Many people think that master gardener Paul James' garden is perfect because he has a television show about gardening, but he'll be the first to tell you that he frequently encounters problems in the yard. He discusses some of them:
- The first problem he tackles is ailing dogwoods. A few of his trees are succumbing to anthracnose, a type of fungal disease that's been attacking dogwoods in much of the eastern and central United States. It's important to remove not only the wood but also any leaves that may have fallen near the tree--this will help reduce the risk of contaminating nearby dogwoods. He recommends having the debris hauled off and emphasizes the importance of disinfecting pruning tools with full-strength bleach to avoid contaminating other trees. When he's ready to plant new dogwoods, he'll stick with disease-resistant varieties of Cornus florida, such as a beauty called 'Aurora,' or go with Cornus kousa, an Asian species that flowers after the leaves appear.
- James often discovers branches or limbs that die for no apparent reason on his other trees. It's a common problem that gives him no cause for alarm. It is important to remove the wood: decaying wood attracts insect pests, and dead limbs can be dangerous if they drop from the tree. Since most dead wood is in the lower part of the tree, it can be pruned within easy reach of a pruner, but there's no way to get to dead wood high up in the tree. James will call a professional arborist to take care of limbs and branches that are out of reach.
- James' yard contains an area that was once a creek channel; with every hard rain, the area floods one to two feet deep. The good news is that the roaring waters leave behind nutrient-rich silt. The bad news is that the water carries away all his grass seed and uproots established turf as well. As anyone who has tried to redirect the flow of natural water well knows, there's no simple solution. Plus, there's another problem: the water flows into a storm drain that is huge and ugly. James hasn't decided yet how to camouflage the drain (bridge? wishing well? lots of surrounding plants?).
- In another area of James' landscape, rainwater cuts through his backyard, through the gate and into his side yard. The water carries everything with it, especially soil. He plans to build a stone wall to hold back some of the water; he will also install a drain and run four- to six-inch PVC pipe to the large storm drain. To finish, he'll backfill the area with good topsoil and sow grass seed or lay sod to absorb whatever water the new drain can't handle.
- Although most of the soil on James' property is excellent and easy to dig, one area is full of the hardest clay he has ever tried to work with. Making matters worse, the runoff from an adjacent area has washed away what little topsoil there was and left behind a tangled mess of tree roots. It's nearly impossible to get a shovel into the soil, and when he does, he almost immediately encounters tree roots he has to cut out. The solution? James says the only way to transform clay soil is by adding tons of organic matter. He doesn't have enough compost on hand to fill the entire area, but in the fall an abundance of leaves will be available for him to grind or shred and spread over the bed. He'll continue to do that every fall for years to come.
