Wet Weather has taken its toll

By Joseph Kelly

Gardening is aspirational. We hope against hope that our planting ideas will breed success only to find them ending in disappointment or worse. For evidence of all this, consider the fate of the fir tree on Norfolk’s village green and the very sorry state of our lilacs. 

Seven years ago, when the white spruce that towered over the north end of the green—and served as the town’s Christmas tree—began showing signs of decline, it was replaced with a King Boris fir (Abies borsii-regis) tree that had been started from seed 20 years earlier by the staff at Great Mountain Forest.

 At just 16 feet tall, the new tree—native to Bulgaria and the Balkans—was a fraction the size of the spruce it was replacing. But uprooting a tree when it’s much bigger and trying to replant it is a  risky and expensive undertaking. Given time, it was hoped the new King Boris fir would grow to become nine stories high and serve as a focal point on the green for generations to come.

‘Twas not to be.  

In early September, the needles on the tree began turning brown, a telltale sign of trouble. The color change started at the base of the tree and spread upwards. By the autumnal equinox on Sunday ,Sept. 22, it was clear the entire tree was lost.

According to Nash Pradhan of Norfolk’s Ginger Creek Nursery, the culprit is likely a fungus that took off undetected during the wet weather in the spring and summer, infecting the needle tips. The needles are still on the tree, but they will never green up again. 

Pradhan is now searching for a replacement, possibly a western white fir tree that he believes will be more resistant to such infections. The goal is to find one at least 20 feet tall that will be in place before the holiday season.

And then there are the lilacs. 

Lilacs can typically be relied on to deliver a great show of scented blooms in May and June, heralding the coming of warm weather, and then receding into the background as an inconspicuous, but reliably leafy bit player in the summer landscape.

Not so this year. The lilacs bloomed in the spring, possibly a bit less prolifically than usual. But the lilac foliage quickly showed signs of trouble. The leaves started spotting, curling, darkening and ultimately falling off the branches. Many lilacs are now completely bare.

Again, the culprit is likely to be wet conditions that provided a breeding ground for blight-causing bacterium and fungi.  In the case of the lilacs, the result is unattractive, but not fatal. According to Pradhan, it shouldn’t pose a serious problem unless it continues over several seasons, 

To help prevent a reoccurrence, Pradhan recommends collecting the leaves and throwing them out with the trash (not on the compost pile). Better yet, dispose of the leaves directly on the burn pile at the transfer station. 

Mulching around your lilacs will help prevent soil particles from splashing up onto the leaves. This is often how a blight can start. 

Next spring, many of the branches that are now bare will develop leaves. Prune those that don’t. 

And, as always when gardening, remain hopeful.