Beauty Run Rampant

One plant that has really been a bother here at the farm has been Japanese wisteria. Wisteria is usually planted to provide an ornamental vine. It features white to purple clusters of strongly scented, sweet-smelling flowers. It is also a vigorous grower and must be aggressively pruned each year. It can tear down bricks and mortar, choke trees and buckle pavement when neglected.

There are actually several different types of wisteria. One variety is native to the Southeastern United States. The others are imports from Asia. The Asian wisteria has all but taken over the native wisteria which is a less vigorous grower. Wisteria from large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot is usually the Asian variety. Most of the time, the sales staff will not know that there is a difference.

Wisteria will die back in the winter, but it starts growing fairly early in the spring. It blooms around the end of April and through May. Its stems can root at just about any point. It roots can easily sprout leaves. When cut back it suckers and its flowers release thousands and thousands of seeds. When the conditions are favorable, it can grow as fast as kudzu. It will still grow even when the conditions are not so favorable.

Wisteria also puts out a distinctive smell when cut or pulled from the ground. This smell is produced to drive off less aggressive vegetation. Day lilies can crowd it out, but they have to be fairly thick to do so. Forsythia and periwinkle, both appear to be companion plants to wisteria. That is to say that neither takes over the other and they grow together.

The best way to get rid of wisteria, is to pull it up every time you can. The roots and stems will break off when you pull with sufficient force, but it ain't easy. Cut it back and it will sucker. The easiest time to pull it out is actually in the winter when it is mostly dormant. Do it before the ground gets hard and you can make huge inroads. To get it off your trees, cut the vine anywhere between the ground and the tree trunk in the spring just before It starts to bloom. Once the part on the tree trunk dies off, you can easily pull it off provided, it's not too twisted. But you can't slack off for a season. Pulling and cutting wisteria must be part of your routine to be successful at keeping it at bay.

If you currently have wisteria in your garden at home, remember that this plant can be aggressively pruned without ill effect. Prune it. Aggressively. It needs it. Also remember that it cannot be neglected and then expected to behave itself and not take over.

What Is Going On Here?

Check out www.cheathamchatter.com and post your own local news or items you have for sale.

A link was forwarded to me regarding a junk pile just barely within the county line. The property was not zoned for such a thing, but when the matter came up for a hearing the zoning board decided to grant the necessary exception, code or whatever the technical term is.
Since the debris is being stored in the flood plain, the arrangement may impact water quality in Ashland City and surrounding areas. Read more about it and post your comments here:

http://www.comply-with-the-zoning.blogspot.com/

Prior to the zoning hearing, there were great big signs posted across the street and next to the property,inviting everyone to attend the zoning meeting and protest the rezoning of this "lovely" little spot.

Now every time I drive by, I try to see what I can see from the road. So far, no luck. I will look harder when the leaves fall off the trees. I can imagine that it is a real eyesore to the people on the other side of the river who can see it right now. How much is your view worth to you? How much is clean water worth to you? Debris in the floodplain affects not only the water supply but the wild life and vegetation that use that water supply. How much is that worth to you?

I would not ordinarily be described as a rabid environmentalist and I don't generally consider myself one. But this is one time when I can say that, while trying to keep an open mind about all possible aspects of the situation, it incenses me that people - not just one person - are soooo complacent to think that it is okay even for a little bit to allow this trash to just sit there. Recycle it and move it along, already.

While I am on the subject, it is really NOT okay to through your trash out the window of your car while you are driving along any number of our scenic roads here in Cheatham County. Yes, I know we have people to pick up, i.e. prisoners; but that's not the point. Picking up trash and debris is only one way they can pay their debt to society. There are plenty others. If they weren't so busy picking up trash, maybe they could helping to pull out those exotic invasives we all would like to get rid of.

I include throwing cigarettes in the littering issue. Those filters do not decompose, people. Not to mention the fire hazard a lit cigarette is. We're in a drought. Do you remember that we're in a drought? We have a 16"+ deficit in rain fall this year. All these lovely woods can go up in a split second. Keep the trash in your car until you can dispose of it properly. When you're not driving down the road.

And I really don't need all those empty bottles and bags across my easement either. Or the newspapers and morning coffee. I have plenty of my own. At home. In my trashcan. Where they belong. Thank you very much.

We live in a lovely place. God's own country. A beautiful, natural and mostly wild part of Middle Tennessee. Let's not continue to mess it up. Let your representatives know that you care about where you live.

Talk Amongst Yourselves.

Thursdays are devoted to animal husbandry and care topics.

I have been a bit under the weather, so I did not publish anything yesterday. Stay tuned for next Wednesday's installment on composting.

Now on to chickens. I think I really like these funky little two-leggeds. First of all, there's a whole lot more going on with them then one would suspect. They make over 50 different calls and sounds. Each one has a purpose. There is also a lot of nonverbal communication between birds.

Last week I mentioned that George the rooster spends much of his time looking for food and when he finds it he gives a low call to the hens. They come running to where he is standing and start pecking the ground. He stays there with them looking up and around his surroundings. He does not eat until the hens have had whatever they want and start to wander off.

Houdini Hen has a peculiar call when she is getting ready to leave the fence. It is a very loud one that she repeats as she walks the fence looking for an opening. It is as if she is telling everyone that she is attempting to leave. It is one note, no syllables. It is almost likea smoke alarm in it's frequency and intensity although not its pitch.

If I am near and the hens want something, like water or food, they crowd together repeatedly squawking. Actually, it's not just me, but anyone who walks into their general area looking like they carry a container of food or water.

The hens seem to pick out the red containers better than clear, green or blue containers. They also crowd the fence when I drive the car down the driveway toward the pen and slow down. I have on several occassions stopped the car to deliver water, feed or correct a problem in the pen. It is clear to me that the chickens associate both our vehicles with something they want.

Chicken management books stress talking or singing to your chickens and letting them know you are coming their way either by whistling, singing or calling to them. These would be those books discussing chickens more as backyard pets than commodities. But the chickens can see you coming, usually before you pay much attention to them. They will recognize what you are about and respond accordingly.

Two other things, I've noticed tounch on their eyesight. I have noticed that if I place their food passively and unobtrusively on the ground, it takes them a while to notice it. If I toss their pellets to the ground so they spread and bounce a bit, the chickens rush to them and start eating almost immediately. It appears that movement is key to their perception.

When I get ready to catch one or another of them, how they act depends on where they are. In the ten foot square pen, they will crouch down when I go to pick them up. In the larger more exposed grazing area which is 50 foot square, they will run away when I go to pick them up. Not so fast now as they did when I first put them in there. But they still run.

If you have chickens, hang out with them for a little while after you place their food. Once they settle down, you will notice all different kinds of "talking" between them. These various sounds can tell you what's going on with them even when you can't exactly see them.