smoke bush / skin irritation
margay
16 years ago
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Dibbit
16 years agodiggingthedirt
16 years agoRelated Discussions
smoke bush growing out instead of up.
Comments (5)no.. cutting to the ground was proper.. as your name suggest.. TRUST me on that ... otherwise.. the half cut back ones.. would flop to the ground in a year or two.. when they exploded in growth at height ... i cant really comment on GOOGLE EXPERTS ... nor their system.. without a link .. and again.. i cant really tell you if you did good.. w/o a pic of your plant... but again.. simply in my minds eye... i would not have tied it up ... personally.. i would rather watch how a plant responds to a certain situation.. than to force my aesthetic on it by binding it into a form of which its not ... but if it makes you happy.. then who cares what i prefer ... my gut tells me.. that you have a rather.. naturally unruly plant ... and you are having a hard time.. emotionally .... dealing with it ... and when i get to that point.. the point where my expectations.. are not fulfilled.. i GET RID OF THE PLANT... and plant something that fulfills MY NEEDS... and sometimes i lose money on the plant ... but on the other hand.. money lost is better than being irritated by it.. every time i look at it ..... you are going to have a hard time forcing a plant into a shape that it is going to fight ... and this plant... is fairly aggressive.. in doing whatever it wants ... i wish you luck ... ken...See Morecan I prune my out of control smoke tree?
Comments (22)Given the location of the tree (under the utility lines) and it's current condition (dead wood, leaning growth, nearness to the fence, and lack of sufficient pruning and training up until now), I could agree with butterfly4u's last recommendation. I've grown a number of these, both at my home and at my arboretum. I've also pruned and cared for them for clients. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with one in quite this shape before. Some of mine have succumbed to Verticillium wilt. From my experience, this genus seems somewhat more disease prone than many other alternatives. If you do want to keep this tree, there are at least three options. One is to coppice the tree. I guess that was butterfly4u's first recommendation, although I'm not positive about that. That option was already discussed above. Another option would be to stool the tree and select one or more shoots (originating from below the root collar) as the new trunk or trunks (depending on whether you preferred a more tree or bush form). This would be done in late winter/very early spring and would be done by cutting the entire tree down to within about an inch of the ground. As with coppicing, this would produce long, lanky growth. In this case, that growth would be desirable because it would form your new trunks. Assuming the tree was healthy, new sprouts should shoot up quickly. Attention to excess shoot removal and training would be required for a few years. The third option, to keep the tree, would be gradual pruning and training. If you decided to go with this method, I'd start by properly removing the stubs in the lower part of the tree. These should be cut to just outside the branch bark ridges and collars. I would consider removing "E" completely to reduce the leaning look of the tree. Branch "D" could be reduced back to just over position "2" on "E". This would also reduce the leaning effect. Be sure to perform proper reduction cuts here, as shown in the link below. There may be no prefect solution for the branches on scaffold "A". A few heading cuts (usually not recommendable) may be necessary to bring the canopy down away from the utility lines. Careful and detailed maintenance (removing excess shoots and followup pruning) for a few years following this pruning might lead to a satisfactory result. As with routine coppicing, this will lead to lanky growth. It would also produce wounds that won't be covered over for a long time (one of the main problems with heading cuts). Since this is not a large tree, that would pose a significant danger if a major limb failed, heading branches on "A" back may be acceptable. Of all of these options, I'd personally go with either butterfly4u's last recommendation or stooling, depending on how much I liked the tree and how much time I was willing to spend on it in the next few years. Here is a link that might be useful: Proper Reduction Cut...See MoreSkin Care For Those Over 40
Comments (14)I've tried everything through the years - AHA's with glycolic acid, fruit acids, milk acids, etc., retinol creams, etc. Here's what actually works: AHAs (alpha-hydroxy-acids) do work at helping your skin renew the top layer of skin cells and slough off the old. This "recycling" slows down as we age. AHAs can be drying and irritating. But if your skin looks dull and flaky, you may benefit from using it. Vitamin A can help do the same thing. There's a nice clear Vitamin A lotion from Derma-E that you can find online, like on Amazon's vitamin store. Don't continually use them. Use them for a week or so, as needed. Use a gentle sponge or washchloth, or use your fingers to gently massage to help mechanically get the dead skin off and stimulate the circulation under the skin. Moisturize - you can use just about anything, honestly. It's like oiling up a leather glove - you're making the surface more supple. Use what feels good for you. Use sunscreen, wear hats, drink lots of water. Don't drink lots of caffeinated beverages - they suck the water out of your system - that's why coffee and tea make you pee a lot. Alcohol in moderation - it also sucks the moisture out of your system. Ever wake up in the middle to the night feeling parched after drinking 2-3 drinks that evening? Spots - whitening creams really work. I'm currently using Estee Lauder's whitening night cream and toner, which are made in Japan (where whitening is a big deal). These creams actually do help with the sunspots. (Yup - it's all from the sun.) Neck crepiness - I don't know how to fix that! Corners of your mouth drooping - ah, gravity. That's the main culprit for wrinkling - after smoking and sunshine. The cheeks at the corners of the mouth, the jawline and the eyelids all start to droop. It's a pisser, man. There are methods out there for exercising your facial muscles (there are tons of muscles in the face) - but I haven't tried them. But logically, it seems that some of the exercises might work - why not? Do sleep on your back, instead of on your side - squishing your face, if you can. If you are a side-sleeper - switch sides so that you wrinkle symetrically! Ever see a man's face after he has shaved off a years-old beard? Like a baby's bottom since that part of the face didn't get any sun!...See Moreskin care for chemo/radiation patient
Comments (8)Carolyn and DD, thanks for the tips. I am leaving this morning to go up and spend the rest of the week and see what all I can do to comfort and assist my sister. I will definitely share your suggestions with her. So far they have been doing her chemo through an IV, they said they will do a port if needed. We have talked every day, and so far all she has requested are some new clothes (she's lost a tremendous amount of weight) and to shop for some rose bushes to plant, and to polish her toenails! (I wondered about her going to a salon and having a pedicure, but worry about possible infection? She was going to check with her radiation/chemo folks.) Thank you all....See Moretsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
16 years agoDibbit
16 years agonecastle
3 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
3 years agoTina Tyler
2 years agoJurassic Park
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agotodd carlson
2 years ago
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