Troubleshooting

Below are links to articles posted in Troubleshooting.

How to fix a tree with a split trunk from wind damage

Readers of this blog will know that my favorite tree is my forest pansy redbud, indeed the related posts you’ll find at the bottom of this missive will point to the other blog posts where I have mentioned it. I love this tree because it has spring interest, in the form of the standard pink [...]

San Francisco’s New Composting Law

I just heard about this on the news. Apparently today a new law in San Francisco took affect, enacting the strictest trash ordinance in the country. Everyone either has to compost at home, or get a separate bin to put their compostables in for curbside pickup, or be fined with fines starting at $100 for [...]

Smelly Soupy Poopy Compost Tumbler

Composting is not an exact science, and even someone who has used a compost tumbler for a long time like me can mess up.
I use my compost tumbler in the following way: I take brown paper bags and while cooking put scraps of veggies, peels, watermelon rinds, etc, in the bags. Then I toss [...]

Caterpillars on a Pine Tree

The other day, well, almost 4 weeks ago (we’ve got a new baby, and so I’ve been too busy to blog), on my way to the hospital to see said baby I noticed large clumps of something on my Tanyosho pine. The pine hadn’t been looking too hot this Spring but I hadn’t looked too [...]

How to Stake a Tree

Short answer, don’t. Most trees that are staked do not need to be. In fact I would venture that most trees you, the individual homeowner, plant do not need to be staked. Yes, any tree small enough to be handled by one person really doesn’t need to be staked. Trees only need to be steaked [...]

How to Protect Plants from Frost, and Building Microclimates

So, bad knews. I thought last weekend was the end. I allowed myself to say “Wow, no late frosts this year, awesome!” Boy was that stupid. Now, tonight, they’re predicting a late frost.
I bought some hardy kiwi vines in 2004 and they have grown quite a bit. Had I known in advance I would have [...]

Using Pressure Treated Lumber in Raised Garden Beds

I am a man of science. I donâ€™t believe in anecdotes, and having an analytical mind and having been exposed to rigorous scientific study in college when I was a research assistant in a lab, as well as of course the academic work in college, Iâ€™ve always looked at things scientifically, and today Iâ€™m going [...]

Opossum on the Porch, Compost Eating Critter

No picture with this post, this is probably the first post I’ve done ever without a picture, for some reason I didn’t think about it last night.
So, last night I made some skillet apples, and as I do normally I got out a brown paper bag to put all the scraps into for taking out [...]

Pear Tree Down

So, a couple weeks ago (I’ve been so busy it has taken me this long to blog about it) I woke up to a sight… my pear tree was missing it’s trunk.
Planted in 2003 this tree was getting fairly large, and bore a good deal of fruit this year. It was around 7 feet when [...]

Bean Leef Beetle Damage

I can’t catch a break with my bean plants. Earlier in the year it was slugs, which I handily dispatched with a cold beer. This time however, I have bean leaf beetles, and the solution is not so simple.

I know I have bean leaf beetles because instead of having large holes, I have many many [...]

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