Storm damaged trees are something many homeowners will have to deal with at some point. This last storm brought

with it some pretty powerful winds and with that many downed fences and trees. For some, it may be too late to inspect trees for potential hazards but hopefully for many of you, this last storm spared trees planted around your home and neighborhood.

Although some tree failures are not predictable and cannot be prevented, many failures can be prevented. By inspecting trees for common structural defects, many potential failures can be corrected before they cause damage or injury. It is best to make inspections before stormy weather and immediately afterward.

You should inspect healthy and unhealthy trees on a regular basis. Large trees have a greater hazard potential than small trees and should be inspected more frequently and in greater detail.

Always make your inspections from the ground, do not climb the tree or use a ladder to improve your viewing perspective. If you suspect a hazardous condition, immediately contact your utility company and consult an arborist who has the equipment and training to conduct the inspection safely. If you determine that a tree is a potential hazard, keep people, pets, and vehicles out of the area until the hazardous condition has been corrected.

Thoroughly inspect the tree for the following defects:

Lean

Determine whether the vertical axis of the tree has recently changed and check the ground around the base of the tree for uplift or exposed roots. If the tree was vertical but has moved from the vertical position, it is called a leaner. These are trees that are in the process of falling and could fall completely at any time and require immediate attention.

Multiple trunks

Some trees develop more than one trunk, which are often weakly attached and prone to splitting apart— especially those with narrow angles of attachment. This condition is a concern in large trees. Inspect the point where the trunks meet.

Weakly attached branches

Inspect large branches (greater than 3 inches) at the point where they attach to the trunk. Trees with many branches arising from the same point on the trunk are weak and potentially hazardous. If one branch breaks, the others are more likely to fail.

Cavities, large decay pockets, and other evidence of decay

Inspect the trunk and large branches for cavities or large decay pockets. If you find cavities or decay at a point where loads are great (where branches meet or at the base of the trunk), they are a concern. If a cavity or decay pocket is especially large and is at a key structural location, the tree is more likely to fail.

Mushrooms and conks growing on the bark of trees or on exposed roots indicate root rot or wood decay. As the decay progresses, the wood is weakened and failure is more likely.

It is very important to have your tree inspected by an arborist if you find cavities or decay. Tree size and weight distribution should be considered when deciding if the tree is a hazard. Do not attempt to clean out or seal a cavity or decay pocket—you may be doing more harm than good.

Trunk and branch cracks

Inspect the trunk and large branches for cracks. If a crack is found, determine if it extends into the wood or is confined to the bark. Insert a pencil or other object into the crack and measure its depth. Look into the crack to see if you can tell the thickness of the bark and whether the crack extends into the wood.

Cracks confined to the bark are not usually a problem, but there is reason for concern when the crack extends into the wood. Deep cracks indicate that a separation of the wood within a trunk or branch has occurred and the tree has become structurally weakened. If you find a crack, it is best to have it inspected by an arborist.

Hanging or broken branches (hangers)

Hangers are branches that are broken but have not fallen from the tree. They may still be partially attached or completely separated and lodged in the canopy. Inspect for branches that are hanging down from a break point and for branches that have broken off completely and are resting on other branches. Hangers should be removed as soon as possible.

Dead branches (deadwood)

Branches that have died will eventually fall off and can cause damage when they fall. Inspect trees that lose their leaves in winter when they are in full-leaf (late spring through early fall). Evergreen trees can be inspected for deadwood at any time. If you find deadwood, plan to have it removed. This does not have to be done immediately, but should not be ignored

Obtaining professional advice and services

The best assurance of getting quality advice or tree work is by hiring an arborist certified by

the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) or a consulting arborist who is a member of the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA). Certification does not guarantee quality performance, it is only a means of helping you select an arborist who has a demonstrated level of knowledge and technical proficiency. You should verify that your arborist is insured and check his or her references. When you call for service, the arborist will come out and assess the storm damage to your trees and explain the best way to repair the tree if it is salvageable.

When Tree Damage Repair Is Not an Option
Trees are beautiful, valuable assets to a property and in most cases an arborist will exhaust all other options before deciding that a tree must be cut down. Unfortunately, some storm damaged trees are simply beyond repair, and complete removal is the only safe course of action.

For advice on gardening related questions, call the UC Master Gardener office at 209-953-6112, or use our website: http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu/CONTACT_US/.

One of the best ways to improve your soil and plant health is to apply compost, which is decomposed organic matter full

of beneficial microbes. However, managing a pile takes time, space, a strong back, and the right kinds of organic materials to achieve the characterstics of quality compost. For those of you living on tiny urban lots with busy schedules or limited physical abilities, you can still turn food waste into an excellent soil amendment by harnessing the power of worms.

Yes, you read that correctly: worms.

I don't mean tossing food on the ground for worms and less desirable wildlife find. I am talking about vermicomposting, the process in which worms eat your kitchen scraps so the bacteria in their guts can break down nutrients into a form that plants can use. It is a tidy, contained system that recylces food waste, feeds the soil, and connects us with the circle of life (sans heart-wrenching deaths of cartoon lions).

