Feature Articles Archives

Archived Articles

Nature's Renewable Resource - Leaves

Can we really plant in the Fall?
Includes list of plants that prefer
Fall planting.

Anti-Transpirants - Mother Nature's Little Helper

Who's Harry Lauder? Why a walking stick?
Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Contorted Hazel or Harry Lauder's Walking Stick)

.Solomon's Seal
Beautiful yet rugged, shade-loving perennials.

Is Fall for Planting?
Is fall a good time to plant, or not? Some guidelines to consider.

Fall/Winter Plant Care
Some tips for putting your plants to bed for the year.

It wasn't so long ago, or so it seems, that as a youngster growing up I remember Fall as being one of the prettiest times of the year, but one where we had a lot of work to do raking up all of the fallen leaves before the weather got too cold and the snows came. We lived in the suburbs and had a rather large yard, just over an acre, with many different kinds of trees. Having a yard with so many trees was actually wonderful, for a young boy it meant that there were always trees to climb, cool shady places to hide out in and huge piles of leaves to jump into, but like most good things they don't last forever, with time comes change.

In the garden, this change couldn't be more evident as each season puts forth a new beginning and gives us something to look forward to with each change. In the Spring one can watch as new buds brake their dormancy and burst out into fresh new foliage, bringing the garden to life once more, as Summer creeps in, the leaves are thick on the trees and provide shade from the hot afternoon sun, a place where one can just lay back, relax, sip on an ice tea and listen to the sounds around you. I would think to myself, how nice it would be if it was like this all the time, but of course I new it wasn't going to last. So I looked toward the next season, actually the most wonderful of all, for if you asked most people which season was their favorite, I think most would have to say "Fall." Although it may be a season that tells us that we are beginning to wind down and head into winter, it is a season full of excitement and color, a time to get out and enjoy life, the great outdoors. People seem to love Fall so much that many of us hope for an Indian Summer, to prolong the season, but once again we know it won't last and soon it will be time to clean up all those leaves that gave us such shady pleasure in our gardens for the year. Many people may think that these leaves have done their job for the year, they have fallen and now they have to dispose of them.

What people did with all their leaves years ago, I don't know and can only speculate. I would imagine that most people just got rid of them where ever they could. One thing I can tell you is, that when I was growing up, it was common practice in the community that we lived in to burn leaves. While Fall was the prettiest time of the year, with many nice enjoyable days, there were just as many days where the air was so thickly laden with smoke that you could smell leaves burning from a mile away. Times have changed since then, and many of these suburban communities no longer permit burning leaves at all. Some require you to place them at the curb where they are sucked up by large vacuum machines and others require that they be bagged for pickup. Most of these leaves ended up in a local dump or landfill, but now things have changed once again, with many of these communities realizing that 40% or more of the material going into their landfills was nothing more than leaves, grass clippings and other landscape debris. Communities and municipalities needed to do something, they realized that as the population grew, these landfills would soon be filled up and that there must be some alternative, other than returning to leaf burning, which was not practical and surely not environmentally healthy. The alternative, of course was composting. I'm sure this idea is nothing new to some people, I for one realized long ago, the value of fallen leaves.

I have since moved to the country where burning is permitted, not only can you burn your leaves, but also your garbage or anything else for that matter. I would have guessed that country folks would understand the value of their fallen leaves, yet you can still find people here and there on the back country roads, burning their leaves. This is something I can't understand, one would think that in an area like this, where farms and homes with large garden plots abound, that leaves would be a welcomed addition to the fallow fields and gardens in the fall. I would have thought that these folks might even welcome the cast off leaves from the suburban yards, that they would be more than willing to take them off your hands and save them from the landfills.

The leaves that nature leaves us with in the Fall (no pun intended) are, if you think about it, one of earth's valuable resources. Not only are they natures way of insulating the roots of the tree from which they fall, but also those of any plants growing under or near them, while they also provide nutrients to the soil as they slowly break down and decompose. This organic material as it breaks down becomes one of the many forms of humus, which is the beginning of what will someday be topsoil, a material that we all use and pay dearly for when have to buy it. A garden with good soil is capable of growing good, healthy plants and is comparable to the human body in a good state of health. Topsoil is a precious medium, not only is it needed to grow the plants we love, but the foods we eat in order to survive. All too often our disregard for it is overlooked and taken for granted, we fail to realize that good topsoil can take hundreds of years to produce and for those of us fortunate enough to have it, maintaining it is just as important. Not only can soils be maintained through proper cultural practices, but by constantly amending them with organic materials such as leaves, which eventually become leafmold and finally turn into a soil form known as 'humus.' Humus can originate from many sources, such as material from the compost pile, green manure crops plowed under, various decomposing animal manures or even from purchased organic materials like peatmoss, buckwheat hulls, composted barks, etc. Leaves are nature's natural mulch, and a natural source of humus, delivered right to your plants free of charge.

