Below are three options for Christmas tree disposal in the Grand Traverse County area. While this list is by no means exhaustive, the programs mentioned are supported by MGANM.
“The Parks and Recreation Division offers a Christmas Tree drop off site for City residents. The trees are chipped and used for trail surfacing for City parks and Brown Bridge Quiet Area, mulching material and erosion control.
Trees can be brought to the boat launch parking lot at Hull Park at the west end of Hannah Street, just west of Woodmere Avenue beginning December 26, 2019 and will run through Sunday, January 19, 2020.
There is no charge for this service. Please do not leave trees in the alleys, streets or City parks. The City will not be collecting them there.”
Norte:
Live in Traverse City but can’t get your tree to Hull Park? Norte is here to help. For a $25 donation, they will pick up your tree at your doorstep, load it on their bicycle trailer, and take it to Hull Park for you.
“Inhabitect, LLC is passionate about designing, building and growing resilient and ecologically mindful landscapes. One aspect of this mission is to utilize materials that are readily available, that are sourced as locally as possible, to meet the needs of our projects. This is why we have planned our 1st Annual Christmas Tree Drop-off at the Elmwood Township Park.
There is no charge to drop off your tree. Our first event is Sunday, January 5th, 2020, from 11am until 3pm, at the Elmwood Township Park in Greilickville, just outside of Traverse City. Additional drop off opportunities may be added, follow the Inhabitect FB page for updates. Be sure to remove all decorations, including lights, artificial snow, ornaments, and tinsel, from the Christmas trees, Inhabitect will not accept any trees that contain these items or are (sic) otherwise been treated with harmful chemicals.”
“Want to dispose of your Christmas tree and help GTRLC’s invasive species fighting goat herd at the same time? Conifers are packed with vitamin C and other essential nutrients, making them a great addition to our herd’s winter diet. We’re asking folks to donate their trees (free from decorations or chemicals, please). Pick a time and location listed below. Look for signs and a trailer with trees.
Native Grasses and General Update: MGANM September Meeting Notes
By, Nancy Larson, Extension Master Gardener
We had a friendly educational meeting September 3rd with five public guests and over thirty Master Gardeners present. Michele Worden, MGANM President, welcomed everyone and answered the question, “What do master gardeners do?” for our public guests. We educate; we beautify and improve our community; we work with youth in schools and fields; we assist MSU in their diagnostic clinic; we promote food security with assisting in food gardens, and we do volunteer management of various projects. Find out more about MG’s on-line at MGANM.org.
Michele introduced Lisa Hagerty our new newsletter editor. Lisa encouraged the MG’s to write articles to share with others about their science-based growing experiences.Michele also appealed to the group for nominations for the upcoming board election. In addition, Michelle told us there is a survey coming out soon that will help the board determine events and guests to schedule in the upcoming year. The survey will be asking members what they would like to see/hear about so our monthly meetings can be interesting and engaging. Michele indicated our record breaking event attendance in 2019 is because we asked for members interests.
Nate Walton, MSU Entomologist, announced that there are still plenty of volunteer project hours available. He advised us to check the VMS page daily for updates
Cheryl Gross, Plant It Wild President, introduced our guest speaker, Vern Stephens, owner of Designs By Nature in Laingsburg, MI, to talk about native grasses. Vern said he has a 30 year working history with native plants and specializes in MI eco-types. He has developed outreach programs to the north, south, east and west areas of the state; has created an on-line site for purchases of perennial garden starters; is looking forward to expanding his searching for native plants into the Detroit area; and has encouraged “NO USE” of neonic pesticides, as it stays in the plants for 2 years. Recommended Books: 1) “Bringing Nature Home” by Douglas Tallamy, 2) “Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide” by Lawrence Newcomb, 3) “The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook” by Stephen Packard & Cornelia Matee.
