Yellow Yellow everywhere! Woodlands Pine Pollen and Allergies

Take a deep breath or not? What damage can all this stuff do to a house or automobile? Each Spring we see a great deal of evidence that the pines are blooming. On top of that, we have other trees pollinating at the same time. Do our air conditioners filter the stuff out in the house? I suppose I am not the only person to ask these questions. We see this stuff on top of water, on our cars, all over everything!

As it turns out, the Pine Tree emits a pollen that is extraordinarily large and heavy, covered with a substance that makes it less of a threat to humans with allergies than the other tree pollens. Those pollens we can't see are typically worse for those who have allergies. Pine pollen is colorful but aggravating as a dust and probably not a risk to us. It's yellow color comes from it's sulfate content, as one might expect. Logically, we reason that if everything is covered in a yellow substance and that substance is pine pollen, we would be putting the material in our lungs also. That would be true, but not in the volume we might expect by what we observe. Once the material falls, it is unlikely to be inhaled, although it is being blown about on the ground. It is just too heavy to be effectively lifted back up to our nostrils. The pollen is 50-90 micro-meters in diameter, 2-3 times the size of the pollens which tend to stimulate our histamine reactions, which we commonly know as an "allergy". Each pollen grain has a very small amount of allergen, so the combination of an abundance of the grains in the air, the specific allergen itself and personal reactivity to the allergen, all combine to form individual allergic reactions.¹ Saying all of this, there are disagreements as to how well the wind lifts and propels the pine pollen. It is said that pollen travels hundreds of miles in some cases. In our case,I would tend to say that almost all of it rests nearby the source.
Would it be surprising to find out that the pollen is actually considered a healthy product to consume? Yep, all that yellow powder is considered by some as healthy stuff to eat. It is purported to be a remedy for all sorts of things. Personally, I would not say it is or isn't a remedy or treatment for such conditions as osteoporosis or chronic arthritis or Fibromyalgia, or regulates the immune or cardiology systems. There are probably some of you out there who has an opinion on the health aspect of consuming honey made from pine pollen or the use of a pollen extract supplement. If so, please leave us your comment.

In regard to an automobile, the only advice I could come up with is to make sure you rinse the car first and not scrub the auto with the pollen present. It is abrasive material. Running or strenuous work outside? Just common sense. I would take certain precautions to not inhale much air during the time when the pines are pollinating, mostly because of the other allergens in the air at the same time, not specifically because of the pine pollen itself, unless tests have found you to be allergic to the pine pollen. If you are allergic to pollens, you should pay attention to the count by weather forecasters.

When we look at the blooms on the trees, what do we see at this time of year? Something very elegant for both the female and male parts of a tree! The male cones are where the pollen is disseminated and combined with the female cone, is how the tree propigates.

References

¹Sampter's Immunologic Diseases

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Mirror mirror on the wall, which house is fairest of them all?

Have you ever strolled down the street and discovered something worthy of a special photograph? Every year, I pass by this place and see something different. This time I was enamored with this particular home on a cul-de-sac corner in Indian Springs. It would be just another well-kept house except for this natural photo frame produced by the early blooms and seeds of a native tree. A customized wooden structure is nice to see, but when it is placed in the beauty of The Woodlands, it can be spectacular! I hope you agree with me. I rarely find anything that greatly eclipses the beauty and peacefulness of this particularly exceptional Spring moment. This underscores the rationale of choosing native vegetation for home landscapes. Like normal, you might want to view this in more detail by clicking on the photo.

Sweetgum Tree

Isn't it strange how we love the unnatural and the things that make our lives more exotic? We love those things that are the prettiest as well those things that are the most comfortable to us. Now what has those statements got to do with the Sweetgum tree?

I recall a related statement from a neighbor once when she cut down all the natural vegetation in her yard. Who needs Yaupon, pine trees, Sweetgums, and other native plants or trees? All of this is soooo blah, "I need a theme in my yard!" So she made it tropical! Banana trees and palms. Perfect for an east Texas forest? There was no food for the birds in her yard. Somehow, maybe she may have not even realized there were birds out there. It was as unnatural as she could possibly make it. The theme went with her swimming pool. Let's make this a paradise on the sea shore. We'll pretend. She moved away and now we live with her carnage.

