on use of newspaper in organic gardens

While researching in the Library’s periodicals yesterday, I read an article in Heirloom Gardener about getting tomatoes to ripen earlier. One of the steps was to put down a thick layer of newspapers, which would decompose and later be turned in to the soil. I am concerned about this being organic. However, the Internet sites I found were divided depending on the type of ink used. They made no mention of bleach or other chemicals used in production of the paper, but I wonder about that too. Finally, not many seemed very up to date.

Can you find better information?

There is a question like yours answered by George Weigel in PennLive.com, in which he suggests that it is probably relatively safe, given that many newspapers are now printed using soy-based inks. Here is an excerpt:
“That doesn’t mean there still aren’t people recommending against newsprint for various reasons (i.e. ‘What about the waxes, pigments and other additives that might be in soy ink?’ ‘Aren’t a majority of soybeans genetically modified, so doesn’t that taint soy ink as a natural product?’ And ‘How do we know for sure that someone didn’t slip something toxic into a batch of ink or that the newspaper temporarily switched to questionable ink because it found a bargain somewhere?’)
“I guess you could argue that newsprint ink might not be ‘safe’ for those kinds of reasons, but then you could argue that just about anything in gardening poses a threat (what’s in the water you’re using, your fertilizer, fungicide-treated seeds, genetically modified corn varieties, pathogens in the compost, even the air you’re breathing while putting down your newspaper mulch).”

Like you, I’ve wondered about newspapers as mulch, or as a shredded addition to the worm bin, too. One could not say that the papers and their inks are “organic,” but most sources (like the one above) seem to say that the amount of toxicity that might still be present is small compared to other sources of toxins in our environment.

As far as use of newspaper in organic gardens, the Organic Materials Review Institute (which lists what is and is not allowed in certified-organic growing) covers this:

Newspaper is “allowed with restrictions” when used for pest, weed, or disease control, and is classified as a synthetic (not organic) control:
Class: Crop Pest, Weed, and Disease Control Origin: Synthetic
Description: Glossy paper and colored inks are prohibited. Paper may only be used as a mulch or compost feedstock.
NOP Rule: 205.601(b)(2)(i) & 205.601(c) As herbicides, weed barriers, as applicable: Mulches. As compost feedstocks: Newspaper or other recycled paper, without glossy or colored inks.

I definitely recommend removing any colored newsprint and glossy inserts that come with the average daily paper. I personally wouldn’t use newspaper mulch in a bed where food is being grown, but perhaps I am exceedingly cautious. You might want to be aware that nanotechnology is now being used in some printing inks, and in some glossy ads (such as Macy’s) which are scent-microencapsulated (I found out about this because I complained to Seattle Times management about the odor). This link to Ink World magazine discusses the use of nanotechnology in printing. Harvard’s School of Public Health explores the environmental and human health implications of nanotechnology in printing.

Grist Magazine has also addressed the related issue of using newspaper in compost.

root pruning container plants

I’m interested in information about root pruning container plants. When and how? Do the plants have to be removed from the containers in order to do it? Do the cut roots need to be removed from the container too?

You will need to remove the container in order to prune the roots. Don’t leave cut roots in the container.

Ann Wheeler of Log House Herbs demonstrates how her root pruning technique in this Arbor Gate video.

According to Sunset’s Container Gardening (1998), fall is the best time to do this (when the plant is not in the height of the growing season). They suggest that a containerized plant can be root-pruned after 3 years or so. Here are the steps they recommend:

Loosen the soil around the pot walls with a knife.
Tap around the rim with a rubber mallet and then pull the plant free – OR:
float the root ball out by forcing water from a hose through the drainage hole
Examine the root ball and trim any twisted roots.
Pull out and untangle large roots, and then use shears or a pruning saw to cut big roots back by 1/3 to 1/2.
Scrub the inside of the pot with a stiff brush and plain hot water or a solution of 4 parts water to 1 part bleach. Rinse with clear water.
Repot with fresh potting mix.

