting of main branches back to stubs, is the indiscriminate cutting back of tree branches to stubs and is not a viable method of height reduction. It makes trees more susceptible to the elements over the long run. Topping ruins a tree's aesthetic beauty. Without leaves for many months, topped trees appear mutilated, and they can never regain their natural form.

Volcanoes in the Garden State?

Yes, indeed! They insidiously spring up in our neighborhoods in increasing numbers. Volcanoes of mulch around unsuspecting young trees rise up to 1 feet and continue to grow higher each year. They are a wonderful safe haven for voles, moles and rodents, who feed on the bark during the long winter, and a harbinger of disease (fungus or insect attack) for your treasured young trees. Bark is not designed to tolerate continuous moisture, created by piled-up mulch. As a rule of thumb, keep mulch 3 to 6 inches away from young tree trunks and 8 to 12 inches from mature tree trunks. Do not apply mulch more than 2 to 4 inches deep above the soil.

"Gras ist das Haar der Mutter Erde"- "Grass is the hair of Mother Earth." The great German nurseryman and plant breeder Karl Foerster used this poetic phrase to evoke the intimate bond between grasses and the earth that sustains them. Savoring and encouraging that bond is one of the great privileges of being a gardener. The longer you garden, the more opportunities you will discover for introducing grasses into your planting schemes.

If you have shady, woodland conditions, you can revel in Hakonechloa macra "Aureola," one of the most gorgeous plants in existence, or the exciting selections of Carex siderosticha. Muhlenbergia capillaris "White Cloud" is a slender 30-inch-high grass, attractive in spring and summer.

But the show begins in fall when they are topped by glittering, airy plumes of silvery-white, as puffy as clouds. The texture of these blooms adds terrific softness to the garden. As they mature to tan in winter, birds perch to feast upon their ripening seeds. Idyllic water gardens can provide a home for bulrushes, cattails and a host of moisture-loving sedges (Carex spp.) And if you have an ordinary sunny border, well, the choices are almost endless.

Grasses are permanent landscape accents, vigorous, flourishing and provide multi-season interest.

As spring drifts into summer, horticultural multi-tasking will become de rigeur for many gardeners. Now is the time to start dead-heading spent flowers, tying together the long daffodil leaves to avoid their unkempt look while they gather nutrients for next year's bloom; mercilessly removing encroaching weeds by hand, hoe or chemicals, and keeping a sharp lookout for garden pests.

Don't ignore new cultivars to freshen the look of your flower beds. Try unfamiliar plants - plunge into new discoveries. But beware: I was given a few Petasites (colts foot) two years ago, and their spectacular huge leaves with brilliant white and yellow striations have taken over a large portion of my herb garden. Select new plants with care - you don't want a portion of your garden choked with floral splendor. Or maybe you would?

Gotti Kelley is a longtime member of the Navesink Garden Club and on the board of the Garden Club of New Jersey.