- Author: Ed Perry
Most mature trees will not show any immediate effects of root cutting, such as wilted leaves or branch dieback, even when a fairly large number of roots are cut. Indeed, root cutting is a routine practice where landscapes are being renovated or sidewalks are being repaired. However, it's the long term effects of root cutting that needs consideration.
Roots can decay when they are attacked by microorganisms, usually fungi, that live in the soil. The microorganisms often infect a root through a wound, but some are able to penetrate a root directly, especially if the tree has been weakened by drought or overwatering. Some root rot fungi can kill a tree before it falls, others cause living and healthy looking trees to fall. You can sometimes see trees blown over with the remains of their decayed root systems still attached.
It is often very difficult to detect rotting roots, since the problem takes place out of sight below ground. Trees infected with root rot fungi sometimes have visible fruiting structures of the fungus, called conks or mushrooms, on the trunk near the ground. If you see such signs on a large tree, consider having the tree inspected by a qualified arborist.
Construction activities or trenching are especially damaging to the roots of nearby trees. Trenching and earth moving equipment used around trees often sever a large portion of the existing tree roots. Without the support of the entire root system, the tree is structurally weakened. The probability of failure increases as a greater amount of the root system is cut or damaged.
It is usually impossible to predict the exact effect that root cutting will have on a particular tree, or when an effect will occur. A tree may fail a few months or many years following root injury, or it may never fail due to the root injury. Tree species vary in their ability to tolerate root disturbances. Also, no two root systems are exactly alike. A tree with a deep, extensive root system will tolerate more disturbance than a neighboring tree with a poorly developed root system. In general, it is important to take every step possible to avoid cutting or damaging a tree's root system.
Despite an occasional failure, most large trees are very safe. Root systems are well designed by nature to hold trees up, regardless of the tree's size. For the most part, they do just that.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County where he worked for over 30 years.
Maybe you are wondering how to prevent squash bugs from ruining your zucchini plant, what to do when powdery mildew shows up, or how to prune your fruit tree. We also answer questions such as, “What trees make the best shade trees?” or “Can you recommend some California native plants that would thrive in my backyard?” or even, “What's your favorite peach variety to grow?”
No matter what question you have, the UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardeners can help! We are not currently working from our office; however, we are available to answer them remotely.
3 Ways to Contact Us
- Fill out our online form (you can also upload photos) http://ucanr.edu/ask/ucmgstanislaus
- Call (209) 525-6802 on Wednesday, between 9 a.m. to noon to speak to someone.
- Leave a voice message anytime and we will return your call within 2 business days.
Our goal is to get back to you within 48 hours.
If you reside in another county, visit http://mg.ucanr.edu/FindUs/ to find your program. For other states, visit https://ahsgardening.org/gardening-resources/master-gardeners/
- Author: Terry Pellegrini
Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida) are different than the earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) I find in my garden. Instead of processing things found in soil, such as decaying roots and leaves, or eating living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, rotifers, bacteria, fungi, the Red Wiggler prefers our kitchen scraps. Since these little red guys (getting no larger than 5 inches in the proper environment) can eat up to three times their weight each week in such things as veggie and fruit waste, cardboard, and shredded paper, bread, and pasta (in moderation) and even coffee grounds, they are able to create compost in about 6 weeks.
How do they do it? By digesting all of the yummy (to a worm) waste and then excreting it as “castings” – more commonly known as worm poop. The process starts as the worm takes in the food by mouth, technically called their buccal cavity. It then travels through the worm's pharynx, esophagus, crop, gizzard, intestine, and lastly, their anus and out into their habitat where we humans can collect it.
These castings are full of the nutrients iron, sulfur, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK rating: 5.5.3). They are water-soluble, allowing your plants to easily absorb these nutrients with little chance of “burning” that can often happen with chemical fertilizers. This poop also contains good bacteria from the worm's digestive system along with fungi, enzymes, protozoa, and actinomycetes. All of this combines to create a wonderful humus that your plants will love.
But one little worm doesn't do this alone. You need an entire colony of them! Good thing Red Wigglers are prolific breeders. Did you know that worms are hermaphroditic, meaning they have both male and female organs? They join with another worm in a three-hour mating session (phew) and when complete they create a small cocoon. They can create 2 to 3 cocoons per week. These cocoons darken and harden over the next 20 days. Then the little hatchlings inside the cocoon – anywhere from 1 to 5 of them per cocoon- grow for the next three months. Once hatched these wiggly babies will mature in 9 weeks, able to reproduce again at that point. 
In order to have the best success at both the reproduction process and the production of worm castings, the Red Wiggler needs a cozy habitat to do its thing. A simple rubber tote will work as an ideal environment, or you can purchase specialized stacking trays from the Internet. If you create your own you will need to provide your worms with proper ventilation, a moist – but not too wet – bedding source (such as shredded newspaper) and food. Keep their habitat in a temperature regulated space, moist, and with an adequate supply of tasty scraps and an initial colony of worms will increase to perhaps double in 3 months and quadruple in 6 months.