Dragon’s Blood and herbal remedies

Someone told me about an herbal remedy called Dragon’s Blood which is made of the resin of Daemonorops draco. It’s supposed to be good for relief from pain and headaches. Can you tell me more about the plant, including its medicinal uses?

The plant in question, Daemonorops draco, is a type of palm (Family: Arecaceae). Here is the USDA Germplasm Resources Information Network page about this plant.

The common name Dragon’s Blood can refer to a number of different plant resins (such as those derived from Dracaena cinnabari, Dracaena draco, and Croton). The product you mention says it is derived from the palm Daemonorops draco. The resin of this plant has a history of use in folk medicine. Some of the plants are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Dracaena cinnabari is listed as vulnerable, as of 2009). This may be of interest to you because often the products you find for sale are not well-regulated, and there may be no way of verifying that the list of plant ingredients is either valid or complete.

Here is an excerpt:
“Few commodity dealers properly distinguish the various botanical origins of Dragon’s Blood items, and over-exploitation is starting to threaten some sources.”

As for medicinal and other uses of substances called Dragon’s Blood, here is more information from Cropwatch.org:

“The term ‘Dragons Blood’ refers to a product obtained from the resin layer consisting of diterpene acids found on the surface of fruits of the climbing palms of the Daemonorops genus found in SE Asia, and often sold out of Sumatra, Malaya & Borneo. These reddish resinous products (usually encountered as granules, powder, lumps (‘cakes’), or sticks (‘reed’) used in folk medicine as an astringent and for wound healing etc., and in other applications for colouring essential oils red to dark brown, in varnishes, staining marble, for jewelry and enameling work, and for photo-engraving. Mabberley (1998) suggests Dragons Blood was produced originally from Dracaena cinnabari, later from D. draco and more recently from Daemonorops spp.; Zheng et al. (2004) confirm this view and suggest substitutes for Dracaena spp. include Pterocarpus spp., Daemonorops draco and Croton spp.”

There is also an article by Jane Pearson published by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (2002) on the uses of Dragon’s Blood.

Excerpts:
“The term ‘Dragons Blood’ is interchangeably used to refer to plants from three quite different families: Dracaena cinnabari (Socotra) and Dracaena draco (Canary Islands) in the Dracaenaceae family; the palm genus Daemonorops (Malaysia), and the genus Croton (South America) in the Euphorbiaceae
family. […] Although Daemonorops resin is similar in appearance, its origin and preparation are different to Dracaena resin. The fruits are covered in small imbricate scales through which the resin exudes, forming a brittle, red resinous layer on the outside of the fruits. Collection occurs just before the fruit is fully ripe. […] Although used in the same way as Dracaena, the powdered form of Daemonorops was used extensively, especially in America, as an acid resist by photo-engravers up until the 1930s. It also appears to be used in both traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese herbal folk medicine. Daemonorops is traditionally used to stimulate the circulation, promote tissue regeneration by aiding the healing of fractures, sprains and ulcers and to control bleeding and pain.” [My note: Daemonorops draco is referred to as Xue Jie in Chinese medicine.]

Please note that we are not medical professionals, so if you are considering using a substance which claims to contain Daemonorops draco, you should consult your healthcare provider. However, I can tell you that there are ongoing concerns about contamination of patented herbal remedies. University of Minnesota has information on traditional Chinese herbal medicine and related safety concerns.

vegetables to grow on roof gardens

I’d like to plant a vegetable garden on my roof. It will be in a feed trough about 8 feet long, and 2 feet wide and deep. I’m wondering what I can add to lessen the weight of the container (so it won’t just be filled with potting soil and compost). Also, any recommendations for which vegetables to grow would be great–things which are fairly easy and don’t have enormous roots!

To lighten the load of your container, a lightweight organic material like hazelnut shells might make a good bottom layer. You could use perlite, but that may actually be heavier than the nut shells. Here is information about sources of hazelnut shells:
Oregon Hazelnuts (a website of hazelnut growers) (lists several sources)
A Washington State source, often found at local farmers’ markets, is Holmquist Hazelnuts.

