September 2024 Treecologist Tribune

Greetings! The votes from the last newsletter are in: You voted to read the local updates regarding trees before we discuss other topics and answer readers’ questions. Thank you for your feedback!

Since we last wrote, the trees, flowers, and grasses have been positively soaked in water! We have received around 9 inches of rain since August’s Treecologist Tribune. Unfortunately, all of this rain came in the form of four separate deluges. Most of the local soil, as well as the soil across much of North Carolina, is too thin to hold such dramatic downpours. One inch of rain delivers 27,000 gallons of water per acre. A lack of deep-rooted native plants combined with an excess of soil that has either been scraped away in the last 30 years due to development or in the last 300 years due to agriculture, means that most of this water washes downhill. This rushing water erodes the land, carves deep channels out of meandering streams, and causes widespread flooding.

During this same time span, most daily temperatures have been within norms for this time of the year. If anything, the weather has been slightly cooler over the past month compared to previous years. The one exception was the final week of August when the daily highs pushed into the upper 90s and low 100s.

Right now, we are seeing several trends:

• First, many species of trees are being affected by late-season fungal pathogens. This results in discolored and mottled leaves that may even fall before other healthier leaves. There is nothing we can or should do about these at this point. The issue will resolve itself, or it can be addressed during the spring bud break.
• Second, we continue to see trees declining and dying due to the intense heat and drought we experienced earlier this year. Particularly affected are trees that were subjected to other stresses, such as compaction around the root zone due to construction, increased sunlight due to a neighbor clear-cutting their property, or the other factors that can make life more challenging for trees.
• Third, the trees doing the best right now are those with large mulched beds (especially those with arborist wood chips), piles of rotting leaves under their canopy, and reasonably healthy soil.
• Finally, and fingers crossed that we’ll see more of this, the weather is cooler and wetter than normal. Over the past several years, the growing season has extended well into October and often into November. This is very challenging for our local trees and shrubs. An autumn filled with rain followed by a bitterly cold winter would be precisely what the local ecosystem needs. Notably, a cold winter would help break various pest cycles that have become increasingly strong over the past few years.

My advice this month? Trees have three favorite foods: arborist wood chips, compost, and leaves. Give them these things regularly, and they are likely to be healthy!

Before we answer readers’ questions, here are some quick updates on our end:

• If you want to hire us to plant trees, please finalize your orders by October 15 at the absolute latest, though sooner is better. After mid-October, it becomes hard to source plants, which means we may not be able to find the species you want. We will be planting during January and February.
• I was recently on the “Native Plants, Healthy Planet” podcast, which is one of my favorites. I had a particularly fun time chatting with Fran and Tom. You can listen to it here.
• If you don’t have time to spend 90+ minutes to listening to me, Fran, and Tom, you can check out this shorter, 30-minute interview with Catherine on the “Bird Hugger” podcast.
• Daughters of the American Revolutions (DAR) is a national organization that consists of over 190,000 members in 3,000 chapters. Our local chapter, the Caswell-Nash Chapter, nominated us for the organization’s National Conservation Award, and we won!

UPCOMING EVENT

We’ll host our usual native tree giveaway/client appreciation event in early December. But this year, we are planning an even bigger and more exciting event! It will be held on a Saturday and will include more tours, lectures, and fun activities. We’ll have a limited number of tickets available, so stay tuned!

READER’S QUESTION

Valorie sent this question, which is timely given that we’re discussing improving the health of the soil for our trees. “I wonder if it would be possible in an upcoming edition to talk about composting in a container. We purchased a composting bin from Wake County and tried to start a compost pile, but we are struggling! I’m happy to say it still smells like earth, but we cannot get it to a sufficient temperature (we have a composting thermometer). I would appreciate any advice you might have!”

This is a great question. If you are producing something that smells like soil, well done! I do not recommend using a thermometer. I do recommend that you skip all the complicated instructions about carbon/nitrogen ratios, turning the pile, etc. Compost-making does not have to be complicated—at its core, it’s really easy. It is simply the act of letting things rot. You can make a pile of rotting stuff in the corner of your yard. Use pallets to create a bin, or don’t. Throw anything that can rot into the pile and let it do so. You do not need to manage the process at all. You can use the device you purchased but don’t worry about managing it in any way. For a lot more detail, including some basic instructions, I recommend reading pages 123 through 129 of my book, From Wasteland to Wonder, which is available for free. That said, I encourage you to buy the hard copy, which we are selling at cost. The hard copy was designed to be used in the yard.

I hope this Treecologist Tribune was helpful and informative! Please send me your questions and feedback.