This amazing process requires a bin and a few other ingredients. People have used many different types of containers, and size depends upon how much food waste you produce. However wide the bin is, it should be no deeper than 12 inches. A bin measuring 2′ wide and 4′ long is good for a family of four. Make sure to drill holes 3/8” to 1/4” wide in the sides, top, and bottom. Elevate off the ground on blocks and place a drainage tray underneath to catch any drips (only overly-wet bins will have a lot of drippings).

Next you need to get bedding. Bedding provides worms with a place to get away from kitchen scraps to reproduce; it also provides a food source if kitchen scraps are scarce (or unfavorable). The simplest source of bedding is shredded newspaper, but you can also use regular paper, corrugated cardboard, dried leaves (watch for chemicals), or coconut coir. Bedding material needs to be damp enough to feel like a wrung-out sponge. Add a handful of soil, which contains grit for their digestion.

Worms eat almost anything that was once living, but if this is your first time, it's best to stick with vegetable and fruit 

scraps for the first month or so until you can guage how much they will eat. Minimize pungent foods such as citrus and onions; speed up the process by chopping food into little pieces. Worms eat their weight in food every 5-7 days, but observe them carefully. As populations grow and bedding disappears (i.e. gets eaten), you can add more food. Be sure to bury food at least 1” deep to keep fruit flies away. Never feed them pet feces, non-biodegradable materials, or scraps with a high salt or fat content (worms will eventually eat salty/fatty items, but don't put in a lot all at once).

There are thousands of worm species worldwide, but only a few are good candidates for worm bins. Redworms (Eisenia fetida) are the the most common, as they live in groups, feed on organic matter at the soil surface (this is why your bin should be less than 12” deep), and lack feelings of wanderlust, making them ideal for closed quarters. Start with a pound of worms, which can be purchased at fishing supply stores or online. Be sure to cover the bin to block out light.

Worms turn their bedding and kitchen scraps into a fine, dark material similar to ground coffee. The simplest harvesting method involves shoving the finished material to one side of the bin, placing fresh bedding and food in the empty side, and waiting for the worms to migrate. This could take several weeks and will never be a complete evacuation. Dumping the bin out onto a large, plastic sheet and scooping the vermicompost off the top (allow worms to work their way down by shining a lamp on the pile) is more thorough and allows you to evaluate whether you want to make any changes in your worm routine.

Although vermicompost is great for any garden plant, it is especially beneficial for veggies. Apartment-dwellers can practice vermicomposting as well and use the finished product on potted plants or give it to friends with gardens. It's difficult to use too much; try to go with a minimum 1/4″ layer. You can scratch it lightly into the soil if desired, especially if you do not use mulch, which prevents it from forming a crusty layer in hot, dry weather.

For more tips and tricks, see Mary Appelhof's excellent book on vermicomposting, entitled Worms Eat My Garbage (Flowerfield Enterprises, 1997).

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website: sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu.

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Earthworms. They're so small and seemingly insignificant that we hardly give them a second thought.

These squirmy denizens of the dirt usually go about their lives unseen—they're revealed to us only when upturned in a shovelful of soil or when stranded on pavement after a drenching rain. (Worms crawl out of the ground during heavy storms because they breathe air through their skin and can drown if the soil is saturated with water.)

Even though they can evoke a squeamish response, earthworms are good for the garden. They burrow and create long tunnels through the soil, which helps aerate and loosen it, creates channels for movement of water and oxygen, and allows plant roots to penetrate more easily. They help mix plant matter into the topsoil where beneficial microorganisms can decompose it. They consume organic matter such as fallen leaves, thereby recycling plant nutrients and increasing soil fertility. Worm castings (a.k.a. poop) are an excellent soil amendment since they're rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Research even suggests that plants have improved disease resistance if planted in soil enriched with worm castings. Worms also provide a valuable source of food for birds, frogs, and other wildlife (not to mention being gobbled up by backyard chickens and fish on hooks).

Most of our native local species of worms have been destroyed or displaced by human activity; the kinds we usually see are descendants of hardier worms intentionally or accidentally introduced to North America by early European and Asian immigrants. There are now about 180 different species of earthworms in the U.S. and Canada, a third of which are non-native (including night crawlers). The typical garden earthworms are NOT the same as redworms or “red wigglers” (Eisenia foetida), the non-native species most commonly recommended for use in home worm composting.

Earthworms are primitive but fascinating creatures. They don't have eyes, but they do have special light-detecting receptors. Light is a bad thing for creatures whose natural habitat is underground, and worms have evolved to move away from light sources, hence their burrowing instinct. They “hear” by detecting vibrations, and they produce mucus or “slime” in reaction to stress (e.g. being yanked from the ground). They also have voracious appetites: some species can eat their weight in organic matter every day.

Worms are hermaphroditic: each worm has both male and female reproductive organs in its elongated, muscular, tube-like body. Typically, two earthworms join side-by-side in opposing directions to mate, and each member of the pair produces an egg capsule from which one to several immature worms eventually emerge. Redworms are among the most prolific breeders.

