BlogCharm ceased operating in January 2007 and I though all my blog posts from there were gone forever. But I had forgotten about the Way Back Machine!! This is a site where websites are archived. I've known about it and used it in the past to retrieve long gone website information but had forgotten all about it until I read a post on Blog Explosion forums suggesting it as a way of retrieving posts from old Blog Charm sites.
Here's a link to the Way Back Machine - type in a website address and see what the site looked like 10 years ago! Internet Archive There are other archives there, not just websites.
I've found nearly all of the posts, and will be posting some of them here (hey, I'm into recycling - it's good for the planet you know!).
Recycling ...
The first post I'd like to recycle is appropriate to the season as my deciduous trees are currently naked. The tricky bit is going to be whether I can find the original photos used in the post as they didn't travel through time with the web site.
Deciduous Trees - Understory
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Deciduous Trees in My Garden
I have two deciduous trees in my garden. I love them, really I do.
One is a 40 year old liquidamber:
The other is a pair of Chinese Tallow trees (least I think that's what they are!)
The Challenge
I like seeing them in full leaf, and watching the process of them becoming naked, and then the sight of their skeletons in winter:
However ...
It does create a problem as to what to plant beneath them; they drop an enormous amount of leaves which entirely engulf the plants beneath them:
So far I don't think I've made any stupendous blunders on this front, but it's something for you to think about when planting under a deciduous tree.
Planting Under a Deciduous Tree - Things to Consider
- How will the new plants cope with being covered by leaves?
- How easy will it be to rake up leaves (or collect them for composting)
And.. (when planting under *any* tree)
- How will the tree roots affect the plants?
- Will there be too many tree roots for me to be able to dig the ground and get the plants (and reticulation if you're doing that too) in! (I've suffered this one a few times!)
- Will the plants cope with the differing amounts of sunlight between winter and summer?
The Leaves
I compost as many of the leaves as I can. I pick them up with a mulching garden vac. The vac breaks them up into little bits so they break down quicker than if put into the compost tumbler whole. I can't use them all though, so some go through the vac and straight onto the garden.
Used in this second manner, they seem to work well as a mulch and do a great job of keeping the weeds down (usually it's about a year before new weeds and wandering grass become problemmatic again).
Quite a few end up in the bin 'cos I just can't use them all. I feel bad about wasting Mother Natures' gift.
So Tell Me...
Leave a comment and tell me:
What do you grow under your deciduous trees and what do you do about dropped leaves?
Happy Gardening!
1 comment:
Here's a good thing to look up on the webz:
Thomas Pakenham's
Meetings With Great Trees.
The most wonderful book of photos and stories for each that are so good there was a sequel book, and now the 2 books are available in softcover large format.
I am saddened by the sight of trees that have died since last summer.
Must be over sensitive.
Birds live in them, they make oxygen for us while we sleep, they're important.
re the dirt under the nails: always schedule some handwashing of pullovers on sunday nights.
wishing you the scents of geranium leaves, marigolds and tomatoes.
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