Harvesting your castings is simple. When the bedding has darkened, looking more like soil than the newspaper or other material used, it is time to harvest. To do so, add new moist bedding material and kitchen scraps to the opposite side of the habitat and stop adding food to the side with all of the castings. The worms will migrate to the side with the food on it – usually in a few days. You can then harvest your castings. When the new area fills ups, repeat the process and you will have a steady supply of new compost for your plants.
Photos by Terry Pellegrini.
Sources
About Worm Castings - https://ucanr.edu/sites/mgfresno/files/262372.pdf
Red Wiggler – http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/yard_jose/
California Master Gardener Handbook, Second Edition, Page(s) 56-57
- Author: Ed Perry
Soluble salts are naturally occurring minerals, such as sodium, chloride, boron, calcium, and magnesium, that are dissolved in water. Some of the water in Stanislaus County has relatively high levels of certain salts, but in general, all water has some salt. Fertilizer dissolved in water also turns into a soluble salt. After water evaporates from the potting soil, the salts stay behind. Eventually, an excessive amount of salt may be absorbed by the roots, move upward in the plant, and concentrate in the leaves, causing tip burn. As salts in the soil become more concentrated, plants find it harder and harder to take up water. If enough salt accumulates in the soil, the water absorbing root tips are killed, and the plant begins to wilt and drop leaves.
To combat this problem, be sure you water correctly. Water plants enough so that some water moves through the soil and out the pot's drain hole. Then empty the drip plate. Do not allow the pot to sit in water. If drained water is reabsorbed by the soil, the salts that were washed away are taken back into the soil. The process of removing soil salts is called “leaching.”
It's a good idea to leach your house plants every two or three months. To do this, water the soil thoroughly, as you usually would. Then, after about five minutes, water again, letting excess water flow out the bottom drain holes. The first watering dissolves the salts, and the second washes the salts out of the soil.
For more information, consult the UC IPM Pest Notes: Houseplant Problems.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County where he worked for over 30 years.
- Author: Heidi Aufdermaur
Have you ever had a hobby that turned into an obsession? One of my hobbies is gardening of course, as a Master Gardener. Not too long ago, I acquired a chipper/shredder. One of my gardener friends had two and sold one of them to me at a fair price. I have always wanted one, dreaming of all the rich mulch I could make with my own waste.
I was excited to use it for the first time, donned the earplugs and safety glasses and got busy. Of course, I had to first collect the yard waste. I started coveting all the potential material that I thought would be suitable to shred or chip. I collected from my yard first, then one morning on the daily walk with my husband and soon after Christmas, I had a new insight for all the Christmas trees that were being discarded on the streets. I commented to my husband about collecting some of them to chip. To my surprise, I came home one day from running errands and found about 6 Christmas trees piled up in our yard. My heart fluttered with excitement. I was worried that adding too many of the pines would change the pH of my soil so I consulted Ed Perry, our former Environmental Horticulture Advisor for Stanislaus County. He said I could compost and chip away, as I was adding other species to the mix and it would take a lot more pine trees to make any difference in the pH of my soil.
I started seeing all the shrubs and trees in our yard that needed a good trim and piled them up to dry for a while. I also added some spent flowers to the pile. What I learned about shredding flowers is to cut off the seed heads (if I didn't want them to germinate where I spread the final product). I learned that after I had shredded some old marigold plants, spread the mulch in a pathway between my vegetable rows, I soon had marigolds sprouting up all over. I transplanted a few, left a few and pulled the rest, adding them to the new pile before they flowered.
I began to explore the surrounding yards in our neighborhood. Leaves and clippings looked like gold to me. My neighbor was extremely happy to let me rake her lawn of all the beautiful leaves that had fallen. To say the least, I have become somewhat obsessed with this new habit of gardening. I am also pleased that I am not adding all this waste to the green can for a trip to the land fill.
Did you know there is an assembly bill (AB341) that requires communities to divert yard waste from landfills and recycle it? With the rapidly depleting landfill capacity in California, 75% of yard waste is to be recycled. This goal was to be achieved by 2020. This bill requires every commercial business, institution, and apartment building to implement recycling programs.
Even though this bill focuses on businesses and large complexes, it's also good practice for homeowners. Keeping your yard waste on site, adding it to a compost pile or breaking it down by running over small portions with a lawn mower, one can keep this valuable commodity in one's own yard. Some benefits of mulch include reducing water loss to evaporation, moderates soil temperature, reduces weed growth thus making weeds easier to manage and reduces dust in drip-irrigated landscapes.
So, if you become obsessed like me, just think of all the good that happens when collecting your yard waste and keeping it on site. Happy Gardening.
