Christmas Came Early This Year

My name is Gregory Rohde and I would like to tell you what happened to me one day last week. As I left my house, my daughter, Assisi, hugged me real tight as she said good by. My wife, Sandra, kissed me and hoped that we made a lot of money, and my dog peed on my tire just before I got into my truck.

At lunch time my co-workers locked me in my office. When they finally let me out I was surprised by the gifts they had for me.

During the day I talked to several customers who came into Rohde’s. They all wanted to thank us for the advise given throughout the year and wish us happy holidays.

On my way home a brand new Mercedes pulled up to me. I recognized the driver as a customer of mine that I have worked for, for over 20 years. She just wanted to wish me happy holidays.

As soon as I got home my son Victor asked me to take him to the park. As dusk approached, we decided to climb a very large oak tree to see the colors of the setting sun. All of a sudden Victor grabbed my hand in both of his and said: “Dad I love you.”

Christmas came early this year.

To all our customers and friends, my family and all of us at Rohde’s Nursery and Green Sense Fertilizers would like to say thank you and hope that your life is as good as mine.

What Are We Doing Now?

One of the requests I have had is for a timely hint column. Some of you have asked for help with what should be done at this time of the year. Remember that this newsletter originates in Dallas and some of the things that may be suggested may not be appropriate for your area.

Now that we have had a hard freeze, we are going to start trimming Red Oak and Live Oak trees. These oak trees are susceptible to a disease called Oak Wilt. When you trim a Red Oak or Live Oak tree, the more wounds you leave the more chances the tree has of getting this deadly disease. Remember that in a forest, trees do not get trimmed and they do very well.

If you drive around, you will see some trees that have been "professionally" trimmed to look like broccoli stalks or carrots. I know that the person doing the job had one or two things in mind. First, he had a bad haircut earlier in the day and planned his revenge on this customer's trees.

"They would not know any better, hell, they hired me in the first place," he laughed out loud.

His other thought could have been, "If I whack these big branches off I will spend less time on the job."

Don't just hire someone and give him an ok to do whatever he feels should be done. In late November I spent an hour at a customer's house. My customer went around his entire property with me. We discussed every branch that was going to be removed. The UPS truck had damaged one branch, so it must go. Another branch was hanging too near the roof, and one more was on top of the chimney. This man knew what he wanted, and needed assurance that only the necessary trimming was to be done. Smart man! I only wish that more people would take time to protect their investment.

I forgot to mention that we have trimmed trees for this particular customer for almost ten years. He won't let anyone else touch them, but he always has to make sure that we are doing the correct thing.

Deep root feed your trees now! Use a combination of lava sand, humate, rock phosphate and Green Sense Fertilizer. With an auger, drill holes beneath the canopy of the tree. On mature trees begin three to five feet from the base of the tree and continue beyond the drip line for another ten feet. Separate the holes by no more than two feet in a triangle type grid. On smaller trees, start one foot from the base and go out to the drip line.

Do not prune Crape Myrtles at this time. Wait until March and only trim the necessary branches.

If you are going to prune your trees to let grass grow under them, consider the alternatives. Use other grasses that do better in shade or change to groundcovers. Do not be afraid to make a change in your landscape. If you have any questions, email me or one of our designers. Try Carol Feldman at carolfeld@aol.com.

Make sure you mulch all your beds now. You do not have to buy hardwood or cypress mulch; use your tree leaves. Run them over with the lawn mower first. This will push a lot of the foliage below the runners. Whatever excess remains on top of your grass, place in the flower beds. Be careful with hackberry leaves. I would compost these first, or you may start a grove.

Spread lava sand over your entire landscape. You cannot put enough down. Look at Hawaii. The lava sand will help your soil retain moisture next summer and will help the plants transfer minerals from the soil faster.

A Roach by Any Other Name Is Still a Roach

Once again, there I was, minding my own business, when this guy walks into the store and says, "I went to the outhouse last night and saw me some water bugs. I need something really strong to kill those critters or my wife says she's gonna leave me."

I immediately asked him to sell me some of those critters so that I could bring some to my house.

"I ain't touchin' none of those nasty old bugs, he squealed in disgust, they are so grooossse!"

Well, why don't you try using a combination of equal parts Diatomaceous Earth (five parts), Boric Acid (five parts) and Pyrethrum (one part)," I said.

"Some what? Dietomato earth! Hell, if I can't say it, I surely don't want to use it. I want some cloradane like my pappy used before he died or some diazinon like my brother used before he passed away."

I went on to explain that now that cold weather was upon us, he should treat baseboards, underneath the appliances and in the tracks of the windows and sliding glass doors.

I told him about a product called Niban Fg, that had boric acid and corn. The corn attracts the roaches to the boric acid, and when they eat this, they die.

"No," he said, "I want something fast. If you don't have any chemicals I am going somewares else."

"Well sir," I said to him, "we are all organic here and believe in using environmentally friendly products that....."

Well, as he stormed out the door, a lady bug came flying into the store. As he started to say something the lady bug flew into his mouth, and must have gone down the wrong tube. I ran over to help him, thinking about doing the Hameshamalik Maneuver, but I thought out loud: "Hell, if I can't pronounce it, I surely don't want to use it, do I?"

Winter Bird Care

Tis the season to... be so cooooold!

Imagine that you are a little birdie who weighed only a couple of ounces, you are hungry and thirsty, you have no shoes and you had to stay outside all the time. Now, imagine a nice person that decides to help you by offering a warm snug bird house, fresh warm water and some fresh seed. Would you not be so happy that your heart sings?

It is true that most birds can find their own homes, but an attractive bird house would add a nice touch to your garden. Once your bird is in his new house, start putting out foods with high oil content such as: black oil sunflower seed, peanuts, pecans, grey striped sunflower seed, and sunflower hearts, wildlife peanut butter and one of any of the many flavors of suet.

The main ingredient that people forget to put out for the birds is water. Most of the water that birds have access to are puddles, but where did these puddles come from; what is really in that water? God only knows! Most puddles have runoff from parking lots, chemically treated lawns, car pollutants, etc. A nice clean birdbath in your yard, with fresh water and maybe a birdbath heater, would be most appreciated. Dripping water in the birdbath, the sound it makes and the movement of the ripples, will bring in more birds than you can imagine. If you don't have a water garden or a fountain yet, a Dripper for the birdbath is a very efficient and inexpensive way to lure birds into your garden.

How will birds repay you for all your generosity? Once the birds have found a home in your garden they will stay on and nest in the spring. About 60 percent of the diet they need for their babies is protein—fat, juicy bugs! Birds are nature's first and most efficient insecticides.

They fill your garden with song and entertain you with their flight. In other words watching birds can be better than anything on TV.