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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2017)
8 in other words november16 2017 Diggin’ in the Dirt: Where Were the Insects? By Chip Bubl Oregon State University Extension Service - Columbia County Master Gardener™ class signups be- ing taken The OSU Extension office in Columbia County will be offering the Master Gardener™ training again this spring. The classes will be held on Mon- days from 9 am - 4 pm for about 10 weeks starting on February 5, 2018. Cost of the program is $95.00 which includes a large resource book. Master Gardeners are responsible for providing volunteer gardening education to the community as partial payback for the training. If interested in the program, call the Ex- tension office at (503) 397-3462 for an information packet. Online registration is now available at http://extension.ore- gonstate.edu/columbia/master-gardener- volunteer-program. We can also send you an application that you can mail or come into our office to sign up. Cedar flagging and other conifer tree concerns Our western red cedars often show a peculiar (and not totally under- stood) condition that is called “cedar flagging.” It appears not to harm the trees. What you generally see are small limbs/twigs scattered throughout the tree that turn bright red-orange. Adjacent small limbs are fine. There is some feel- ing that dry summers and fall contribute to this problem. Anyway, no one has ever figured out how to manage it and no disease appears to be associated with it. Here is a discussion from our plant disease handbook about the condition: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdis- ease/host-disease/cedar-cedrus-spp-ce- dar-flagging. The condition is abundant this fall. There is another problem that is more concerning. Douglas firs of vary- ing ages (15 years or so on up) are turn- ing red-brown and dying. This seems to come on quickly. The current thinking focuses on two possible causes, work- ing in concert or alone. The first trigger could be the unusually dry cycle these trees experienced from March 2014 through November 2015. The year and a half dry cycle is thought to have dam- aged tree root systems and made them more prone to the kind of heat events we had this past summer. If the trees were already somewhat compromised by root rot (which we know occurs in patches in our forests anyway), the problem could have been compounded. There is no way to prevent root rot and no way to control it once it starts to move through trees. Bats gone Our little brown bat should be gone for the winter. They seek out cool caves in the coast and Cascade ranges. They lower their metabolism and try to live off their reserves until spring and the insects return. They then fly back to our landscapes mid-March or so. If they have been getting into your living quar- ters, now is the time to tighten things up. need to get serious, as a society, and do something about it. Rose care this month Roses should be high-pruned to about knee high this month. This keeps roses from being wind-whipped as win- ter storms roll through. Final pruning is done in February. Roses benefit from a spray of lime-sulfur after high pruning. The treatment will help to reduce rose diseases next spring. It also doesn’t hurt to cleanup leaves that have fallen as they are a disease inoculum source. As a last step in your fall rose mainte- nance, place mulch around the base of the plants, covering the graft union in case we have a serious cold snap. If you have a shop, now is a great time to build and install some bat houses. There are a number of good plans out there (Bat Conservation International is a good source). Our Oregon bats need heat in the summer, not cooling spaces. So install your bat houses about 12 feet above the ground on the warmest surface you can find. Some people have attached them to unused chimneys, which seems to work quite well. Bat house picture courtesy of Penn State University. Where were the insects? One concern of mine is that in- sect numbers appear to be going through a sharp decline. So many species from salmon to bats to many birds, mammals, and lizards depend on insects for their sustenance. If this decline is real and permanent, we are in big trouble as part of a complex web of living things. This concern has been growing for several years as I sat outside on sum- mer evenings or watched the bird and insect diversity on coast outings. Few- er swallows, fewer dragonflies, fewer bats, fewer moths, and fewer coastal birds deepened my concern. A recent European study in one of the most prestigious scientific publications am- plified it. They found startling declines in insects in natural areas adjacent to farms. They saw insecticides as part of the problem, and they may well be. But they also saw climate change and habitat loss as being major drivers of the population crash. In Columbia County few insecticides are used but I am seeing the same thing. Forests are changing. The weather patterns have changed. Climate change is real. We Many Extension publications avail- able online Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds, or thinking about planting grapes? OSU has a large number of its publica- tions available for free download. Just go to https://catalog.extension.oregon- state.edu/. Click on publications and start exploring. Take excess produce to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. Cash donations to buy food are also greatly appreciated. The Extension Service offers its pro- grams and materials equally to all people. Free newsletter The Oregon State University Extension office in Columbia County publishes a monthly newsletter on gar- dening and farming topics (called Coun- try Living) written/edited by yours truly. All you need to do is ask for it and it will be mailed to you. Call (503) 397-3462 to be put on the list. Alternatively, you can sign up for email notification of when to find the latest edition on the web at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/colum- bia/. Contact information for the Extension office Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County 505 N. Columbia River Highway (across from the Legacy clinic) St. Helens, OR 97051 (503) 397-3462 Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu • Kitchen & Bathroom Remodels • Finish Carpentry • Ceramic Tile Work • Custom Home Construction • Additions • Commercial Tenant Improvements Jim Morrison, Jr. General Contractor CCB# 112057 Ph: (503) 429-0154 MorrisonRemodeling@hughes.net Vernonia, OR 97064 • Licensed • Bonded • Insured