Now how much sense does it make to rake up leaves each year and dispose of them? Would it not be smarter to take advantage of this natural resource, nearly all of us have leaves. Not only can they be composted or use as a mulch, but it is a simple chore to chop them up with the lawn mower as you mow your lawn in the Fall. When they are chopped into tiny little pieces and allowed to fall down, in between the blades of grass, they add a little humus to the soil in your lawn. If you have too many for the mower to handle, they can just be added each year to the vegetable or flower garden and tilled under. What a difference you will soon come to find, a soil that is more easily worked and that has a better texture, improved drainage and one that is capable of holding both the right amount of moisture and nutrients for your plants when they need them.

The majority of this country is covered with deciduous trees, although there are few parts such as the Pacific Northwest and some high mountain areas that have predominately evergreen forests. I think you will find that almost everyone who has a yard has at least one deciduous tree (and if you don't, you ought to have one). If you live in the inner city or in the outlying city areas where homes are still very close to one another, you may not even have a tree, or even much of a yard, but you may still have to deal with cleaning up leaves from other trees in the neighborhood. Small city properties don't really lend themselves to the wonders of composting, so I suppose you are the few who may have to bag up your leaves. If you are one of these 'city' people or if you have a large property with many trees, but do not want to bother with compost piles or mulching your beds the natural way, don't dispose of your leaves by leaving them for the garbage man or by burning them. Think smart , think ecologically, either take them to a compost facility or offer them to a farmer, avid gardener or someone with a vegetable garden and explain to them the value of those leaves, as I have just told you, I am quite sure they will take them off your hands. Just as this world was given to us to live on, it is our responsibility to take care of it and give back to it. Composting and recycling leaves is more than just a recycling project, it is giving earth back to the earth. Leaves are all around us, they're free, they are one of natures renewable resources.

Each year many of us wait for the beautiful show of Autumn colors, that the landscape presents to us before the onset of winter. We wait in anticipation to see whether the fall season will turn into a blaze of extraordinary colors that will last for many weeks or one that is short and lacks a glorious exit. Few of us actually think about what causes this sudden burst of color on our deciduous trees and more or less take it for granted, but have you ever wondered why the foliage changes color and why some years its seems to be better or worst than others?

The weather conditions at hand for various regions of the country or the world for that matter are what is responsible for the variation of Fall color and its intensity. Sunlight intensity, rainfall, temperature, humidity and other factors can affect the balance of the naturally occurring chemicals and their composition within the leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs, which ultimately determines the color variations, how bright they are and how long they may last.

As many of us already know, the roots of a plant draw upon the earth for moisture and nutrients to feed itself, but the leaves of the plants are the real food production centers that feed the plant. As roots take in water and send it to the leaves, the leaves are taking in carbon dioxide from the air and the chlorophyll that is naturally found in the leaves, uses the energy in the sun's light to convert this carbon dioxide and water into glucose, a kind of sugar used by the plant for growth. This process is know as photosynthesis. While chlorophyll is green and plants derive their green coloration from this pigment, the abundance of chlorophyll in the Spring and Summer months masks the presence of other natural occurring chemical pigments also found in leaves. These are not usually evident until Fall, when approaching cold weather conditions signal the plant to prepare for Winter and start to shut down the food processing operations within its leaves.

As the tree begins to shut down for Winter, an 'abscission' or separation layer between the leaf stem and the branch begins to swell. This abscission is a special layer of cells between the base of the leaf and the branch that contains small tubes that allow water to enter the leaf and the sugars that are produced by the leaf to leave and feed the plant. As the abscission begins to swell it forms a cork-like membrane which inhibits the flow of water and sugars both in and out of the leaf. As the bottom cells in this abscission layer begin to gradually seal themselves, the top layer of cells begins to disintegrate. It is during this period that we see the colorful pigments begin to show themselves in the leaves. Eventually the leaf turns brown and is either blown off the tree or falls from its own weight, leaving behind a leaf scar.