So, why use native grasses? Because of their roots. They have a deep root system, don’t need irrigation, once established, or fertilizer, attract insects & birds, make good nesting areas, and are good for grazing fields. Native grasses are wind pollinated so if you don’t want them to spread, remove their seed heads. Normal grass lawns have to be watered and fertilized, have short root systems, and have to be cut. Vern discussed ten different types of native grasses and provided live examples of them: Dunes grass, Prairie Drop Seed, Little Blue Stem, Big Blue Stem, Indian Grass, Bottle Brush grass, Side Oats, Grama Grass, Purple Love Grass, and Canada Rye Grass. He then talked about sedges. What’s the difference between grasses and sedges? Grass stems are round or flat while sedge stems are triangular. Sedges are solid, while grasses are hollow. Sedges are usually 3-ranked where they lie in three vertical planes along the stem. They both reproduce by seeds, can form clumps, and have a bloom season. Vern discussed and shared examples of five types of Sedges: Wood Sedge, Fox Sedge, Brown Sedge, Pennsylvania Sedge, and Plantain Leaved Sedge.
The program ended with Vern answering many questions. He also brought a large variety of native plants for us to “happily” purchase because we all know how we love to get into the dirt.
Have you read Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy? If not, I suggest you do. It is an extremely important gardening book of our time. It was published in 2007. In 2016, Tallamy published The Living Landscape with Rick Darke. In February 2020, Timber Press will be releasing Tallamy’s third book, Nature’s Best Hope. The release of his third book is eagerly anticipated.
Dr. Douglas Tallamy is an entomologist at the University of Delaware. His research about the relationship between insects and plants was a breakthrough for environmental and ecosystem gardeners. Generally speaking, entomologists are not “Rock Stars” however, publishing Bringing Nature Home changed Dr. Tallamy’s life dramatically. He is highly respected for his research and a sought-after speaker. He was the Keynote speaker at the Wildflower Association of Michigan’s March 2019 Wildflower Conference and the speaker at Saving Birds Thru Habitat’s Annual Fundraising event on August 24th. We are fortunate to have him visit Michigan frequently.
Tallamy’s research makes the very strong connection between insects and the native plants that host them. These relationships are critical to the food web. We know that birds, 98% of them, feed their young insects. (The other 2% eat fish. Not one baby bird is raised on seeds.) We know that a clutch of chickadees needs hundreds of insects a day and 6,000-9,000 insects to successfully fledge. We know that most insects are specialists in that they can survive on only one type of plant, i.e. the Monarch butterfly caterpillar that can only eat plants in the milkweed family. Monarchs aren’t the only picky eater by a long shot.
The plants that best support the food web are native to the region. Coevolution between plants and insects has been going on for millions of years. Introduced plants simply cannot provide the same ecological services. Too few insects are adapted to them. No insect biomass, no birds. Introduced plants may be a lovely fashion, but they are useless at feeding birds. Some introduced plants may be harmless except they take space away from a native plant. However, some alien plants escape and are causing severe ecological damage. Some invasive plants may be well known. Myrtle, Lily of the Valley, Japanese Barberry, Kudzu, Buckthorn, and Autumn Olive are known to be problematic. Other, problematic plants may not be so well known such as Bradford or Callery Pear, Butterfly Bush, and Rose of Sharon. Keeping these plants in your yard can cause harm when they move across the street or into the woods next door. Lesson: plant only native species.
There is always a question of “cultivar”. Tallamy’s research addresses both the harm caused by introduced plants and the vastly understudied topic of “nativars” or cultivars of native plants. We do know some things. If cultivation has destroyed the pollen and nectar of the native plant as it can, it has rendered it useless to pollinators. If the blossom has been altered to be a double blossom, it is no longer accessible to pollinators. Pollinators identify flowers by their ultra violet markings, and as far as we know there has been no study on the effect of changing a flower color on the pedal’s ultraviolet markings. We have no understanding of this or the potential harm created. Finally, studies have found that changing a leaf color from green to red in a Ninebark renders the leaf no longer digestible to the insect that requires the green leaf to live.
Since Bringing Nature Home was published, Tallamy’s research has continued. We are learning more, but not fast enough to protect the insect biomass that makes bird food from plants. We must stop messing around with nature and stick to native plants. Our ecosystem is in need of ecological gardening practices in every yard. Will Nature’s Best Hope provide enough science to change gardening practices? I sure hope so.
Morgan Composting: The Home of Dairy Doo
By Cheryl A. Gross, AEMG
Should you have an opportunity to visit Morgan Composting in Sears, Michigan, I suggest you make time to go. I visited the site with a group of Plant it Wild members, (also Master Gardeners) on August 23. It was well worth the distance and time required to get there.