The book The Edible Container Garden: Growing Fresh Food in Small Spaces by Michael Guerra (Simon & Schuster, 2000) has a section on rooftop containers, and recommends (after you’ve consulted a structural engineer) using lightweight, well-draining compost, and setting your container(s) on timbers to help with drainage. According to the book, the best candidates for containers are potatoes, chard, lettuce, radishes, shallots, bush tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, squash, dwarf carrots, dwarf beets, mustard and Asian greens, and runner beans. More difficult are cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, parsnips and other deep-rooted vegetables.

The following links may be of interest:

University of Maryland Cooperative Extension

Vegetated Roofs from Oregon State University Extension

Article about the Reading International Roof Garden (Britain) from The Guardian by Emma Cooper (and another article by this author in Permaculture Magazine #53).

witch hazels and leaf retention

I’m wondering if there is a way to get the leaves to drop off of my witch hazel in the fall, or before it blooms?

Some witch hazels have a habit of holding onto their dead leaves (this is called marcescence). Leaf drop (leaf abscission) can also be affected by weather patterns or by the age of the tree. The only way to get them off the tree before they finally do it themselves is to remove them by hand.

An article by Phil Clayton, published in the January 2007 issue of The Garden, mentions that some yellow-flowered varieties have this trait. Here is an excerpt which quotes Hamamelis expert Chris Lane:
A (…) free-flowering yellow selection (…) is H. x intermedia ‘Ripe Corn’. The only downside is its habit of hanging onto old leaves as the flowers open. This trait occurs in some other cultivars and is usually frowned upon by growers (…) a mild autumn followed by a sudden frost can make more leaves hang on to branches. Fortunately, as with H. x intermedia ‘Ripe Corn’, older plants often grow out of the habit.

An article entitled “Ranking the Scents and Sights of Hamamelis” from the February 25, 2011 posting in Swarthmore College’s Scott Arboretum Garden Seeds blog also includes a chart “Ranking Leaf Retention and Fragrance of Hamamelis.”

Magnolia grandiflora root system

I recently built a 2-foot tall boulder retaining wall in my
front yard. I have a small landscape bed along the top of the wall. I
want to plant a small evergreen tree in the landscape bed to provide
privacy from a busy intersection at the corner of my property. I’m pretty much settled on a Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem.’ Do you think the roots of this tree will interfere with/knock-down my boulder wall, if the tree is installed in a location where the trunk of the tree is approximately 2 feet behind the wall?

Two feet from the edge does not sound like enough space to me. Although
it grows relatively slowly, Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’ will reach
at least 20 feet, and dislikes root disturbance. From the tree’s point of
view, the boulders might be a problem. Below is a link to general
information about the tree, from Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute.

The following, from University of Florida Extension, describes the root
system of this tree:

“The root system is wider spreading than most other trees, extending from the trunk a distance equal to about four times the canopy width. This
makes it very difficult to save existing Magnolia trees on construction
sites.”

It is possible your tree might coexist peacefully with the retaining
wall, but my recommendation would be to plant it as far away from the
wall as you can, and leave the bed at the edge for perennials and small
shrubs. Here is general information on the needs of tree roots, from
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Tree Care Primer by Christopher Roddick (2007):

“Out of view, and usually out of mind, roots make up almost a third of a
tree’s mass. Trees need a serious amount of underground real estate.
Unfettered by subterranean obstacles, their root zones easily spread far
beyond the tree’s dripline, the perimeter of the tree’s branches. If
roots are curtailed by obstacles that inhibit their spread, the amount of
water, nutrients, and oxygen to which they have access will be limited.”

Climbing hydrangeas won’t bloom

I have had a climbing hydrangea for 4 years – but it has never bloomed. It is growing but does not produce any buds. It gets full sun and is in good soil. What can I do so it will produce blossoms?

I looked in a few books (including Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens, 1990, by Grant and Grant) about climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris) and they all said this vine is wonderful and robust but very slow to establish. You may just have to wait a few more years.

This hydrangea prefers a cool, moist root run so be sure to irrigate it in the summer and place a good mulch (such as compost or wood chips) a few inches deep. The mulch should not touch the trunk of the vine at the top of the soil around the vine. Established trees and shrubs don’t generally need feeding. Avoid using a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, or it may add lush, green growth at the expense of flowers.

