Girdles hurt! And you know what? They sometimes kill! Yup, this is what happened to Shan and Susan's special dogwood that USED to grace the front of the home.
All of sudden the tree started declining. No matter what was done to try to help the tree, it was in done in vain. The tree perished. This tree was planted with a girdling root. A girdling root is one which is growing around the tree trunk or other main roots. As it grows it begins to strangle the tree. We gardeners have heard of this all the time, but have probably never seen the effects. Take a good look. It is not pretty. This was a large and beautiful and special tree.
When you purchase new plants, especially woody plants, be sure to pull the roots out straight prior to planting. If you have a wrap around root (and you probably will due to pot bound plants), cut the root. Ensure girdles don't get your woody plants!
in the garden....
There is another problem with this tree, I believe it was planted too deep. Normally you want to plant the tree where the first major root flares out. This spot should be at ground level. If you look closely you will see the girdled root is above the first major root, though it is hard to tell what is on the other side of the trunk. Just take care when planting all trees....in the garden for girdles.
The vine also bites back! This stuff thrives under heat and drought conditions, which our gardens seem to deal with yearly. I try to pull it as soon as I see the stuff popping up from the ground. The older it gets, the more difficult to pull with the thorns. Believe me, the little thorns bite as much as the larger ones you see in the picture above, even with gloves. Ouch! This is one evergreen vine that I despise even though, the wildlife enjoy it. Please, No GREENBRIER, In the Garden...
Do you see what I see in my Georgia Garden? Look on the stump.
Now can you see it?
Now you can! This Skink lives inside the hollowed out stump. Wrens have built nest's in this stump several times. Then OJ kitty discovered them. I would see him sticking his paw inside trying to get to the baby's. I feared seeing him get one of my beloved birdies so after they safely fledged, I closed the hole with a piece of Tin. The Wrens can no longer nest in the stump. Now this Skink has taken up residence.
He looks big doesn't he? That is because he IS BIG! A bit intimidating to walk upon him and spot it from the corner of your eye. Look at those neat feet.
This is a 5 lined Skink that can get up to 8 inches long. His face is bright red/orange during mating season. He comes out and suns on the stump each day. He is a brave thing as I can get really close to him and he only watches me.
Today I added a plant into the pot on the stump and he never flinched. I kept my eye on him though as I did not want him to become startled and jump on me. I would have done a major Pee Pee dance! I think it looks like a snake in this picture.
I am still weeding and mulching away in the Gardens. I keep running into these huge roots in the butterfly garden. I must get the large shovel and dig them up. I have no idea what type of root this could be. Do you? I am dealing with Big Roots and A BIG SKINK, In the Garden...
