open house Yockey farms greenhouse will be May 23,2015

Mother’s Day 2015

      This year will be May 10^th, 2015, which is the last frost free date for the state of Ohio traditionally, meaning that you really don’t want to start a garden outside without considering frost protection before this time. That’s ok with most backyard gardeners as traditionally I believe people also never get their gardens started that early. For the last 2 years I have been trying to target the best date to have my open house and this year I believe I will have it May 23, 2015, 2 weeks after Mother’s Day, on a Saturday. It is in between Mother’s day and Father’s day , and is before the parks fully open swimming and such. Everyone is more into still doing spring yard work , and getting their backyards spruced up for grilling season.

     I will have a wide variety of trees available including a couple new but old varieties partial to Ohio, but looked over for their future planting possibilities. These are the hedge apple and the bass wood tree. The hedge apple or Osage orange tree is a tree characterized by traditional plantings in fence rows, where apples would fall down hillside and land in road and cars would smash as they go by in late autumn. These bright green apples are sometimes collected and used as deterrents to spiders when placed in windows and closets. Another purpose and the one that resulted in the hedge apple being planted in fence rows was that they made good trees that grew fast and when dead their wood would resist rotting and would hold a fence. When alive and young and the supple tops could be bent over and broke, then pinned to the ground and grow another tree. They are finding a renewed use as a riparian fence line border. Along rushing streams where spring flooding is causing erosion. The trees are planted and again over a period of years the tops can be bent over till you get a wall of roots and foliage with sharp thorns and that catches debris and creates formidable defense to rushing streams carrying valuable topsoil away. I plan on planting some here to show their use as a riparian fence but will have a limited amount available but would order any quantity you need for the project you have.

      Unfortunately the trees may not arrive till mid-summer and not the best time to plant due to water restrictions in terms of sustainable rainfall at this time of year and may dry out to much. In this case I could pot and water here more conveniently and assure you have an adequate supply of trees for your fall planting project. I buy young bare rooted plants and get them started in our natural good old Ohio organic soil and get them a good start and weed out weak plants. Or I can provide you with the young whips and you can do it yourself.

      The other tree I am impressed with because I’m a carver I guess, and has a down the road value and that is the basswood tree. It is a smaller tree up to 30 feet but can get up to 60- 100 an live up to a documented 2000 years, and is a broadleaf tree which has a potential for reselling as crafting wood for fine sculptures as it yields a medium hard carving wood white in color. Its cells are compact and show little band color in terms of growth rings giving a carver blank slate so to speak, to color evenly, as well cut a good edge leaving sharp detail. Before the trees are harvested you will enjoy 20- 30 years of shade and habitat potential for your backyard. They are hardy and in no time will stick their necks out and let you see where they are and avoid weed eater disease. Soon the spreading branches will easily be able to support bird houses and start to provide shade for the environment.

       As we go long in our life and look at our yards I believe we need to approach the idea of cutting of our yards on a weekly basis, where also and in some cases, people are cutting 10- 15 acres of yard weekly . This is a waste of resources and not a bit good for the environment or the pocketbook. Undoubtedly it has been a boon for the lawn mowing and pesticide companies spraying their bee toxic solutions and killing the crabgrass and beneficial insects like ladybugs, praying mantis and bees as evenly as well as other pests. Yes gas prices are low and it is easier to return to the practice of mowing to the road edge, still we are losing millions of dollars in public money as well as private by failing to recognize the potential of eliminating a lot of mowing and weed eating and improving our environment with beneficial trees that are good for the environment and have secondary use. Do we really need wide expanses of grass to mow with our John Deere mowers, and become OCD when we see a few missed blades of grass, or one area of the lawn spotted or growing too fast? Read a book and relax the world will not end if you don’t rush out there and mow it all again. To better avoid this just plant more trees, mulch if you must and use your zero turn and trim and leave alone. Weed eaters are not really necessary every mowing if adequately managed with weed fabric and mulch.

     The hedge apples may not be good for your back yard unless you live close to a rushing stream where you want some kind of stream protection, or you want to keep pesky neighbors at the property line, and keep prying eyes at a distance due to the thorny nature as their best defense, and yours.  But the basswood tree will have the ability to provide years of shade and are also capable of having a pleasant aroma and are also considered to be a good bee tree from their ample blossoms. Seeds are small and inconsequential in yard management requiring little cleanup besides usual  leaf cleanup in the fall. Avoid planting over patios and decks as they are best suited for the back yard due to nectar and sap production as it stains paint on cars, and concrete.