Now you get my gist. I had someone recently say "I hate Sweetgum trees". This tree is very common here in our forests. Like other native species, there is a reason for it being here. I don't like walking barefooted and stepping on the Sweetgum pods any more than the "hater" of the tree. When green, the spiny pods are not so irritating but after drying, they fall to the ground for months afterward, and their spines are needle sharp and hard. This tree is considered to be ornamental. It grows well in marshes such as we have in abundance here in The Woodlands. A tree 100 feet tall is not rare. These trees will help form the highest canopy over the forest right with the Long Leaf pines, some 150 feet! Taken out of the forest canopy, their roots more exposed to the sun, they have a difficult time during drought periods. Myself? I encourage this tree to be cultivated and planted with the pines, especially in wet locations. I have several thriving in my yard, one from a seedling. I love diversity. This tree adds so much life to our forests! It is one of the reasons we are called "The Woodlands".


This tree is regarded as an ornamental for several reasons. In the fall, they are quite colorful. See my fall leaf display. In the early summer, the star shaped leaves are quite showy. Right now, in the early Spring? This is the reason I am publishing this article. This tree often gets overlooked. You will see little green "things" all over the ground near this tree right now. If you look closely, you will see what I saw through this photograph - an early blooming tree, showing how it creates its spiny pods. There are even colors in its unusual and ornate blooms on the ends of the tree branches.

As implied by the name, the tree bark has been used extensively for chewing gum by native Indians and settlers. The pods have been used for medicinal purposes and by the way, make a great Christmas tree ornament. Its wood is used for building structures. Let's tolerate that which we don't like and find reasons to live in harmony with nature. This tree demands and deserves our respect. Issues with the water table here in The Woodlands will eventually eliminate most of these trees in my opinion. Combined with drought, tree removal and the landscape engineering of the environment by man, our forest is bound to change to something much less interesting than what evolved or was created here over the ages.

Texas Game and Wildlife article quoting IndianSpringsGuy (Randy Scott)

How to plant a tree in East Texas

We have an abundant of tree specie candidates to plant each year. This is a dry year for most of us, so we are particularly sensitive to getting started right. Here is the simple plan:

• Pick late winter or very early spring to plant your tree. Right before or at the start of the growing season is the optimum choice. That is late January to the end of February for East Texas. Ball root plants are more adaptive than seedlings. It is easy to plant balled root trees even in early summer or autumn. August and September are not good to plant any tree, but it is possible.
  
• Understand the characteristics of the tree you wish to plant. Check its tolerance of standing water or drought, and the living space it will eventually require. Put your tree in a place compatible with its natural requirement for water. Check how close you need to plant your trees. Each species has different characteristics. It might like to grow in the shade of another tree for example, or it may thrive in a densely planted area conducive to a forest arrangement, as do pine trees for example. Some trees such as most of the Oaks, appreciate space and sun but will survive in a dense configuration.
  
• To plant a seedling, you generally have to deal with an exposed root system. Most seedlings are raised in a hydroponic media. The roots are often partly damaged when seedlings are separated. The little tree needs some tender loving care. Start by digging an irregularly shaped hole at least one inch more in diameter than the apparent root diameter. Irregularities should extend out several inches further. Look at the root system. You will want some roots to extend laterally as much as possible. Make sure the depth is sufficient enough to accommodate the tap or center root. This way, you have a hole that will give the plant maximum nutrition and access to water, as it grows. Keep the roots moist in a wet newspaper while you prepare its new home.
  
• Do not add anything to the soil. Put some of the soil back into the hole and make sure it is reasonably compacted by pressing the soil into the hole with your fingers. before putting the tree into the hole.
  
• Place the tree in its new home, spreading the roots as planned. Cover the roots and gently press the soil over the plant's roots as you add the soil. Cover the roots to an inch below the crown top of the root system. water this and compact it to remove air bubbles.
  
