Please, ferm gully,"There is an abundance of fruit, veg, and flowers that florish beneath the protective canopy of the lungs of the planet." do tell me what some of the fruits and veggies that will grow. I have lots of trees and very little sunny veg gardening area.
Thanks,Tim

hi tim,
i was trying to reply to a previous forum posting. i was researching ammonium sulphanate as a herbicide and got the link to the forum page from google. I was incensed by devinp and his tree phobia and the outragous advice he was given. re: killing a tree organically. This was posted 2005! By now he is possibly living in a desert....
With regards to what plants you can grow, there is literature available on forest/woodland gardening and companion planting (books and internet). what you can grow depends on where you are on this blue ball floating in a vacum! good luck! ...and remember eyerone - one human needs two mature trees to provide them with enough oxygen to breethe for a lifetime... multiply the amount of people on the planet with the amount of trees needed - and get planting deciduous broadleaf forests!!

fern, its a good idea to link to the post so we all know what your on about ;)

I found the post and it sounded like he was removing weed species trees (he referred to them as invaders) and he did also mention that he was not only looking to grow vegies and fruit, but to provide for the birds as well, and especially in places like south africa (where devin was from) and Australia this generally means planting native species of trees to provide food for them (e.g. for nectar and to attract insects that the birds feed on aswell)

Maybe devin is still around and might chime in, but that was my take on his post

Here is a link that might be useful: here is the link

I took out a good oak with the old Stihl yesterday, and gidled a couple more. I'll let them dry standing a bit until I can take them out.

Cut through the bark all the way around, stripping off a few inches.

I'll replant with black walnut etc, and heat with the wood.

If I lived in Israel, then I'd have different options and problems- like using water wisely. Pick your poison, eh?

Outraged? ;-) How so, unless you have a source of information that we are not privy to? It appeared to me that Devin was attempting to rid his property of a very aggressive invasive species. That kind of tree growth has a tendency to choke out healthy habitat diversity, and creates a huge decline in wildlife.

Sorry, but mother nature doesn't grow much of anything as well as humans can via 'artificial' means.

Yes, it is inarguably true that nature has grown a bazillion plants over millions of years.

What isn't true is that those plants thrive to the degree they do under the care of a gardener who takes the time to learn what the plant needs and provides it.

Often I hear about how well plants in nature do, but then I go to a local woodland and see the bug holes in the plants that many wouldn't tolerate in their home garden. I see the strong plants overpowering and outcompeting the smaller/weaker plants. I see the disease ravaged plants amongst healthy plants. Nature is just one great big survival of the fittest while a home garden is 'everything needs to not only survive, but thrive'.

What I never see in the wild is a plant that is heavy yielding in terms of flower/fruit/veggie when compared to human cared for plants at the hand of an experienced gardener.

Yes, nature grows plants, just not as well as people who know what they are doing.

I frequent the OG forum because my own practices are pretty close to organic and I like what I learn, but this idea that nature grows plants worthy of display in a home garden is just silly. Nature grows plants that, at best, survive to reproduce.

Justaguy- you are right, with a few exceptions.

First- the gardner often has a variety that is not found in nature- that produces well or for some characteristic that would not help it in the wild.

Second- certain species go nuts with production as soon as a tree falls and provides light. I'll never forget the wild blackberries I saw at the edge of a clearing in MO one time- never seen anything like it.

Seems that the wild varieties survive where man-made varieties might not. The other side of that is that wild varieties may thrive even better for the person willing to intensively garden them (as you pointed out). I chuckle when I see people suggest that a plant needs no fertilization because it gets none in nature.

I also do not, however, often see lots of great wild tomatoes or peppers in the woods of NH :)

I think I am lost on this one.

Is fern gully upset because the recommendations for killing trees weren't organic, or that trees should not be removed at all?

I agree with your post, Pablo.

Justaguy....

I think you're comparing wild apples to cultivar oranges.

There are circumstances where trees, even healthy ones, need to be removed. For example, I have an infestation of Norway Maples on my lot, planted by the previous owner, and allowed to proliferate for many years. The original Norway is at least 50 years old and 3 feet across in diameter.

Norway Maple is a invasive non-native and on the Prohibited Plant list in the state where I live.

Last week, a friend came over with his chainsaw and we cut many saplings down. I sprayed the stumpettes with BrushBegone immediately after cutting. I also used the Weed Wrench to pull up any saplings under 1".

He also girdled two of the larger Norway maples by making two deep cuts all the way around the base of the tree, about 1 foot apart from each other. This was upon the advice of a Nurseryman from the NH Division of Forests and Lands.

I sprayed BrushBgone in the cuts. Do I have to strip the bark too?? Here's a pic showing what he did. Look closely in the background and you can see more of the friggin' saplings growing.

{{gwi:141104}}

That probably does it. If you want to strip bark- it will probably come off with very little coaxing while the tree is still wet (It comes off red oak by accident if you split on the day that you cut it), but it is probably not needed. It seems to help more with evergreens.

Good for you taking out the invasives! I'm still clearing space for black walnut and less common natives that I get from the NH state nursery.

If you want any pine, red oak, wild blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries- let me know. I have a couple acres full and wouldn't miss them if there's a good cause.