De-Icing – Some Winter Strategies

Living in the Northeast, we are all used to snowy winters, especially after last year! And many of us use rock salt to accommodate all the accompanying icy conditions, from hazardous roadways to slippery steps and sidewalks. Salt is effective because it lowers the freezing/melting temperature
of water. As we all know, ice forms when water reaches a temperature of 32° Fahrenheit; when salt is added to the water, that temperature drops. A 10% salt solution freezes at 20° F, and a 20% solution freezes at 2° F. When you sprinkle salt on a sidewalk or roadway, the salt dissolves into the liquid water in the ice and lowers its freezing point, so the ice melts.

This may be all well and good, but are you aware of how much salt we use annually? According to the EPA, over 11 million tons of salt are thrown on our streets and highways every year. The real problem arises when the ice melts, since its primary destination is, by default, our ground and surface water. Salt also acts as a desiccant – stressing salt-intolerant vegetation, and as a corrosive – effecting both metal and concrete. As salt is extremely soluble, it is easily transported with stormwater along with melted snow and ice runoff into our public water supply, much of which comes from ground and surface water.

Since most of us aren’t that fond of drinking salt water, it would behoove us to start looking for some alternate solutions to salting our roads and sidewalks. There are five chemicals commonly used as de-icers – and the alternatives that claim to be environmentally friendly are usually a combination of these, blended to minimize environmental risk while optimizing performance and remaining cost friendly. Understanding their properties will help you make informed decisions on melting ice in your own backyard. Calcium chloride (CaC12) often outperforms other products at lower temperatures. Producing an exothermic reaction, it gives off heat as it melts and attracts moisture directly from its surroundings, enabling it to dissolve ice faster. Sodium chloride (NaCl), also known as rock salt, has been used as the de-icer of choice since the 1940s, but loses its effectiveness when temperatures drop below 25° F. This is the culprit seeping into our groundwater. Potassium chloride (KCl) is a naturally occurring material also used as a fertilizer and a salt substitute for food. Its high salt index gives it the potential to burn foliage and inhibit rooting, so its use is limited. Urea (NH2CO2 NH2) is synthesized from ammonia and carbon dioxide and is primarily used as a fertilizer. As a de-icer, it has a lower burn potential than potassium chloride. Calcium magnesium acetate is a salt-free melting agent made from dolomitic limestone and acetic acid. It does not harm plants or concrete and is effective in environmentally sensitive areas.

Any de-icer can be mixed with equal parts sand to minimize the adverse environmental effects and provide grit for added traction. Check the ingredients on your de-icer of choice to see how environmentally friendly it is, or better yet, let’s hope for a milder winter this year.
KIM FRISBIE, Freelance Writer

Wonderful Witchhazels!

It's about this time of year when most of us have had quite enough of bleak winter weather and are longing for the vibrancy of spring. It seems nature has a way of knowing this and provides a mid-winter reprieve: colorful, sweetly-scented witchhazels!

Join us Sunday, February 17 from 1:00 - 3:00pm for our annual Witchhazel is Your Favorite family event, a day of outdoor fun and garden exploration! Follow the prepared scavenger hunt map to discover the many varieties of witchhazels growing at the Morris Arboretum. Ranging in color from yellow and orange to pink and red, witchhazels are some of the first harbingers of spring, and the Arboretum’s witchhazel collection is unparalleled in the area. The scavenger hunt invites visitors to compare the different varieties’ beautiful flowers and take in their heady scent. After the hunt, visitors can stop back at the Visitor Center to make a fun craft. This event is free with regular admission and registration is not required.

Download the scavenger hunt map (also available at the Visitor Center): http://bit.ly/14UBeTs

Don't Forget: Kids under 17 visit Free in February!

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Can't get enough of witchhazels? Register for an exclusive, inside look at the collection with Morris Arboretum Director of Horticulture, Anthony Aiello.

An Inside Look at the Witchhazel Collection 
March 2, 1:00 - 3:00pm Register Today

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Checking on our young ones...

by Jamie Berlin, Alice & J. Liddon Pennock, Jr. Endowed Horticulture Intern

After trees have shed their leaves and the cold weather moves in, the Arboretum begins to move at a slower pace. During these months, the Arboretum staff has time to check on younger plantings and newer transplants. By visiting these plants individually, staff can evaluate health and initiate proper management practices. Younger trees are more vulnerable to the elements, so checking on them annually can help reduce problems in the future.

After checking that all accessioned plants are alive and accounted for, staff can focus on:

• Minor pruning - cutting off branches that are rubbing one another or that might be a problem in the future.
• Staking - protecting the young plants from buck rub (the practice of male deer rubbing their antlers on the stems of small trees to remove the velvet from their antlers).
• Trunk protection - using netting around the base of the trunk to stop animals, such as groundhogs, from eating the bark.
• Insect damage - taking note of the insect causing the damage, evaluating if it will cause a major problem to the plant, and taking the necessary management steps, such as pruning or spraying.
• Labeling issues - accessioned plants within the Arboretum are assigned a specific number so they can be tracked over the years. If tags fall off, or are missing, this needs to be dealt with right away.

Deer damage

Staking around young trees

Trunk protection

Click here to learn more about Arboriculture at Morris Arboretum.

