Fall Mulch

The three ginkgo trees and the Stan Wheeler lilac all received a bag of pine bark mulch this weekend. The cold weather is setting in and there will be fewer and fewer days in the gardens at Cedar Bluff.

Pine bark mulch, a suggestion from gardening friend Gloria, breaks down into a lovely dark soil that adds nutrient. It is a little more expensive, but I am really seeing better perennial beds as a result.

The ginkgoes are barely tinged with yellow. Cold nights to come will change that fast. What surprised me when I looked at this image on a computer screen was the intense green of this fall. Here in Michigan, there has been a lot of fall rain. The trees and lawns and shrubs still have some of that wonderful northern summer green.

Ginkgo Grove

Ed and I have developed a fondness for ginkgo trees after seeing them on the site of the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima in September 2008 while visiting Japan. With their fan shaped leaves and golden yellow fall color, the ginkgo trees have worked their way into our hearts.

So Ed had several trees planted at the farm and then at the lake. This image, taken last week, is of the ginkgo grove (well, three trees could constitute a grove) at the lake. Goldenrod in full bloom accents the lower right corner of the photo while dappled morning light highlights the green grass. And yes, that is a dead ash tree in the left background. Like many Michigan property owners, we will have lots of ash trees to remove as the emerald ash borer has taken a toll on the ash population.

We have been watering these trees all summer using the Treegator bags that our son-in-law recommended to us. "Just don't let your lawnmower and a Treegator meet," John told us as we realized that it would be easy to clip the vinyl bag of the Treegator with the blades of the mower. We've been careful haven't lost a gator to the mower (yet).

The Treegators hold about twenty gallons of water, have trickle drip holes around the bottom, and zip in place around each tree. It take about five minutes to fill one from the watering hose. We've given these trees water at least once a week this summer in the weeks when there has not been a heavy rain.

The second photo show three Treegators zipped together and standing around the lilac bush that the Wheelers gave us in memory of my Dad. I knew that the gators would press in on the lilac if I filled each bag to the top, so I only filled each one about a quarter of the way full.

The lilac and the ginkgoes occupy the Woodland Garden, a garden that is starting to take shape as a partly wild, partly cultivated spot on our lake property.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Gingkos Along Grand River Avenue

I counted 13 gingko trees on the south side of Grand River Avenue in East Lansing on the north side of the Michigan State University campus last weekend. Here is a view of the avenue, looking west, with eight of these magnificent trees numbered so that you can identify their autumn look.

The tree that is number 3 has lost all of its leaves. Gingkos are like that; one day they are splendidly yellow gold and the next, all their leaves have been shed.

My fascination with gingko trees reaches from Michigan to Japan where we saw stately gingko trees on the site of the atomic blast in Hiroshima. Lots of cities plant gingkos for their resistance to smog and pollution. The tree has a strong center "pole" and develops stubby secondary branches. Their distinctive fan shaped leaves make them an easy tree to identify.

Copyright 2011

Wanda Hayes Eichler



Gingko Study

Gingko Study 1

From a close up photo of a dried gingko leaf that I have taped to my studio window comes this color study. I used Photoshop to crop the leaf, erase some background dust, sharpen the image, and take it to purple using the black and white tool.

 

Then I overlaid an orange background onto the purple leaf. The orange background is dissolved so that only parts of it show through. I liked the image so much that I set it as the background wallpaper on my computer screen. I like to change the wallpaper often so this purple leaf will see me everyday for a while this autumn.

Copyright 2011

Wanda Hayes Eichler