Morgan Composting is a family owned business with the fourth generation just reaching the age to operate the pedals of a tractor. It was born out of a failing dairy farm that struggled to support the family. Incredibly, (after years of risk, hard work, and luck) Morgan Composting happened. The family has a clear and strong work ethic and sense of fairness from the inputs to the products, the recipes, and the distribution system. There are now 40 employees in 4-5 sites across the state of Michigan. Their work is science-based and organic. Nothing is wasted.
The business continues to grow. DairyDoo is the flagship product. Organic compost created from dairy cow manure. The manure is aged and processed in large windrows on the farm. We had a wagon ride through the property where we saw the piles and piles of inputs in process. Wood shavings and sawdust are added. Pile heat is maintained at 140 degrees for several weeks to ensure “clean” compost. Specialized formulas have chicken waste added. Others have mineral elements. All inputs are sourced sustainably.
In addition to the traditional compost and fertilizer products, Morgan Composting produces liquid fertilizers and worm castings. We were able to tour the vermi-composting area. It was stunning. Rows and racks of stacked worm bins filled with shredded paper and a food slurry to turn into castings. After 25 days, the bins are turned out onto the floor. Food is added to the far side to send the worms out of the casting bedding. This is done so the castings can be fed into a screen tumbler to separate the fine castings from the bulkier castings and any remaining worms.
Besides Dairy Doo, Morgan Composting offers worm castings, seed starter fertilizer, Healthy Garden Fertilizer, Healthy Lawn Fertilizer, and several more specialized products for flowers, vegetables, tomatoes, and more. In our region you can find Morgan Composting products at Four Season Nursery, Barker Creek Nursery and Pine Hill Nursery.
Note: Organic composts and fertilizers improve the soil, thereby providing nutrients for plants. Synthetic fertilizers feed the plant salt-based chemicals that do nothing to improve soil health, and in reality, degrades the soil health. While some see organic soil amendments as more costly, in the long run you are saving money by building healthier soil.
Uvularia grandiflora, Large flowered bellwort. Photo by Whitney Miller
The WHY of Native Plants
By Cheryl A. Gross, AEMG and Plant It Wild President
There exists a connectivity between the soil, plants, and insects which are the first links in the web of life. Insects are the creatures who turn the energy from the sun, processed by plants into biomass. This insect biomass is what begins to feed the world.
Soil, plants and insects evolve together in ecosystems all over the world. In plant communities, they create habitats. Insects feed on plants, predator insects feed on insects on plants as do birds, amphibians, and mammals. Everything is fed and kept in check. Control of plants is provided by the soil, moisture and the critters that feed on them.
Once you begin replacing native plants with alien plants moved within continents and from one continent to another, the ecosystem is disrupted. The alien plants just don’t fit. Some require extensive and continuous soil amendments and water to succeed (think turf grass). Others, without their own ecosystem controls, escape and become invasive (Bradford Pear, Japanese barberry, and myrtle to name three). The insects who need to be supported cannot live on alien plants. Insects are picky eaters and almost all eat only those plants with whom they have co-evolved. Replace their natural plant communities with non-native plants and there is no insect food. Consider the well-known Monarch butterfly whose larval form lives only on plants in the milkweed family. We hear about Monarchs everywhere. However, they are but one. All other butterflies and moths have the same habits. When we landscape with non-native plants a food desert is created.
Food deserts are places that lack access to foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet. Our food desert can be best seen in the decline of our migratory bird population. Some of our birds are in danger of extinction because of the food deserts we have created. To begin, 98% of all baby birds are fed insects by their parents. (The other 2% are fed fish.) The best food for these baby birds are soft, squishy caterpillars. Caterpillars contain valuable nutrients that baby birds need to grow and fledge. Research estimates that chickadee parents need to feed 6,000 to 9,000 insects, mostly caterpillars, to their clutch each year. That is ONE family. When enough caterpillars/insects are not available, the nest will fail.
It is because of this beautiful and complicated food web that we must focus on landscaping with native plants. Recent research has determined that to create a healthy food-web ecosystem, the plants on any site must be at least 70% native. This number includes ALL plants…including your turf lawn. To answer the question then, Why Native Plants? To support life.
