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2007
Theatre
West Garden Walk
(Special section
about the Blue Spruce Decline n the Panhandle) |
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Over the past 15 years, the
Theatre West Garden Walk has very ably documented a
significant change in the composition and design of
Wyobraska gardens and landscapes. Typical of the
changes are more perennial flowers and ornamental
grasses, more xeriscape plants and designs, more
expansive and inviting outdoor living spaces, and,
of course, more water features.
On Saturday, June 30, from
8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. the 2007 Theatre West Garden
Walk will write another chapter in this ongoing
documentary. The late June date is a change from
the late July date of recent years, as is the change
from Sunday afternoon to Saturday morning.
Organizers report two objectives with the timing
change behind this year’s walk—to beat the late July
heat of the past several year’s events and also to
show off gardens at a slightly earlier stage of
their seasonal development.
This year’s venues include
several gardens in what might be described as some
of the more difficult gardening sites in the
region—around the new Gering golf course and in the
Wildcat Hills. These are sites that say, “if it
grows here, it will grow almost anywhere in
Wyobraska.” But, they are also gardens with some
of the most dramatic backdrops in the history of the
Theatre West event.
Pictures from
the garden walk
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This year’s walk also features
several gardens in very traditional “in-town”
neighborhood settings that say, “if the wide open
spaces are a little too much for you, here’s how you
can create a traditional shady back yard garden
right here in western Nebraska.”
As usual expect to see new and
unusual plants, new ideas in garden and landscape
design, and some very unique garden art. And unlike
the price of gas, ticket prices have not gone up in
the past year—still $10 in advance and $12 at any of
the garden walk sites on the morning of the walk.
Tickets are available for purchase in advance at
area garden centers or at the Theatre West Box
Office.
New this year are almost $1000
dollars in “door prizes” that will be awarded to
lucky garden walk attendees—the names of lucky
winners will be drawn Saturday afternoon from entry
boxes located at each featured garden. Put your
cell phone on your registrations and you just may
get the call telling you that you won in time to
pick up your door prize at an area garden center
while all those new ideas are still fresh in your
mind.
As usual, I hope to see you on the Walk.
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Previous Articles
Fractions March 15
Yardner March 8
Urban
Legends of Trees March 22
Que
Serra, Serra March 29
Grocery Store or Garbage Dumpster Plants April 5
Planning Your Landscape Project April 12
Planting
Cool Trees April 19
Keeping
Trees Alive April 26
Thrillers, Chillers, Spillers May 03
Will
You Still Love Them May 10
Ornamental Grasses May 17
In
Memory of Cedar Trees May 24
Gardening is not Childs Play
Versatile
Viburnums June 6
Yardner Plants
June 13
2007
Garden Walk/Blue Spruce Decline
2006 Articles |
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Endangered Colorado Spruce?
For the past several years I
have been observing with growing concern a dramatic
decline in Colorado spruce trees growing in
landscapes around the region. The decline follows a
predictable pattern. First, a noticeable “thinning”
of the normal dense appearance of the tree.
Colorado spruce normally hold seven years’ needles,
and then each year drop the oldest set of needles
which are by this time located far enough into the
tree that the needle drop is generally not noticed.
The “thinning” appearance seems to show up when the
tree is only holding four to five years’ needles.
The next stage of decline is
often marked by the appearance of bare, lighter
barked, stems near the ends of the branches. The
appearance of this lighter colored stem bark is
unusual because this bark tissue is normally still
covered with relatively new one or two year old
needles. So being able to see this bark tissue so
near the tip of the branch means that there are now
only one or two years needles still growing on the
end of the branches. By this stage the tree begins
to look bare—like the traditional “Charlie Brown”
Christmas tree.
Finally, the tree simply does
not grow any new needles in the spring and is
clearly dead. Because the decline occurs slowly
over several years, property owners often do not
notice the problem until the very last stage.
A recent tour of affected trees
with Mark Harrell and Rachel Allison of the Nebraska
Forest Service produced a consensus preliminary
assessment that the continuing hot, dry weather
associated with the ongoing drought is likely the
cause of the decline. The tour seemed to show
greater incidence of the problem in trees that are
growing in sandier or lighter soils than in heavier
soils—an observation that would suggest that a lack
of consistently available soil moisture is a major
contributing cause. There does not appear to be any
known disease or insect problem contributing
significantly to the decline.
Up to fifty percent of spruce
in Scottsbluff appear to be affected, with a smaller
percentage in Gering. My unofficial and very
sketchy statistics accumulated over the past several
years suggest that up to ten percent of Colorado
spruce growing in Scottsbluff have already died over
the past few years from this decline, with another
ten percent already so severely affected as to make
it unlikely that they will recover.
A recent experiment to place
mulch on the soil beneath moderately affected trees
may be producing a reversal of the decline, but it
is still too early to say that mulch alone will
protect Colorado spruce from this downward spiral.
I suggest a combination of
mulch plus regular supplemental watering with a
hose-end sprinkler placed beneath the tree for 30 to
45 minutes every one to two weeks through the spring
and summer, and perhaps once every four to six weeks
through the fall and winter.
Watch for more information on
this troubling situation as it becomes available.
Dick Meyer
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