• Add no fertilizer nor root stimulator. Cover the remaining inch with ripe compost or some suitable mildly aerated but decomposed material. Do not use material that has fertilizer in it or is otherwise a heat producer when it starts decomposing. The material must be "ripe". A sandy loam would suffice in absence of compost. As you build this home for your tree, you will want to create a bowl effect so that water will be captured in the bowl, encouraging irrigation down deeper than otherwise would occur.
  
• Water very thoroughly.
  
• Cover with other material such as pine mulch (preferred) or leaves to insulate the ground from the sun.
  

Make sure the tree has about an inch of water a week through the first summer. The following year, continue to water the plant as needed. Drought will get it if you don't. The third year, it should be on its own but be aware that it still could get killed by drought. Give the plant an opportunity to search for water. Its roots need to spread out and down. Too much water is not a good thing for many species. For some like the Bald Cypress, you can just plant in soil below the water and never worry about it.

It is good to brace a balled root tree with rope or something to stabilize it in the wind. There are various products on the market to help with this, but I generally put two stakes into the ground and rope the tree to them. Some folks like to go one step further and use three stakes in a triangular configuration.

What to do with all that Woodlands timber downed by Hurricane Ike

The supply of tree trunks and stumps left behind by Hurricane Ike has been steadily dwindling. Yet there is time to find some if you are handy at woodworking. One idea is to take some of the hardwood and put it to the side to dry. You can make some beautiful bowls with it if you have a turning lathe. I ran across the article below on how to make bowls out of the cut wood. Some of us may want to try this out. Oak trees provide some pretty wood. Pine trees provide a soft wood that is more difficult to dry out. There are variations in between. Of course we can keep warm by using the wood in our fireplaces. My grandmother utilized pine prolifically in her fireplace but of course a lot of creosote accumulated in the chimney, creating a fire hazard that called for a Chimney Sweep every few years. I am planning to make a chair out of one stump. It will require a little sanding and varnishing, but the end result will be a nice looking piece of lawn furniture to sit on. So here is the "how to" method for changing a block of tree trunk to a bowl.

Making a bowl out of a piece of tree trunk

Arbor Day 2009 in The Woodlands - time to plant some trees

Arbor day is right around the corner. Here in The Woodlands, we will have the opportunity to acquire free seedlings and add to our forest, whether it be in our yard or in a green area. Yes, some people and some groups will plant along the paths or in parks where the seedlings are not likely to be mowed down. If you do that, I advise to put a bright ribbon on the seedling to show it is not a weed. This year we lost many trees to Hurricane Ike. If we plant many trees on Arbor Day, we can at least do our part to compensate somewhat for that damage. Seedlings will be available at Rob Flemming Park in the Village of Creekside Park near the Gosling entrance to the village from 10AM to 2PM. There is always an excellent variety of trees offered. This there will be 35,000 seedlings issued in 12 varieties. The trees offered will include canopy as well as under story trees. Also enjoy inflatable rides, rock wall climb, free pony rides, hay rides, and a petting zoo.


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Composting in The Woodlands

I have meant to write about this for so long! I had the pleasure of discussing this with a resident who I casually met today and he took me over the edge to write this article. Remember that I give you larger pictures, and you can see any one in higher resolution by clicking on it. Definition: "Composting is the decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials to make an earthy, dark, crumbly substance that is excellent for adding to houseplants or enriching garden soil. It is the way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal."¹ For a more technical presentation of this subject, you may want to refer to the website dedicated to his subject.¹ Note that the process of decomposition includes bacteria, water, and organic material. Decomposition produces heat, as much as 130-140 degrees F. Mine generally runs about 110 or so.

An entire year has passed by since my first lesson in composting from the Woodlands Association. I knew zilch about it at the beginning and felt totally incapable of doing this. Little did I know then that one year later there would be a terrific pile of material to use for fertilizing my garden. Definitely quality material! In addition to the composting process, this method also produces plenty of earth worms without any attempt on your part to introduce them to the compost pile. I am now going to share with you how to make this. If you like to garden, you will not be disappointed. If you like to fish with night crawlers, you will like it also.