Trillium grandiflorum. Photo by Whitney Miller
Native Grasses and Flowers…an ecosystem
By Cheryl A. Gross, AEMG and Plant It Wild President
Prairie means grassland, and comes from the French word for “meadow.” So even before we begin to think of the space that is comprised of clump forming grasses and flowers (forbs), with few trees and shrubs, we have identified it by three different names…grassland, prairie, and meadow. We typically think of the prairies of the Midwest. The grasslands crossed by wagon trains and plowed for agriculture. In Michigan, there were once areas of grasslands, mostly in the lower half of the Lower Peninsula. Those spaces are mostly urban, suburban, and agricultural areas today.
Like each separate plant community, a meadow creates specific habitat and plays an important role in the ecosystem over-all. We have lost much of that ecosystem, thereby destroying the life supported in a grassland habitat. Restoration of prairie habitat has been on the rise in recent years. For example, Saving Birds Thru Habitat in Omena, Michigan converted a large tract of land into a grassland. This property has the native grasses and flowers (forbs) which support the shelter and food needed by birds. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy rescued old fields in the dry upland area of their Arcadia Dunes property and rehabilitated a grassland ecosystem. Further, the Michigan DNR has grants for property owners to install meadows and are actively working in northern Lower Michigan to restore grassland habitat. The meadow ecosystem is highly valued and productive as it contains the plants to provide shelter and food for insects, birds, small mammals, and more.
There are three types of grasslands based upon the size of the grasses and the amount of moisture they typically receive. These are Tall Grass, Mixed Grass, and Short Grass. Large tracts of land are perfect for Tall Grass or Mixed Grass. These plants typically require less moisture. In suburban areas, a mixed grass or short grass may be more appropriate for scale and esthetic. Shorter grasses thrive with a bit more rainfall than tall grasses.
Native grasses have deep roots. Really deep roots. These roots perform a valuable function… they stabilize soil, are able to access more nutrients than short rooted plants, filter water, and provide their own organic matter by dying off a bit each year. They need no soil amendments and typically need no additional irrigation once established. These are tough plants.
Some species to consider in a short grass meadow: Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, June Grass, Koeleria macrantha; Prairie Dropseed, Sporobolus heterolepis; Sideoats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula; Northern Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium; and Bottle Brush Grass, Hystrix patula. A taller grass, Indian Grass, Sorghastrum nutans has gorgeous yellow blossoms, while side oats blossoms are fire engine red. These grasses provide shelter for birds and small wildlife, habitat for insects and their seeds provide late season food.
Grasslands are far from mono-cultures. There are many, many forbs that grow in grasslands. These plants cover the spectrum from early bloomers who find the sun before the grasses shade them, to tall flowering plants which grow supported by the grasses and bloom above it all.
Catherine Zimmerman, author of Urban and Suburban Meadows will be speaking at Trinity Lutheran Church in Frankfort at 7 pm July 17. She will explain how to make a meadow where you live. On July 18th at 10 am there will be a grassland field trip beginning at the Arcadia Dunes Grassland on Keillor Road. Come to see the beauty of the prairie. Finally, Zimmerman’s documentary, Hometown Habitat: Stories of Bringing Nature Home will be screened at the Garden Theater in Frankfort at 3 pm on July 18th with filmmaker Q & A.
Catherine Zimmerman is being hosted by Plant it Wild with support from Four Season Nursery, the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, and Watervale Inn. All of Plant it Wild programs and field trips are free and open to the public. Memberships and donations fund our work. For more information contact Plant it Wild on Facebook at PIW-Plant It Wild or on the web at plantitwild.net.
MGANM hosted another full house at their March monthly meeting. Carolyn Thayer, with a BLA (Landscape Architecture) from MSU, owner of Designs in Bloom in Frankfort, a Certified Shoreline Professional, and founder of Plant It Wild was the presenter. Carolyn Thayer discussed the key elements of rain gardens, shoreline buffer strips, and permeable surfaces. The key takeaway: Keep all stormwater from roofs and hard surfaces ON SITE.
Slow it down, Spread it out, Soak it in… is the slogan of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council. Slow it down by using rocks around downspouts and gullies, spread it out by creating depressions and spaces for the water to collect, and soak it in by using native plants with deep roots to move the water through the soil.
