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Stop, Look and Grow

January 2008

In order to get January 2008 off to a rip roaring start, hit the brakes, stop and check the rearview mirror. Last year deserves a serious look. We came out of one of the worst droughts on record into one of the wettest seasons on record - extremes back-to-back. Let’s look at the lessons we can learn.

Lesson # 1:
Organics rocks! During the drought, thanks to organics, our customers’ yards stood out like sore thumbs - luscious green thumbs compared to their chemical-dependent neighbors. And, when the rains came we looked like miracle workers. Our properties recovered much faster because healthy soil can absorb more water. Yards that had been organic the longest fared the best through the drought and through the extreme moisture.

When the rain didn’t stop we faced some problems - fungus, webworms and other pests. But, we suffered less than those other guys. By working with nature - constantly putting amendments into the soil that recharge the microorganism, we can foster a carbon-rich biosphere. Carbon is the essence of life. If soil can’t breath, it can’t create carbon. Even with all the rain, soil with more earthworms, compost and humus its going to have more air it in and be more receptive. Those landscapes are going to fare better.

Lesson #2:
Go with the sure thing - Compost. We don’t know what the stock market is going to do, if oil will top $100 a barrel or gas hit $4.00 a gallon. But I know for sure that if you spread compost on your property, you’ll benefit exponentially. Compost, humus, black gold - whatever you call it, decomposing organic matter is big bonus to your landscape. The 2008 weather is a big unknown. Another sure thing - if you start an organic vegetable garden, you can count on having healthy food.

Lesson # 3:
Let nature take its course. I haven’t had webworms on my property in over 9 years. Because I’d heard that paper wasps are the natural predators of webworms, I was quite pleased when they built a basketball-size nest hanging from the roof over my 500 gallon Ron’s Super Sauce vat. I guess that the heat and the vapors from the 15 different ingredients in my super sauce attracted them. I do know that this favorable microclimate gets them started earlier in the Spring and keeps them at work later in the Fall - active for about 60 more days a year.

While I normally tend this vat myself, I was so busy last spring that I sent my right hand man to take care of things. When he saw that huge wasp nest, he thought he’d do me a favor. He knocked it down. What a waste of energy. That wasn’t my first thought. I was pretty devastated. Sure enough, I had webworms for the first time in a decade. I wasn’t too concerned because they’re mostly a cosmetic problem. I was too busy to deal with them anyway.

Every body had webworms last year. With the extreme moisture, the webworms had a head start - built sturdy webs before the paper wasps got situated. They had free reign pretty much all spring.

If clients were dismayed by the webworms, we sprayed. In retrospect, that was a mistake. They ended up with a lot of broken branches by the end of the summer. The problem was that during the super wet spring the trees had produced prolifically - too fast to develop the tensile strength to keep them from shearing and breaking. Webworms attack the tips of the branches - the tender new growth. In effect they’re natural tree trimmers. On my property and on properties where we didn’t spray, we didn’t have that problem. Nature knew that these trees had put on more growth than they could support. When we didn’t work with nature, when we killed off the natural solution nature had offered us, we created problems. That’s another very valuable lesson. We don’t always need to go on a ’seek and destroy’ mission when we see a pest.

And, the biggest lesson of all - slow down. Let’s look to the last 2 years and learn our lessons well. Whatever weather 2008 brings us, if we apply compost to the garden and lawn it will give us about 10 times the protection against any condition we’ll face.

Carbon is the buffer system - the balancing system. As a paramedic I learned about charcoal. If someone overdoses on certain drugs or chemicals a dose of charcoal will absorb toxins - bind them up so they can’t be absorbed into the body. When we top dress with compost we’re applying a layer of microorganisms and carbon that neutralizes, tie ups, energizes and detoxifies the soil. The single most important thing to do is to top dress with compost. It will save you from lots of problems in 2008.

Special note: If we get some sunny days soon, it will be tempting to get out there and do some pruning and trimming. Don’t! You’ll stimulate new growth that won’t withstand freezes. From now on, no pruning until at least Valentine’s Day.