November Calendar of Events
October 28, 2010November Events is now posted for family recreation and learning opportunities.
In and Around the Garden
Mostly about gardening, but also on country life, family and friends
November Events is now posted for family recreation and learning opportunities.
In and Around the Garden 
I have always thought about going to the Crane Festival. I never seem to make it, but I hope to one of these years. We occasionally get those beautiful white birds in the pastures down our road. In wetter years in one of the fields in a low spot where water accumulates we had a duck family living there. They were so pretty, especially the male with the vibrant green. Don’t know my bird names very well but I enjoy most of them.
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That would be a good weekend to visit Lodi as it is also the weekend that the Festival of Trees is held at Micke Grove Park off Armstong Rd.
The festival is wonderful. Many, many trees decorated all in a different theme. Food is available. Crafts are wonderful for the children. Old-time candle making, corn husk doll making, tin punch Christmas decorations, decorating cup cakes and more.
Also you can see the museum exhibits. They usually have a chorus, sometimes a band is playing. They have “Russian tea” a wonderful Tang mixture that is hot and free and on a crispy cold day it is so warming.
It is held on the 4th and 5th, Sat and Sun in Dec. Check the internet for times or your local paper.
My granddaughters love to go.
I have a collection that I add to every year, of corn husk dolls that I decorate my Christmas tree with. You can buy them already made with cute dresses and bonnets, sometimes holding a bouquet of flowers.
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Yes, that little corner of my neighbors field is enough pond for me.
One of my sons, who does not live at home, keeps wanting us to dig a pond here on our property. We say, NO.
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I will tell you in the past years that we have gone to the Festival of Trees it has been very cold. I wear a warm coat, a scarf around my neck and a hat on my head. A couple of years ago it was very windy. Just dress for the weather. It is still worth it to go. You can spend most of the time inside the buildings checking out the neat Christmas exhibits.
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Also, to rent a table at the Senior Center (L.O.E.L) you don’t have to be a Sr. citizen. Anyone can do it. You just request an application. The center makes their money from the table rentals and from the money any patrons spend on food from their kitchen. I think they have sandwiches, soup and sweets. I don’t know that there are places to sit and eat though.
One table is $15 and two put together are $25. They are 8 foot tables.
The tables are 3/4’s taken so there are a few left.
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Just looked out my kitchen window when I was doing dishes and my liquidambar is starting to turn color.
I chose most of the trees we planted for their color. I either picked them out at the nursery when they were turning, or I got some from Grover Tree Service in Modesto and asked their advice. Many of their employees are arborists too.
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Valerie
Look at the right side of the column and under Pages you will find Events. Click on it.
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Several years ago I removed all six of my liquidambar trees because the roots were invasive and the little round balls that they dropped were messy. Last year my neighbor across the street did the same thing. He had so much leaves that it almost blocked his driveway. You are right about their beautiful color, though.
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As a housewarming gift we had a different liquidambar tree given to us by a friend and it was doing great in our lawn, but at some point we read about the roots and that you shouldn’t have them close to foundations or paths. It was very close to a path that we had winding down beside the lawn and it was a concrete stamped path. We decided to remove the tree and we replaced it with a more suitable tree. We hated to do it because it was from a dear friend.
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Our current (newest) liquidambar is planted out in our “field” (for lack of a better description) and so it is not close to anything it can destroy. The little balls that fall off it are not close in, so it is a good place for it.
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I will tell Mike about the liability of a pond. If we were to kick the bucket he would need to know. Just like if you have a swimming pool, you have to build a fence around it to protect the children.
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Betty, I hope I didn’t give you the wrong idea about the tables at the Sr. Center. The tables are holding all the crafts , baked goods, etc. that people are selling. They are arranged all around the room and a row down the center .
I don’t think there are any tables for eating. The food in the kitchen is for the people selling if they want to eat their lunch and haven’t brought it.
Of course, a person coming to the boutique could buy a doughnut or a sandwich, or whatever, but there wouldn’t be a table to sit at.
So, it isn’t like a food thing, just for the convenience if anyone is hungry.
Wouldn’t want you to come and be disappointed in that and be mad at me!!!
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It is cheaper to plant something new than to remove something old.
My neighbor tells me that it cost him over two thousands dollars to have the trees removed.
Remember, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
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Planting out in the “field” is a lot different from planting in a confined area. Different rules apply.
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We have had to remove a lot of things. The liquidambar i mentioned, we moved another tree to a different spot, but a few years later didn’t like what it was doing and dug it out. We had birches planted and originally they looked fine(a landscaper did it) but they were too close together when they grew. Also bushes I have planted just sometimes grow too big for the area. There is such a thing as doing TOO WELL. We have a big stump like growth that is waiting to be taken out somehow from a privet-type bush, It just got too out of hand.
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This year we removed all our day lilies. They need separating every couple of years and they just get to be too big.
As we get older we need to simplify our lives. I haven’t put anything in the squares I took them out of yet. My front garden is quite formal. I have roses in some of the other squares and statuary with flowers in them in others.
I am not planting any more roses either, too much work.
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Out in the “field” we have Redwoods (3), 3 Fruitless Mulberry, an Elm, A red Maple, a Fruitless Pear (that has beautiful colors on its leaves when it colors up), the Ginko , and the liquidambar and a Pin Oak, and 2 Sycamore.
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We have all done our share of planting and removing trees. Too bad we didn’t read up on them before hand. It would have probably saved us some money.
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You are so right about the day lilies. I, too, have day lilies out in front and they also need to be separated.
I lost a tree rose this year and I am not replacing it. Roses require too much work–spraying, fertilizing, debudding, etc.
As you stated, everything is getting to be “too much work.”
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My two front trees are confined to a small area and are pruned back every year. My back trees are also pruned so that they produce maximum-size fruit at low level for ease of picking. That means proper pruning and thinning. The trees are all maintained
and controlled for growth and height so they don’t outgrow their space. Limited space means limited growth, but not limited production of fruit. I have more fruit than I need, and I donate the surplus.
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On my block my neighbors have Redwoods, fruitless Mulberries, red and green Maples, Birch trees, liquidambars, pistachios, Sycamores, Modesto ash, Fruitless Pears, and olive trees. There are even some trees that I don’t know the name of. These are all out in front in full view. They make a lot of leaves to rake up during the season.
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The fruitless Mulberry trees shed their leaves from now through and into the next year. The leaves are large and numerous.
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The fruitless pears drop their leaves little by little until the new growth of leaves finally pushes out the last of the old ones. This means raking leaves for a long period of time.
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The pine needles from the Redwoods and Cedar trees cover everything–from lawn to shrubbery. The only way to remove them completely is to hand pick them. It is a tedious job.
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The leaves from the Birch trees have clogged many roof gutters. They are small and lightweight. They also get into everything, but are easier to clean up after than the pine needles.
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My “field” of trees along the street are huge and the varied. It gives color to the area, but also lots of leaves and work. Especially when the wind blows.
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If you haven’t been out to see the Sandhill cranes, you are missing an awesome sight. They are located along Woodbridge Road near Interstate 5 west of Lodi.
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Here are a couple of more sites.
The Department of Fish and Game host tours at the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve.
dfg.ca.gov/regions/3/cranetour (209) 948-7708
By auto:
Consumnes River Preserve, public roads on Staton Island
Woodbrige Ecological Preserve
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