In part due to its reproductive success, some Native American cultures revere the earthworm totem as a symbol of fertility, productive thought, and acceptance of emotions. In our modern society, the worm can represent either the beneficent (as in the sweet, bespectacled bookworm) or malicious (as in harmful software that lurks in the Internet).

This is a good time to discredit a common misconception about worms. If a worm is cut in half by a shovel or by an over-enthusiastic tug from a curious child, the two parts won't heal and live to create new worms. The head end (with its tiny brain and five hearts) can't survive without the tail end (with its digestive system), and the worm simply dies.

You can use several techniques to encourage greater earthworm populations in your garden: (1) Avoid frequent tilling or cultivation of soil; (2) Minimize the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, all of which disturb naturally occurring soil micro- and macro-organisms; (3) Allow leaf litter to remain on soil year-round, to provide a food source for worms; and (4) “Sheet mulch” bare soil, using layers of cardboard, mulch, and compost to keep soil cool and moist and to provide a source of organic material for worms to eat.

A word of caution: don't dump unused live bait worms in a remote natural area. Many forest and mountain environments are naturally devoid of earthworms, and introducing them to those areas can be harmful. Forests often depend on a dense, protective, year-round layer of leaf litter, and earthworms will rapidly consume that thick organic mat.

For more about earthworms in our ecosystem, go online to ucanr.edu and search for the article Earthworm Ecology in California, or read the book “The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms” by Amy Stewart.

For advice on gardening related questions, call the UC Master Gardener office at 209-953-6112, or use our website: http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu/CONTACT_US/.

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Have you ever wandered into a garden store, only to be met by a bewildering array of tools hanging from the racks?

Most retail garden suppliers stock an impressive variety of hand-operated (non-power) pruning tools, but offer scant guidance on how to choose the one you really need.

“Tool talk” might not be the most exciting garden-related topic, but it's important to know how to properly use and care for each type of pruning implement.

Hand pruners

These short-handled tools are generally intended for use on plant stems and small branches ½ inch in diameter or less

Loppers

Two hands are needed to operate these long-handled tools, which are designed to cut branches up to 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Loppers should be used primarily to cut dead or just-removed branches into smaller pieces; avoid using them for pruning, since they tend to damage branches.

Hand pruners and loppers come with two distinct blade configurations, each with special uses and care needs. A third type of blade arrangement applies only to pruners.

• Bypass: This style has a curved upper blade that glides past a lower curved  “hook” or “anvil.” The hook holds a
  
  stem or branch while the blade cuts. Bypass-type tools are the best choice for most gardening work since they're designed for use on live plant material. The blade is only beveled on the edge facing away from the anvil; the other side is flat. Never sharpen the flat edge of the blade on bypass-style tools; doing so leaves a gap between blade and anvil and causes branches to get stuck in the tool. When cutting, place the blade side of a bypass tool toward the main stem and away from the part being removed.
• Anvil: This style has a straight-edged upper blade that moves downward to meet the center of a flat-surfaced lower “anvil” or “table.” Anvil-type tools should only be used on dead branches—never on live, healthy ones—since they don't cleanly cut all the way through stems and their blade action tends to crush delicate plant tissues. The blade of anvil-style tools is beveled on both sides, so both edges need to be evenly sharpened if they become dull.
• Scissor: As the name implies, this style of hand pruner operates like a pair of scissors, with two short, straight, sharpened blades. They're designed only for lightweight tasks such as pruning tiny twigs and flower or herb stems.

Hand saws

Not all hand saws are designed for pruning use. Carpenter saws, which have straight blades and a hand-hole in the

handle, cut only when being pushed away from the user (on the “push stroke”) and are intended for use on dried wood or lumber, not for pruning living or “green” wood. Pruning saws are specifically designed to cut live branches ½ inch or more in diameter, and they cut on the “pull stroke.” Curved-blade pruning saws cut most efficiently and quickly, while straight-bladed pruning saws are best for use in tight spaces or for finer cuts. Pruning saws come in several styles: folding, with blades that store in the handles; fixed, with blades rigidly affixed to the handles; and Japanese, with razor-sharp, triple-edged teeth on the blade.

Hand-operated pruning tools are also available in “extension” or pole-mounted forms, and some have a telescoping feature that allows adjustment of the pole's length. Pole saws and extension pruners can greatly increase an operator's reach, but they tend to be unwieldy and less precise. For safety reasons, never operate pole-type tools near overhead power lines.

When using any type of pruning tool, be careful to avoid a twisting action while cutting to prevent tearing bark, creating ragged-edged cuts, or damaging tool blades.

It's also important to care for your pruning tools to keep them in top operating condition. Always keep the blades properly sharpened to avoid damaging plant tissues and to reduce pruning effort. Thoroughly clean, dry, and oil tools after use to prevent rusting and to avoid transmitting plant pathogens.

For photos and more information, see Pruning Equipment for Home Gardeners, Sharpening Blades, and Maintaining Lawn and Garden Tools.

Happy New Year!

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website:  http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu/CONTACT_US/