Integrated Pest Management Training

by Stephen Pyne, Martha J. Wallace Plant Propagation Intern

One of the benefits of being an intern at Morris Arboretum is the opportunity to take some of the amazing classes that the arboretum offers. I just finished taking an especially good one: The School of Arboriculture’s Integrated Pest Management Training. This three day class was taught by two entomologists from the University of Maryland; Dr. Michael J. Raupp, and Dr. Paula Shrewsbury. Three days is a lot of time to spend in the classroom, but the presenters made sure that we were never bored. It was obvious that Dr. Raupp and Dr. Shrewsbury both love their work, and their enthusiasm was infectious. Their presentations were full of interesting anecdotes and stories, and yet they always steered the class back to real life and practical information that I thought would be very applicable in my work as a horticulturalist.

During the breaks we were able to look at the professors’ extensive collections of bugs and see examples of specific insect damage. Breaks also were a great time to talk to the other people taking the class -- a diverse and interesting group of horticultural professionals.

At the end of each day we had some lab time. On the first day we walked out into the arboretum grounds where we looked at plants, identified their problems and the pest causing those problems, and came up with ideas for a remedy. The second day had us dissecting bagworm bags to find eggs, signs of parasitism, and other clues to help form a plan of treatment. We also looked at scale and several other examples of problem insects. Finally on the last day our tasks were feeding and observing beneficial insects. The young praying mantises were not all that hungry (they had just eaten a bunch of fruit flies), but the lacewing larvae chowed down on the aphids we provided.

I think you can tell from the photos, we all had a great time, and learned a lot.


Learn more about upcoming classes by visiting:
http://online.morrisarboretum.org/Classes

Crafting Holiday Cheer

by Stephen Pyne, Martha J. Wallace Plant Propagation Intern

It is a very special time of year… that time between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays… that time when Morris Arboretum’s horticultural staff gets together and makes Holiday Wreaths!

The Arboretum gives hand-decorated wreaths and swags as special gifts and it is quite a process to put them together.  We gather material from all over the Arboretum, trim, and prepare it for mounting on the wreath. Anyone who has worked around a holly can imagine just how prickly it is to wrap individual leaves onto a wooden pick. Our natural ornaments range from pine to Platycarya cones, magnolia leaves to boxwood branches.  Once we have enough material assembled, we start on the wreaths.  It is not a quick process, nor is it without some pain, but it is very rewarding.  Every year that I have done this project, I am amazed at the beauty of the finished wreaths and the creativity that goes into making them.


Morris Arboretum also has a variety of Continuing Education classes for holiday decorating.
Register for our upcoming Holiday Table-top Tree Workshop on December 13.

Glee is coming to Morris Arboretum...

...the Penn Glee Club that is!

Morris Arboretum welcomes the return of the Penn Glee Club for their Annual Holiday Concert on December 8 at 2:00pm.

The Penn Glee Club upholds a 151-year-old tradition of musical excellence at the University of Pennsylvania, beginning in 1862 with just 8 founding members. The Club has toured internationally since 1959 and has traveled to nearly all 50 states in the United States and more than 40 nations and territories on five continents. Since its first performance at the White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, the Club has sung for numerous heads of state and world leaders.

We are pleased to bring their distinctive blend of choral excellence and theatrical showmanship to the Arboretum and its visitors again this season. Stop by on Saturday, December 8th for hot cocoa and cookies, and help us spread holiday cheer with the Penn Glee Club!


To learn more about the Penn Glee Club, visit their website:
http://www.penngleeclub.com/

A Holiday Display Returns to the Garden!

The Morris Arboretum’s popular Holiday Garden Railway Display returns the day after Thanksgiving.

Visitors of all ages will be wowed by a quarter mile of track featuring seven loops and tunnels with fifteen different rail lines and two cable cars, nine bridges (including a trestle bridge you can walk under!), and bustling model trains, all set in the lovely winter garden of the Morris Arboretum. The display and buildings are all made of natural materials – bark, leaves, twigs, hollow logs, mosses, acorns, dried flowers, seeds and stones – to form a perfectly proportioned miniature landscape complete with miniature rivers. Each building, while an exact replica of the original, is unique in its design. Philadelphia-area landmarks such as a masterpiece replica of Independence Hall are made using pine cone seeds for shingles, acorns as finials and twigs as downspouts. The buildings are all meticulously decorated for the holidays with lights that twinkle along the tracks and around the surrounding landscape.

The Holiday Garden Railway opens the day after Thanksgiving and is open daily from 10am-4pm through December 14 and 10am-5pm, December 15-31 (closed Christmas Eve and day, and New Years day).

A special Holiday Garden Railway Grand Opening Celebration will be held on Saturday, November 24 from 1-3pm that will include the sounds of carolers. Kids and adults will also have the opportunity to make an ornament or decoration from natural materials to take home.  The Holiday Garden Railway is a great way to kick off the season and also serves as a fabulous a backdrop for your holiday greeting card, so bring your camera!

The Railway is free with regular garden admission.

Come vist the Fernery this winter!

So, its cold outside!  And if you are like me, you don't want to sit inside all winter just because it is cold.  Come out to visit us and take a walk - it is very peaceful here in the winter - and not cold in all parts of the garden.  The fernery here at Morris Arboretum provides a nice place to stop and warm up between Out on a Limb and the Holiday Garden Railway.  I think that the fernery is a really neat little space to see some different plants, look for the dinosaur, watch the fish and warm up a bit.

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery is the only remaining freestanding Victorian fernery in North America.  The Fernery documents a time when Victorians were consumed with ferns and glasshouses.  It was designed by the original owner and namesake of the Arboretum, John Morris.