Carolyn Thayer showed how even small depressions lined with rocks and planted with moisture loving native plants can manage the run off from a foot washing station at a home near the beach. She detailed a project at Gateway Village in Frankfort where all the stormwater from the roofs and parking lots are directed into rain gardens that offer beautiful year-round interest and keep all stormwater on site and out of Betsie Bay. Her most recent project is at a Frankfort Beach parking area on Crystal Lake which involved significant excavation and land shaping to accommodate the runoff and the plants. Finally, Carolyn introduced permeable hard surface products that can capture some storm water on the surface for drive ways and walk ways and limiting the runoff from traditionally impenetrable hard surfaces.
It was a very educational presentation. Carolyn offered handouts and resources as well.
It was a really sad day when I realized my forty foot Blue Spruce trees, that are now thirty years old were under attack. For the past two years I’ve been wondering why my trees were developing brown patches. This past summer I was involved in an advanced diagnostic workshop. That’s when I became aware of Needle Cast disease.
The Colorado Blue Spruce is not native to Michigan. There are many trees that aren’t native to this state, unfortunately they are succumbing to disease and insects. This may be happening as our climate is changing.
Needle Cast disease is a fungus with spores. It requires the right temperature and humidity to disperse spores. These spores can travel about a mile with ease especially if the winds are correct. The fungus that effects Colorado Blue Spruce is called Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii Bubak. There is also another fungus called Stigmina needle cast. Many times Stigmina needle cast is misdiagnosed for Rhizosphaera kalkhoffii Bubak.
The spores attach to the needles, they drain the nutrients out of the needle, and eventually the needle dies. In May just when the tree is about to open its new buds the fungus is also getting ready to disperse. Some of these new spores will attach to the new growth, while others travel in the wind. This fungus can do serious harm to the tree and eventually the tree can die.
To diagnose this disease you need an eye loupe, a microscope or an arborist. The disease shows up as little tiny black dots that can be too small to see by eye.
The good news is the trees can recover. It may be necessary to apply around three treatments in early spring to keep the fungus from spreading into new areas of the tree. It may take a couple of years for the tree to produce new growth to replace what has been lost. Most importantly do not cut out the diseased branches. April and May is the best time to call a tree specialists to begin treatment.
Trillium grandiflorum and Dicentra canadensis. Photo by Whitney Miller
The WHY of Native Plants
By Cheryl A. Gross, AEMG, Plant it Wild President
There exists a connectivity between the soil, plants, and insects which are the first links in the web of life. Insects are the creatures who turn the energy from the sun, processed by plants into biomass. This insect biomass is what begins to feed the world.
Soil, plants and insects evolve together in ecosystems all over the world. In plant communities, they create habitats. Insects feed on plants, predator insects feed on insects on plants as do birds, amphibians, and mammals. Everything is fed and kept in check. Control of plants is provided by the soil, moisture and the critters that feed on them.
Once you begin replacing native plants with alien plants moved within continents and from one continent to another, the ecosystem is disrupted. The alien plants just don’t fit. Some require extensive and continuous soil amendments and water to succeed (think turf grass). Others, without their own ecosystem controls, escape and become invasive (Bradford Pear, Japanese barberry, and myrtle to name three). The insects who need to be supported cannot live on alien plants. Insects are picky eaters and almost all eat only those plants with whom they have co-evolved. Replace their natural plant communities with non-native plants and there is no insect food. Consider the well-known Monarch butterfly whose larval form lives only on plants in the milkweed family. We hear about Monarchs everywhere. However, they are but one. All other butterflies and moths have the same habits. When we landscape with non-native plants a food desert is created.
Food deserts are places that lack access to foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet. Our food desert can be best seen in the decline of our migratory bird population. Some of our birds are in danger of extinction because of the food deserts we have created. To begin, 98% of all baby birds are fed insects by their parents. (The other 2% are fed fish.) The best food for these baby birds are soft, squishy caterpillars. Caterpillars contain valuable nutrients that baby birds need to grow and fledge. Research estimates that chickadee parents need to feed 6,000 to 9,000 insects, mostly caterpillars, to their clutch each year. That is ONE family. When enough caterpillars/insects are not available, the nest will fail.
It is because of this beautiful and complicated food web that we must focus on landscaping with native plants. Recent research has determined that to create a healthy food-web ecosystem, the plants on any site must be at least 70% native. This number includes ALL plants…including your turf lawn. To answer the question then, Why Native Plants? To support life.
