Gardening by Osmosis

Our place on the planet is often referred to as, The Inland northwest, east of the Cascades or High Desert.

Ponderosaville seems more conclusive for me. The raw charm of the Ponderosa ignites a connection with all that is free, firm and almost haughty. The grandeur of a mature specimen is reverent to me.

Ponderosa pines grow in hostile, seemingly improbable areas where rock and shallow soils occur. Yet its determined tendrils find fissures and fragments of life giving soil to establish their tenacious roots.

Unlike the fir’s graceful swooping branches, the ponderosa’s structural design appears to be opportunistic. Branches, though somewhat opposite, defy regularity. Ponderosa’s bundled needles can be up to ten inches long and are designed to sweep the air, cleansing and filtering pollutants so readily available.

The gifts of this tree are many. To be near a stand of mature ponderosas on a breezy day is to hear the waves of the ocean ebbing and flowing in your mind.

The giant trunks and thick branches provide homes for owls, woodpeckers, great blue herons, robins, blackbirds and many species of little birds.

Squirrels, bats and raccoons raise their young in its knot holes.

Wild turkey’s, eagles and hawks roost and rest in high branches.

Wild bees and wasps make nests and hives in the safety of its branches and feed on pollen and nectar of flowering cones.

The seeds of the cones provide food for many species. I love to pry open a ripe cone or gather recently released seeds and taste the pine nuts embedded in their sheaths.

Soft duff from spent pine needles decomposes to nourish the soil and promote flora unique to the ponderosa forest. Referred to as third-year-needle drop, the ripe needles nearest the tree’s trunk drop to the ground in a seemingly unending carpet in the fall. This means every year ripe pine needles will drop and green needles will not.

In this dry, water thirsty terrain crowns of sentinel ponderosa pine can reach to one hundred feet for moisture from the clouds.

And the tap roots of these giants can work downward nearly as far as the trunk is tall.

Besides man, the worse enemy of this species is the Western pine beetle. Its larva ravages the cambium, the life giving blood under the bark of the tree. At this time this pest seems to have no natural control and the dead and dying trees in the forest are usually the result of Western pine beetle infestation. If Ponderosas are in your yard occasional deep watering will encourage healthy trees. It is important however not to offer abundant water as the root systems will become shallow and the tall trees may topple in the wind.

It is interesting to note that the active period for the Western pine beetle is May through October, usually the time when it is most convenient to cut down infected trees. This however, only encourages the insects to invade other specimens and the infestation is perpetuated. So the best time for removal and disposal of infected trees is during the winter months of November though February or March. It seems these little beetles are extremely smart as who really wants to work in the cold, snowy forest in the middle of winter!

But if this is the only way to discourage the Western Pine Beetles I will be the first to bundle up, leave my warm house and direct the logging crew to save my forest.

It is spring now and I have missed my opportunity to manage the ponderosas in the forest. I will however continue to give respect and appreciation for their beauty and majesty.

Please contact the WSU Spokane County Master Gardeners

@http://spokane-county.wsu.edu/spokane/

or call 509-477-2181 for more information

Master Gardeners will be at the Cheney Library 1st & 3rd Fridays from April to October