Here is additional information, from Virginia Cooperative Extension:
Excerpts:
“Climbing hydrangeas only bloom on vertical stems so vines growing on
the ground will not bloom. Minimal pruning is required. They bear lacecap inflorescences with an outer ring
of showy white sterile florets around creamy to yellow fertile flowers in late spring. Deadheading can be
done right after flowering to save energy and for aesthetics by cutting the inflorescences off above the first
leaf. Branches that extend out far from the climbing surface may also be pruned back in summer after
flowering to prevent the plants from being pulled from their structures by heavy winds, ice or snow.”
Reasons for lack of flowers on various species of Hydrangea:

Improper shearing and renewal pruning on H. macrophylla and serrata cultivars
Frost injury to early expanding growth buds
Pruning more than a month after bloom time in summer
Excessive shade
Excess nitrogen fertilization

Disease-resistant roses for the PNW

My neighbor wants a rose, but it will be planted in an organic
garden. It is a sunny warm spot (for Seattle), but I think disease
resistance is a must. What is a source for disease resistant roses
for our climate? Also, does growing clematis on a climbing rose limit its disease
resistance?

The reason that clematis and rose make good companions has to do with the
rose providing the structure the clematis needs, and the pairing allowing
for interesting combinations of color and shape, rather than one
providing disease resistance to the other.

Generally, the most disease-resistant roses are species roses, but there
are additional choices.

This list from Pacific Northwest Pest managment Handbook lists resistant roses.

This article from Washington State University Extension is entitled “Disease-Resistant Roses for the Puget Sound Area.”

There are several excellent books on growing roses in our area:

North Coast Roses : For the Maritime Northwest Gardener by Rhonda Massingham Hart (Seattle : Sasquatch Books, c1993)

Jackson & Perkins Beautiful Roses Made Easy : Northwestern Edition by Teri
Dunn & Ciscoe Morris. (Nashville, Tenn. : Cool Springs Press, 2004)

Roses for the Pacific Northwest by Christine Allen (Vancouver : Steller Press, 1999)

Roses for Washington and Oregon by Brad Jalbert, Laura Peters (Edmonton : Lone Pine Pub., 2003)

Roses for the Inland Northwest. Washington State University Extension ; [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, [2004])

This book is a comprehensive guide to combining clematis and roses:
The Rose and the Clematis As Good Companions by John Howells ; photographs
by the author ; flower arrangements by Ola Howells (Woodbridge : Garden Art Press, 1996)

All of these titles are available in the Miller Library.

storing bare-root grave vines

I have purchased 150 grape vine, bare-root plants packed in damp wood shavings, covered by plastic. I have been storing them for about 1 1/2 weeks. A number of circumstances have prevented me from planting them and I am concerned they are going to begin to mold. The current weather forecast suggests I need to do something temporarily with them before permanent planting or I am going to lose, most if not all of them.

Any suggestions?

If at all possible you should place your plants in refrigeration or in the coolest place possible. Store them in the dark, and uncover the plastic. Check frequently to make sure the wood shavings stay barely damp.

Alternatively you can “heel them in” which means unpacking, but leaving the plants in bunches and temporarily “planting” them in either the ground or in large containers of peat moss based potting soil.

Source: Oregon Viticulture, ed. Hellman (2003).

Carex species and difference between grasses and sedges

I was looking at the Great Plant Picks list of recommended grasses, and I wonder why they exclude Carex, which I find is such a useful plant in the garden.

Great Plant Picks does in fact list two different Carex species but they are not on the list of grasses because Carex is a type of sedge, and sedges are not grasses. An article entitled “Sedges Have Edges” from Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History has a detailed explanation of the differences among grasses, sedges, and rushes. All three are graminoids, but grasses are in the Family Poaceae, sedges are Cyperaceae, and rushes are Juncaceae. According to the article, “a simple ‘touch test’ is the giveaway for sedges, whose stems when rotated have a very noticeable triangular shape–hence a total of three ‘edges.’ ”