When a plants food production decreases in the fall, chlorophyll production declines and eventually stops altogether. As this green chlorophyll gradually disappears, the other colored pigments that have been there all along take over and become more noticeable. The orange colors come from carotene and their oxidized derivatives, the yellow colors from xanthophylls. The bright red and purple leaf colors originate from a third class of pigments found in leaves and are referred to as anthocyanins. Unlike the carotene and xanthophyll pigments, which are lipid-soluble and are present in the chloroplasts along with chlorophyll, anthocyanins are water soluble and not attached to cell membranes, but dissolved within the cell sap. If the cell sap, or sugars produced by photosynthesis, are trapped within a leaf when the abscission layer closes, the sugars react to form anthocyanins. The leaf colors produced by the anthocyanin pigments are sensitive to the pH of the cell sap. Bright red leaf colors are indicative of sap that is quite acidic, while if the sap is less acidic the leaf color may be in more of a purple range. The particular color that the leaves turn depends on the predominance of any of these chemical pigments and their reaction to the decrease in sap production as the tree goes into dormancy. This is why all trees do not turn red or purple in the Fall. The ultimate browning of the foliage is the result of tannins within the leaf which are nothing more than the waste products produced when the leaf cells ultimately die.

Fall colors are different from year to year and region to region and are greatly influenced by the weather, the weather will even dictate how long the Fall colors may last. Bright sunshine combined with low temperatures will destroy the chlorophyll quickly, but if temperatures stay above freezing, this promotes the formation of anthocyanins, which gives us those bright red colors. Dry weather, increases sugar concentration in the sap and increases the amount of anthocyanins produced in plants as well. The brightest Fall colors are produced when days are sunny and dry, followed by cool dry nights, while cloudy days and warm nights tend to produce a dull display of colors and sometimes early hard frosts can quickly ruin it all.

One of the better places to appreciate and enjoy spectacular Fall color is in the eastern United States. It is here that not only is there a wide variety of deciduous trees and shrubs, but the climate is one that almost assures that every year will be better than the last. Some of the prime areas for fall color are the New England and the Great Lake states, but areas from Georgia to Missouri to Pennsylvania can be spectacular as well. Tourists are attracted to many of these areas every year because of their consistent and breath taking displays of color.

The United States Forest Service operates a Fall foliage hotline. 800-354-4595 or a detailed report can be found on the internet at http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/fall.htm.

A new year is almost upon us, with Fall approaching, a sign that we are going into winter dormancy, a time to get ready for the Fall cleanup of leaves, for many of us the last big job of the season. It is also a time to mulch our beds, cut back our perennials and grasses, that require it, water our plants well, especially our evergreens, cut the lawn a few more times and make sure that everything is prepared and ready for the rigors of winter. Still, for some who know it, it is also a great time for planting or transplanting some of the plants we wanted to move in the Spring or thought of moving throughout the season and for whatever reason didn't get around to it. Spring might be the ideal time in which to plant or transplant and early season planting gives us the time to give our new plants the entire season to establish themselves before winter. While we pamper them with the things they need, water, fertilizer, a pinch here and there and some TLC, but things don't always get done when they are supposed to. It could have been a result of bad timing, because your deciduous plants flushed out in growth early, lack of rain and it was too dry to dig or on the other hand maybe it was just too wet from a wetter than normal winter/early spring.

Spring is not the only planting season, as many people would like to think. There of course is Summer and Fall, but in the Summer, temperatures can get very high and rainfall can be minimal. Some plants can be moved at this time, but most likely will be under a great deal of stress and will need to be watched and looked after more closely. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with those banners that are plastered all over the walls in garden centers, nurseries and in garden magazines that say "Fall is for Planting", well there is a lot of truth to this hype. It is not just a 'mumbo jumbo' campaign by the nurseries and garden centers to get people to buy more plants in the Fall, a general slow time for many places. Fall in many ways is a better season for planting and transplanting, eliminating much of the stress that can affect Spring and Summer plantings. Fall planting is fine for many ornamental plants, many of which can establish themselves just as readily as they can in the Spring of the year. Some perennials like peonies, oriental poppies and others actually prefer Fall planting, and many of the Spring flowering bulbs, crocus, daffodil, hyacinth, tulips and others must be planted in the Fall in order to establish a good root system before Spring so that they can put forth their expected flowers and foliage. Even grass seed likes the Fall, lawns installed in late Summer and early Fall are able to establish themselves much more quickly with less competition from weeds and the stress of Summer heat. Haven't you ever noticed that when the weather cools down and Fall approaches, lawns seem to grow green and lush again like they did in the very early Spring?

Though many evergreen plants, both broad-leaved and narrowleaved can be moved at almost any time during the year, they are best moved when there is sufficient moisture in the soil and new growth hasn't quite started or if it has, it is allowed to harden up somewhat. Since evergreens retain their foliage throughout the year, the transpiration process occurs all year, (transpiration is the loss of moisture through their foliage) and they are especially susceptible to this loss during the winter months, therefore should also be transplanted by late Summer or very early Fall so they can re-establish enough roots to compensate for this water loss.

