Look Hard for the mighty Sequoias!
A while back, I got an immortality kit from a client with a request to plant some Giant Sequoia seeds. “Well, I planted several in the ground in her back fourty and got Zip! Sigh. So I started over again in one gallon nursery cans at my place. I put lots of very dark and organic soil in three nursery cans. I planted about 8 seeds per nursery can just below the surface (about an 1/2 inch to an inch) and watered them thouroghly so the soil would be moist and then have kept the top soil moist with a watering from a sprinkling can three times daily. After about thirty days, was rewarded with a couple of little green sprouts that kinda look like grass. Not ever being there for the birth of a Giant Sequoia, I was not sure as what to expect.
After about a week or so, the “grass” got taller and 5 “spokes” popped out of each little “grass blade”, and that is the way it has been for the last two weeks. I had two plants germinate in each pot. The Third (top ) pot had plants come up near the side wall of the pot and apparently got too hot and wilted when they didnt get watered fast enough one hot day. The plants are about two inches tall at present. Isn’t this exciting? Seing immortality ( or as close as we will all get) created. I will keep you updated on their progress. Lets’s hope I don’t kill the litte guys! Perhaps I should plant some more just to be safe.
(Click on the photo to enlarge the picture Even at this stage, their little trunks are red!)
Little Giants!
Perfection Landscape’s September 2012 Newsletter Get started on your fall garden tasks. Lots of tips to get you through. AND, did you ever have problem with Ants? Get our tips on controlling ants in and around your home.
Hot off the press! Here is our June newsletter you have been waiting for. What should you be working on this month? Find out. Also read about the most important organic pest control tool.
right here: June 2012 newsletter
Ya know, you aren’t getting any younger. What will you leave as your legacy? Check out our march 2012 newsletter. and maybe get some help with that.
My job is never dull. Being a self-employed landscaper, you have to wear lots of hats during the day. Any day could see me mowing acres of grass, designing and installing a healing, memorial garden, making a client’s weeds go away for months, knee-deep in a hole of mud and pipes, teaching a class in drought tolerant landscaping or my favorite one, sitting with a client, sipping coffee and discussing their landscape just to name a few!
I got an unusual request from a client recently, that certainly was unique. It seems that my client had visited Yosemite recently with friends. Sitting under the emerald sky of the giant Sequoias, they debated the tree and its benefits and whether or not it could grow in a place like the high desert. They talked about how majestic the trees are and how many life times they have lived and how many lives they have benefited. My clients certainly have the space for the massive trees on their Mojave River-side property. So they decided to test it and brought back a Do-it-yourself Giant Sequoia Tree Kit.
Naturally, as their landscape manager and advisor, the job was handed down to me. At first, I was a little peeved. I was thinking, I mean, really? Couldn’t we just BUY a tree partly grown? Don’t they know the odds of getting the little seeds to sprout and grow under the best conditions, never mind putting them into the ground near the river where God knows what has the opportunity to have it’s way with them?
I was relating my distress at the thought of trying to bring up mighty Sequoias from a seed, to a friend. She did not see my problem. “Aren’t they huge, beautiful, green trees?” “Won’t it take a lot of skill to germinate and raise the trees?” “Don’t Sequoias live thousands of years?”
I dutifully answered “yes” to each of her questions. “The way I see it,” she said, your client has a tremendous amount of confidence and respect for your skills.” “ And to top it off, at an average life span of 3000 years, I’d say it’s job security, Honey!”
I had to laugh at that. And the thought of practically being immortal by planting giant sequoia trees, who live for thousands of years is definitely worth the hassle.
Get Immortality, plant a tree!
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
~Nelson Henderson
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