First I recommend you take the association class on the first Saturday of the month, typically offered in the fall and winter. The paid staff in the service company will sell you one of these green wire cages, if you wish, at any time - at a scheduled class or from your ad hoc request. I say do it! They are available from the association at a reasonable cost. Be prepared to pay $25 cash for one. As you can see in the photo below, the bins weather very well and hold the compost material neatly within a confined area, providing a means to aerate the content while releasing excess water.

Next, find a location where you can discretely put your bin without alarming your neighbors. The location could be in a shady or sunny spot. I chose a shady spot. For one single deployment, you will need enough space for two of them. By using these bins and following advice on household stuff to help decompose your leaves, you should have something that blends with the environment and not smell bad. Note that composting is regulated by deed restrictions in The Woodlands.

Place your wire cage at one end of the space that you have dedicated for this purpose. Fill it with your fall leaves. You can use deciduous tree leaves and pine needles. I used both quite successfully. Fill it to the top. You will need as much as you can get into the cage to produce a sufficient volume of material for your gardening needs. Crush the material as much as you can to produce space for more raw material. Water the leaves down well after each few inches you have crushed.

After packing and crushing the leaves to the top, you will be ready to start your process. Start collecting your egg shells, potato peels, unused raw vegetable materials, coffee and tea grounds (with paper filters), and anything green without seeds, into a container. Green works best because of the nitrogen content. I use a large plastic margarine container which seals in the odor, and I keep it under the sink, ready to access when we cook. Don't throw everything except the kitchen sink into this. Be specific - carrot peels, lettuce leaves, etc. I occasionally put some left-over cooked rice into it as well, but make sure the food is kept down so you do not have a smelly compost pile afterward. Tell your spouse or family cook(s) the plan and what should be put into the container. No meat, generally no cooked foods, nothing that will cause your neighbors to knock on your front door and read you the riot act!

This will not be your sole source of decomposition agents. You will also use grass cuttings and anything from the outside that is leafy and green without seeds.

Now you need to put this material into the compost pile. I do this every week or two weeks, whenever the indoor container fills or whenever I cut the grass. Dig a small hole in your pile and place some of the organic stuff from your can into it. Cover the hole with leaves. Place the organic stuff in as many places as practical a few inches deep into the compost pile. Water it down into the compost pile.

Once a month, pick up the green cage and place it on the other side of the space you have reserved for the cage. You are now turning your compost. The top of the pile will end up on the bottom of the new pile and the bottom on top. You can use a pitch fork or even your hands to do this. I use my hands but usually with a plastic glove. After all, you are picking up rotting material. Take a few inches off of the top of the pile and place it in the cage. Make sure the outside leaves are rotated inward into the pile, because the outside will be the first to dry out. After transferring a few inches, water down the transferred material. Saturate the material with water. Continue doing this until all the material has been transferred to the new location. Now you have turned your compost pile. If you have some organic stuff in the house to feed your pile, this is a good time to empty it into the new pile.

Well how about the worms? After you have turned the material, check to see if you have any worms on the ground surface where the pile was located. If so, transfer as many worms as you can find into the new pile. This is accomplished by simply using your hand as a blade to pull the worms out of the ground. They have been in a whole in the ground under your pile. You will scrape some dirt out in the process. The first couple of months you will not likely have any worms, but in a few months you will see them when you are picking up the last part of the material with your hands, transferring the last of the pile to the new location. As the pile matures, you will see worms in the pile itself.

At the end, when harvesting your compost pile, you will want to screen filter the material with a compost filter. I am not doing this part of the process this year, so the quality of my harvest will not be optimum. One filters the material to take out the twigs and all the matter that has not sufficiently decomposed, it can be used for potted plants or sensitive plant situations. I will use it for a vegetable garden this Spring, so I am willing to put all the material into the garden whether fully decomposed or not. Insufficient decomposition will result in extra heat in your garden and may impact the production of the garden.

So now you have it. It is never too late to start a pile. You obtain information from the association for your cage(bin) at this website:
Woodlands Association
Click here for a schedule of classes.
¹quoted from How to Compost.org.