HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cl27111@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Christopher  Lindsey)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Black Walnuts On Lawn
Keywords: walnuts, lawn, kill grass
Date: 18 Nov 92 04:50:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.BxwArs.JrI
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

mccabe@gdls.CSCTMD.COM (Harold McCabe) writes:

>I have a black walnut tree in my yard and this fall it dropped a lot
>of walnuts onto my lawn.  I picked them up and carted them off since
>they were messy, kids would step on them and track them all over, etc.

>Questions:

>   1. Will the the nuts fall every year, or will this happen every other
>      year, or some other frequency?  This is my first year in the house.

>   2. If the nuts are left on the grass, will they kill the grass or
>      cause something else bad to happen?

>   3. Taking off the hulls, drying the nuts out, cracking the nuts is a
>      lot of work.  Is there any other use for the nuts besides squirrel
>      fodder?
	
	They will fall every year (hopefully), or else your tree is pretty
sick...
	The nuts won't harm the grass any more than the tree will (more on 
this later).
	Black walnuts are supposed to be the most delicious walnuts known to
man!  (I think they're also the messiest...)  They really don't provide any
value, except that you'll have some new walnuts coming up in a few years...

	You asked if the nuts are harmful, and I gave a rather cryptic answer.
Black walnut trees are allelopathic trees, meaning that they produce chemicals
that will prevent the reproduction, growth, etc. of other plants in the area.
The walnut does this through the secretion of a chemical called juglone, which
prevents other plants from competing with it...  
	Anyhow, juglone is highly toxic to tomato plants, and it's been my
experience that it gives plants in the Rosaceae family a tough time too
(such as roses, cherries, plums, apples, etc.)  The best experience that I've
had with plants under walnuts are those in the Saxifragaceae family, such as
mock oranges, currants (don't plant female forms, they may cause white pine
blister rust), hydrangeas, and deutzias...

	Boy, did I go off on a tangent, or what?  ..
						 \__/

Christopher Lindsey -- Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Univ. of Illinois
e
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: Mother Nature <gaea@zooid.guild.org>
Subject: Table ferns
Organization: The Zoo of Ids
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:07:38 GMT

I've recently been having problems with my table ferns. I planted a number of
different subspecies in a 35gal terrarium (to keep the cats out), but they all
seem to be dying/have died. They look like there is either an absence of
humitidy (not possible, the tank is almost totally enclosed and I'm misting
them with distilled water every day) or being underwatered, since the leaves
are all shrivelling up at the tips, making their way down the plant, and
finally killing the whole plant. The soil has never gotten drier than
"slightly moist", and I have a birdsnest fern and a peace lily doing fine in
there as well. Is it possible to overwater ferns? What else could I be doing
wrong? They're being fertilized with standard indoor plant fertilizer every 3
weeks, and they have a bright east exposure and a fluorescent lamp up top.

Anybody have any idea why they're dying? Please email me.

---
Gaea (Mother Nature)                     gaea@zooid.guild.org
ZOOiD Online, Toronto, Canada            (416) 322-7876
Free and Paid Public Access Usenet       (416) 322-0920
"It's lost scent, you really feel bowls."
From: misty@ac.dal.ca
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: "bad" overwintering??
Date: 20 Nov 92 19:34:55 GMT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Hello,
This is my first posting to this newsgroup, so please excuse any errors
which I make.  Thanks.

I purchased a box of 25 Grape Hyacinth (Muscari sp.) bulbs.  My trusty
Prentice-Hall pocket encyclopedia of plants said that they were to be
overwintered for 10 weeks prior to planting.  I had to resort to another
book to look up overwintering.  This one, put out by Random House in '68
stated that I should "plant bulbs 1-2 inches apart in a 15 inch diameter
pot filled with sterile soil and kept in a cool (10 degrees Celsius) dark
place until spring".
I did this.  Guess what?  Now I have 25 blossoming Grape Hyacinths in
my basement.  What happened?!
The bulbs were kept on a sill (for lack of a better location) which only
receives the fluorescent light from the ceiling.  I did not have any
"sterile soil", so I used old (purchased some months ago) potting soil
by itself.

Please tell me where things went wrong...

-Rachel MacDonald
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: gwv@eastrg2.cray.com (George Vandenberghe)
Subject: Re: Elastic Rubber Tree
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 23 Nov 92 09:41:51 CST

In article <1992Nov22.122244.18843@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>, gordonb@mcil.comm.mot.com (Gordon Berkley) writes:
|> I have a ruber tree (ficus elastica) which has been grown indoors - until
|> recently.  I finally reached a size that keeping it indoors was no longer
|> practical, and I didn't have the heart to cut it down to fit.
|> 
|> Sooo, I put this tree outdoors in a very large planter (clay), and everyone
|> was happy.  Unfortunately, it started getting windy.  And windier.
|> Last night I looked outside, and although the planter was upright,
|> the tree wasn't !  It had bent over completely.  I was able to pick it up
|> and straighten it out, but when I let go, droop city!
|> 
|> Suggestions?
|> Although it seems silly with a 6 foot tall tree, should I stake it?
|> I tried tieing it on three points, but "drooooop".
|> -- 
|> [  Gordon D. Berkley    INTERNET: gordonb@mcil.comm.mot.com   POST: cgb001   ]
|> [  PHONE: +972 (3) 565-8727      FAX: +972 (3) 565-8754      (UTC-2)         ]

     The tree is probably all right.   Yes you need to stake it.  Most places
that sell garden stuff in my area (Wash. D.C.) sell green plastic stakes
which might be less visible.
From: jhb@calmasd.prime.com (Jim Bishop)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Fremontia (was: Horrible Plants)
Date: 20 Nov 92 06:31:14 GMT
Organization: -

In article <1992Nov18.170743.8831@iscsvax.uni.edu>, 
klier@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:

> I'm also decidedly unfond of itch-inducing plants like Fremontia and
> Mentzelia... though I'm happy to admire them from a distance.  Just please
> don't ask me to collect them!!!! ;-)
> 

Kay, what do you about growing Fremontia?  I didn't know they itch.  I
bought one at a native plant sale.  I'm planning on planting it on a
north facing slope with no summer shade.  The ground is our native
caliche.  I've heard that they rot if given summer water.

Jim
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: clarke@watson.ibm.com (Ed Clarke)
Subject: Re: Paulownia Rustlers
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 14:26:52 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

In article <1992Nov16.130933.14902@athena.cs.uga.edu>, karen@athena.cs.uga.edu (Karen Snetselaar) writes:
|> Hmmm wonder if it would be worthwhile to switch from pine to 
|> paulownia plantations--help balance trade w/Japan by supplying

They are in the US because the seeds were used as packing material in the
last century.  In Japan, the trees have died due to some nasty disease.
The wood is used for artistic purposes, not for construction.  There was
an article in "Fine Woodworking" a few months ago about Paulowina.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: djd@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (david.j.daulton)
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 20:33:48 GMT

In article <3350@voodoo.UUCP> mnb@voodoo.boeing.com (Mike Burr) writes:
>
>C.  The most grotesque example of all (IMHO) is the "National Christmas
>    Tree".  Every year a *beautiful* specimen tree, 60 - 80ft tall is
>    cut (killed) for this "honor".  Its enough to make any real tree
>    lover cringe.

Here in Columbus the "state" tree is donated by someone who needs to
be rid of it.  The one this year was a humongous specimen, looming over
a small house, filling the yard.  Cutting it was a win-win situation.

As for the White House, I wish they would just plant a tree and use it
in place.  I know they cut just one tree a year--but, symbolically it
sets a bad example.  The symbolism needed here is one of responsibility
and concern for the environment not just a business-as-usual "holiday
greetings."  Here's hoping things will change with Clinton.

>
>D.  Because of this national craze to put a dead tree in one's house
>    at xmas time, there are many areas where its difficult to even
>    grow a fir tree on your property without some low-life coming
>    along and cutting the middle out of it for their xmas tree.  This
>    has happened to me twice.  If anyone has a (practical) solution
>    to this I'd love to hear it.

Hmmm.  Maybe there IS a use for poison ivy in one's landscape!
Or a border of some thorny shrubs (e.g. rogusa rose).
Or you could go for a non-symmetrical evergreen, such as a Japanese
pine, a dwarf blue spruce, etc.  Personally, I like them better than
symmetrical trees.

Dave Daulton, Columbus, Ohio
From: jason@ab20.larc.nasa.gov (Jason Austin)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 17 Nov 92 15:01:44
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
Reply-To: Jason C. Austin <j.c.austin@larc.nasa.gov>
NNTP-Posting-Host: ab20.larc.nasa.gov
In-reply-to: maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu's message of Tue, 17 Nov 1992 09:21:18 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.092118.5813@athena.cs.uga.edu> maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu (Joan C. Maxfield) writes:
-> 
-> OK, I know this is going to sound REALLY odd, but:
-> 	Does anyone have any ideas for 'alternate' types of christmas
-> trees?  
-> 
-> I want a real tree, I grew up witha fake tree and I hated it, it
-> Looked fake, it smelled like mildew, it just wasn't right.  When I got
-> older (and my siblings got wealthier) we started getting real, cut
-> trees for Christmas, ahhh, heaven, the smell, the feel, the weight,
-> this is a REAL tree. Christmas was redeemed.  I continued the practice
-> of getting a real, cut tree when I moved out on my own and I wish to
-> continue the practice but have a little problem, Daniel.
-> 	No, Daniel isn't my cat, I'm not afraid he'll climb it and
-> knock it over.  And, no, he isn't a landlord, come to ruin my
-> Christmas.  Daniel, is my fiance...He is a vegetarian.  Can you see
-> where this is going?  Daniel doesn't want to "kill a poor innocent
-> tree just so we can hang stuff on it"  I keep trying to tell him that
-> it'll be cut down anyway and if we don't buy it it will die sooner for
-> lack of wateror worse, be *gasp* chipped after the 25th.  He suggests
-> one of those little 2 foot tall K-mart jobs, but that's not a tree,
-> it's a ...houseplant!  Or he wants to buy a live (with root ball)
-> tree.  This is all fine and good, except we live in an apartment.  I
-> suppose we could donate it somewhere after.  I am leary of he cost
-> here though. (I had neighbors that did this, kind cute, a nice little
-> line of past years Christmas trees out in the yard, all different
-> heights and shapes and colors.  And they continued to decorate them
-> too!) 
-> 	So, you see my predicament.  I want a TREE, something to be
-> proud of its tree-ly heritage, but he won't have it.  So, we need
-> suggestions.  I'll take anything, no matter how bizzare, tell me.  
-> 
-> Thanks,
-> Joan
-> 
-> Oh, I do have 2 cats so whatever it is should be able to withstand a
-> little torture ( climbing, nibbling, pawing, etc)

	Dump him and buy a tree.

	If you don't want to do that, how about something like a large
weeping fig?  It's not a pine, but it's a tough tree that can take the
abuse and grow indoors that rest of the year.  If you like the pine
smell, get some pine garland to decorate the rest of the room.
--
Jason C. Austin
j.c.austin@larc.nasa.gov




Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: hfoster@liebnitz.ssd.kodak.com (Henrietta Foster)
Subject: Re: Pruning (in particular, a sugar maple and a linden)
Organization: Eastman Kodak
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 17:46:42 GMT

In article <watpod78.722536946@cunews> watpod78@alfred.carleton.ca (Phil Culhane) writes:
>Help!
>
>From what I understand, most of the guys who work for companies that
>prune trees just kind of look at your tree and say "Hey, yeah, how but
>that one?"  ZZZZZINNNNNGGGG!!  Branch gone.  I'd like to learn how to
>prune properly.  Is there a bible of proper tree pruning?
>
>Phil

I really like the Ortho book on pruning.  It covers individual pruning 
needs of many trees and shrubs and gives general information on plant 
growth and pruning.  It costs about $8 and should be available in any 
garden store which sells Ortho products.  This book was recommended to 
me by an arborist.

Henrietta
From: maynard@anchor.Corp.Sun.COM (Alexandra R. Ohlson)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 17 Nov 92 17:04:27 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: anchor.corp.sun.com

I'll play devil's advocate on this one.

I would wager that most Christmas trees are grown on Christmas tree
farms and not cut wild.  If there were no demand for the cut trees,
the farms would not exist and the earth would miss out on the 2-4 
years of green growth it took for the trees to mature. Certainly, if
you choose to get a live, balled tree and donate or plant it after
Christmas that is admirable. Take into consideration space and 
needs before planting - some of these varieties of tree are not suitable
for a suburban back yard.

And of course I get sad seeing all the Christmas trees on the curb
after New Year's...but then I anthropomorphize everything. It's actually
a lovely tradition - bringing a little of nature inside to live with.
Now if only it would snow in this silly N. Califoria climate!

alexandra
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: jereese@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (jean reese)
Subject: Non-flowering citrus tree
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 13:39:52 GMT


My husband has a grapefruit tree he grew from a seed 12 years ago. It's
pretty tall now, and healthy, but does not flower and never has. (Therefore,
no fruit.) We've given it fertilizer and left it outside over the summers,
but no response. Where did we go wrong?

Thanks for any information.

Jean
-- 
	"It is my view that the  vegetarian manner  of living by its 
	purely physical effect on the  human temperament  would most 
	beneficially influence the lot of mankind." - Albert Einstein
	++++++++++++++++jereese@silver.ucs.indiana.edu+++++++++++++++
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: gwv@eastrg2.cray.com (George Vandenberghe)
Subject: Re: Hardy Citrus was List of cold climate gums
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 23 Nov 92 10:01:17 CST

In article <1992Nov23.041926.11953@sserve.cc.adfa.oz.au>, rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au (Bob McKay) writes:
|> pharvey@quack.sac.ca.us (Paul Harvey) writes:
|> 
|> >the first frost. Fully dormant "Satsuma" mandarin trees can withstand
|> >temps as low as 18oF without defoliation. Kumquats may tolerate temps a
|> >degree or two colder. Most other mandarins can take 22-23oF; grapefruit
|> >and oranges 23-24oF; lemons 26-27oF; and limes 28oF. The average
|> >freezing point for mature fruits of "Satsuma" mandarins and "Temple"
|> >tangors is 28oF. Ripe navel oranges freeze at 27-28oF ...
|> >Duration of cold is also very important in determining whether fruit
|> >will be damaged. It usually takes 3-4 hours as 27-28oF to injure navel
|> >oranges, but it may take only 30-60 minutes at 29oF to injure small
|> >lemons.
|> 
|> The more we discuss this, the more puzzling it gets. I'm starting to think
|> the mercury in our thermometers here must be upside down! Assuming the
|> temperatures Paul quotes are air temperatures, rather than ground temps
|> (which can be significantly colder), the table mostly fits the Oz experience. 
|> But there's one exception, lemons, which as I mentioned, are considered 
|> relatively hardy here, despite minima down to around 21F most Winters, and 
|> extremes down to around 16F. It may be partly varieties (Meyer, the one
|> mentioned, originated in Canberra), but other varieties, while not so hardy,
|> are still regarded as hardier than mandarins, grapefruit or oranges. Anybody
|> have an explanation??
|>    Cheers
|>      Bob McKay
|> -- 
|> Bob McKay		   	Phone:	+61 6 268 8169	    fax: +61 6 268 8581
|> Dept. Computer Science		Internet:	rim@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au
|> ADFA, Northcott Dve 		UUCP:...!uunet!munnari!csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au!rim
|> Campbell ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA	ARPA:	rim%csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au@uunet.uu.net

    This is only two cents worth of opinion but here goes.

Citrus cold hardiness depends on exposure to previous cool weather.
Any species in active growth will be heavily damaged by even
a few degrees of frost; trees that are dormant can tolerate more.
In Florida, frosts and freezes sometimes occur after weeks of 
good growing weather (highs near 26C. and lows near 15C.); conditions
under which trees will fail go go dormant or break dormancy.   I imagine
that mean winter temperatures are colder in your part of Australia with
fewer extremes so your trees are almost always dormant in winter.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: amz@iguana.cis.ohio-state.edu (Arnold M Zwicky)
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Followup-To: rec.gardens
Summary: a radical non-tree possibility
Organization: stanford, outil, lsa, osu,...
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 03:04:31 GMT

here's a radical but pleasant non-tree alternative...

get several decorative fishnets - they come in various sizes and
colors - and stretch them out *over* a room or two, attaching them to
hooks or nails in moldings or in door or window or picture frames, or
to curtain hardware lighting fixtures or whatever, so that they're
pretty taut.  then hang your ornaments on the nets.  you're sort of
*inside* the xmas decorations.

no trees.  also nothing for cats and dogs to climb onto, knock over,
or drag around the room.  if you have to have lights, these can be
added with only small amounts of additional cleverness.

we did this in our ohio house for years in addition to a tree, then
instead of one.  (during all those years we had a cat and for some of
them a dog as well.)  i came to like it much more than a tree.  you
can enjoy the ornaments separately and together much more easily than
on a tree.  (we have great boxes of peculiar and beautiful ornaments,
many of them hand-made.  cheap jewelry torn apart and strung into
designs, ceramic oddities, penguins of all materials and styles,
the blue pig, musical instruments, blown glass, paper snowflakes,
all sorts of stuff.)

now i'm in california for xmas, often with friends in santa cruz
rather than in our own house in palo alto, and often without my man
jacques, so decoration is minimal - a collection of fabulous
glass-bead geometric structures made by my daughter, hung from the
track lighting (a distant descendant of the fishnet technique).  they
catch the light and reflect it in many colors around the room.  we
also get two or three freesias, for their scent.  nothing like
a classic northern european xmas scene, i realize, but still very
satisfying in its own way.

arnold (who will soon have the columbus shape-note singers
  over for caroling and might *also* get to sing with the
  palo alto shape-note people, if his schedule works out)
From: kl@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Kevin Lyman)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Ajuga
Date: 19 Nov 1992 19:06:34 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Reply-To: kl@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Originator: kl@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

From article <27687@oasys.dt.navy.mil>, by mulvihil@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Lawrence Mulvihill):
> Will bulbs (crocus, daffs, tulips) have any trouble
> forcing their way through dense ajuga?  

My crocus comes through without any problems.  It's the squirrels that wreak
havoc!
From: jaya@encinitas.Eng.Sun.COM (Jaya Holla)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: spiders
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:50:39 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: encinitas

In article <1992Nov7.002325.10012@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> dmiller@theory.lcs.mit.edu (Dick and Jill Miller) writes:
>
>Do you live in South America or somewhere that doesn't have screens for the 
>windows?
>--
>A. Richard & Jill A. Miller            | Miller Microcomputer Services |

I live in sunny California with screens on all windows I still have spiders in
my house. Any tips on how to get rid of them will be greatly appreciated.
Please email as I have gotten very busy at work and don not read this
newsgroup as much as I used to. (TIA)

As an aside: three years back the house was fumigated and I did not see
any spiders for a while. Now they are back.


Jaya
From: ecologycntr@igc.apc.org (Ecology Center)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Horrible Plants
Date: 20 Nov 92 18:29:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #R:1992Nov13.210345.18149@cbfsb.cb.:-172042732:cdp:1453300102:000:120
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!ecologycntr    Nov 20 10:29:00 1992


Re: silver maples;

any tree that supplies you with instant firewood during snow and ice storms
is ok with me!
:)
chris
From: jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Christmas tree alternative?
Date: 20 Nov 92 01:29:29 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc., San Jose, CA

What about a Norfolk Island Pine?  (Which are not pines, by
the way.)  They have an appropriate shape, can be purchased as
5-foot trees in 5-gallon pots, will tolerate living indoors,
and will even tolerate infrequent watering.  The one caveat is
they are very poke-y spiney, and I've never dealt with one
without getting stabbed a lot.

Although I admit to not being fond of "kill a tree for
Christmas," I've become a lot more accepting of the custom
since I've found out a lot about the Christmas tree
"industry."

Note:
   Christmas trees are grown as "crops," the same way you
might raise carrots or artichokes or whatever.  These trees
are often raised on land that would otherwise lie fallow, i.e.
right-of-way under electrical lines, etc.  Plantations near
urban areas can help purify the air.

   Most Christmas trees are grown by small "mom-and-pop"
operations, rather than by large corporations.  They are also
often grown as a "fall back" crop on a farm, perhaps an acre
of Christmas trees on a 40-acre parcel, to supplement the
"real" crop being grown.  Often, the Christmas tree plantation 
is the "crop" that will allow a small family farm to break even 
(or even--gasp!--make a profit).  By buying a tree from such
an operation (or a lot who purchases from one), you are
helping to support the vanishing family farm and rural living.

  Commercial Christmas trees were, indeed, planted to meet a
demand.  There is still a *major* problem in areas of native
conifers with "rustlers" who come in and illegally harvest
naturally-growing evergreens.  In the days before Christmas
tree plantations, this was how *everyone* got their trees,
going out into the woods and cutting down a tree.  (I have
also known people in rural areas who have had *landscape*
trees--often expensive dwarf evergreens--disappear from their
yard or their property while they were away.  One lady came
home to find a family in the midst of cutting down the spruce
on her side lot, and they got downright nasty when she
demanded to know what they were doing!  After all, it was a
tree "just sitting out in the wild," despite being planted on
private property, from a nursery-grown specimen that cost $30!)
Those cutting (truly) wild trees range from families out to
get a traditional "wild" tree to commercial operations who move in
and "strip" evergreen boughs off of large numbers of trees, 
essentially defoliating large patches of trees, for the florist
trade.  (Moral: KNOW where your holiday evergreens come
from!!)  These "rustlers" can be extremely environmentally
destructive.  So, in many ways, commercial trees are helping
to save the environment.
--
  Jilara   [jane@swdc.stratus.com]

"The field of pseudo-science hasn't progressed much in ten
years, except to gain access to the net." --from ca.earthquakes