However for deciduous plants, there are only two windows of opportunity during the year that these plants can be successfully moved or transplanted. That is in the early Spring prior to bud break and in the Fall when plants are going dormant for the winter season. Of course exceptions to this are deciduous plants that are containerized or balled & burlaped plants that were dug early in the season, most of these can be safely planted at most anytime of the year.While the cooler temperatures of Fall combined with leaf drop, reduce the water loss of deciduous trees and shrubs and enable many of them to be safely moved, some deciduous plants are not responsive to Fall planting and for them it can become risky to plant or even transplant them at this time of the year, especially in colder areas of the country where the fall season is very short. Basically the reason that some plants do not make good candidates for Fall planting is their root system, they are slow to re-establish. While we know that the root system on trees and shrubs can sometimes be quite extensive and on others it can be thin and less fibrous, the fact of the matter is that when plants are dug, more than 50% and actually closer to 90% of the actual feeder roots are lost during the operation. The feeder roots or fine hair-like roots are those roots that feed, nourish and replace water lost through transpiration. When the plant is moved, this root loss significantly reduces a plants natural moisture and the result is usually a plant that may be under some degree of stress. Some plants are capable of re-establishing their root systems rather quickly, while others are slow to re-establish and can have a tough time, especially if they are dug and planted at the wrong time of the year. So, although Fall is a great time for planting many kinds of plants, there are some plants that are better off being planted in the Spring.

Among those that are better off planted in the Spring or Summer are many of the groundcover type plants that are sold either bareroot, in flats or small pots or plugs such as pachysandra, myrtle, ivies, etc. Because their roots systems are small, they may need a longer period of time to develop successfully than what is available in the Fall. Of course in the southern regions of the country where winters are milder, these can be successfully planted almost year round. My own personal rule of thumb for Fall planting in colder zones where winter can easily go below freezing for long periods of time is, that any plant, one gallon or larger is generally safe to plant, while any plant less than one gallon in size could be quite risky, unless it is done very early in the Fall and mulched heavily and even then you may be taking a chance. This will also depend on the type and nature of the plants.

To help assure the survival of Fall planted plants, especially those that are known to have root systems that are slow to re-establish, particular attention should be paid to the actual planting. Other than providing an appropriate site for the plant, the hole in which it is to be planted should be substantially larger (wider) than the ball of the plant so that the backfill is loose and friable enough for the new roots to enter it without much hardship. Although it is recommended to amend the backfill, do not amend it so much that it is completely different than the existing backfill or ground beyond the hole itself. The reasoning behind this is that feeder roots will be encouraged to grow too quickly through this improved soil and when they reach the sides of the hole where the soil may be poorer and surely more compacted, they will turn and start to spiral, much like what happens when they are grown in a container. Using the existing backfill only use about 1/3 its volume for amendments and mix it very well. Amendments like peat moss that aren't mixed well can leave pockets around the ball of the plant that can be very hard to get wet and/or stay wet. The soil in the bottom of the hole should also be loosen somewhat for several inches, but not removed or amended. After being loosened, it should be tamped enough only to make it firm enough for the placement of the ball, realizing that the ball will settle a little. Doing this also provides a somewhat friable soil for any roots heading southward.

At this time a fertilizer can also be incorporated and mixed well with the backfill. One that is preferably high in phosphorus such as a 0-20-0 super phosphate or one that is more complete such as a general garden fertilizer like 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 which will aid in the production of new roots. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers at this time, because most of the nitrogen will not be made available to or benefit the plant now because they lack the feeder roots to supply it to the plant. Concentrate on establishing a plant with a good root system and then worry about the nitrogen. Two other important factors that will aid in a plants survival are water and mulching. Although it generally rains in the Fall of the year, you want to be sure that your newly set plant receives the water it needs sustain itself and to develop new roots. To be assured that water gets to the roots, plants need to be watered deeply, not only the ball itself, but the backfilled area as well. After planting, soil should be mounded slightly in the form of a saucer ring, to form a small dam around the plant where the hole was dug and the backfill begins, this is then filled with water and allowed to slowly soak into the ground. If sufficient rainfall does not occur after planting, provide at least an inch of water per week, filling this dammed area with water right up until the ground freezes for winter.

The final step in planting is mulching, which is not only essential for any new planting, but especially so for Fall plantings in that it will not only moderate soil temperatures and soil moisture, but will help to prevent many plants, especially smaller ones, from heaving out of the ground when the ground thaws in the Spring. Spread a 3"-4" layer of bark, leaves, sawdust or what ever mulch you are accustomed to using around the plant at least twice the diameter of the root ball if not further, tapering the depth of the mulch in towards the trunk or stems of the plant so that it is not buried. Too much mulch around the trunk or stem of a plant can cause insect or disease problems.

A few of the plants that are known to be risky to plant in the Fall (in colder regions of the country) are: