Real Estate (Farm & Ranch Land)

Winterburn in Evergreens

I am getting a few evergreen questions with similar problems. My tree is an arborvitae that is turning brown on the south side.  What is happening? It may be winterburn in evergreens.

Winterburn of the top of an Albert Spruce

The fancy term is winter desiccation. A lot of different plants suffered winter desiccation, including evergreens like arborvitae, boxwood and yew (maybe think twice about growing here), and white pine along with some spruces like Colorado Blue. Being evergreens, the trees and shrubs use water through their roots to keep the needles green and the plant alive. If the soil dries out during a thaw in the winter, or a dry fall going into the winter before soil freeze-up, a problem arises.

Winterburn of the south side of Arbovitae

The leaves lose water faster than they can replace it, so the leaves/needles started to turn brown and die back. The south and west sides of the plant will show more injury because the sun’s intensity is stronger causing the needles to transpire.

For now, just watch the plant and see what happens. If it sends out new growth in the spring, then prune out the dead branches back to living tissue.  If the plant is completely brown with no new growth, then you will need to remove it.  Young plants are more at risk than older plants. Also, plants around the foundation of the home where water has trouble getting to the root are more prone to injury. Odds are they should come back.

Home Improvement

Interior Paint Colors for 2022

Interior paint colors for 2022 are becoming much bolder hopefully coming out on the other side of the pandemic. People are looking for bright and uplifting colors natural colors. Not saying that the soothing neutrals of whites and light browns will go away, however, bolder colors will take over in the next few years. A bold-colored accent wall is setting a new trend.

Bold sky colors like blue and yellow along with bold earth tones like brown and green will be the primary colors. Of course, now we go from flat sheens to high satin sheens.

With the greens, we have Sherwin-Williams’ new color of Evergreen Fog, a calming grey-green hue. This makes a great color for a living room.

Bathrooms traditionally have been on the blue side. Blues promote tranquility and relaxation making them great for bedroom colors also. Blues are used in a gallery setting to make the paintings stand out.

Bold earth tones are bolder colors working well with kitchens and family rooms. The softer, chalky colors provide more of a calmer effect.

Yellows will brighten up spaces with less light. Yellow promotes a happy emotion making it a great choice for an office area.

As stated before the neutral colors will stay on-trend. Think of the color of wool, oatmeal, and earth browns. Experiment with bold furniture colors which fit in with the soft colors.

Paint is the easiest way to change the look of your home. It provides you with endless possibilities.

Garden hacks, Garden Tools

Alkaline Soils

In our area, we have alkaline soils. They are soils over a pH of 7 (under this would be acid soils you find in the Eastern parts of the US). An alkaline soil contains a high degree of calcium, sodium, iron, and magnesium. This makes the soil limit the available nutrients. Plants that like a more neutral soil or even acid soil end up with leaves turning yellow in the summer, especially in dry soil. The plant will become stunted and more prone to winter damage.

Simple pH prong meter
3 in 1 pH meter (fertility, moisture, and pH)

Luckily, they are many trees and shrubs that are tolerant of alkaline soils. The problem comes in growing acid “wanting” trees and shrubs even if they are tolerant of the winter cold. Some of the shrubs that you find in greenhouses for sales like azaleas, rhododendrons, witch hazels, kalmias, and holly will not thrive. I have tried holly but after 4 years of not growing finally gave in and died.

You noticed with hydrangeas with the beautiful blue flower fade to pink after a year or two. If the soil is acid, the flower is blue, if alkaline the flower is pink or an ugly pinkish white.

Chemical pH test kit
Chemical pH test (harder to use, but more accurate)

Some of the trees that want acid soil and are even cold tolerant of our area are most oaks, red maples (many are also borderline cold tolerant), and magnolias. To a lesser extent many pines, birches, and silver maples.

To fix alkaline soil is a bother, adding sulfur (3 oz sulfur to one square yard of soil). If the soil is clay or sand, mixing in peat moss helps bring it to a neutral pH. There are home test pH meters that are accurate and cheap, so you know what your soil pH is.