I wasn't able to add a reply from the county forester right before becoming laid up with some health issues so it's a couple of weeks stale. But in it he acknowledged also recent deaths of live and laurel oaks, red maple, long leaf and slash pines, and red cedar. Still, no specific information regarding an absolute cause. Since then, I've been out of the loop. I reject theories of products such as fertilizers or herbicides based on the distribution pattern. It's been small pockets of trees (commonly 2-6) and they tend to ignore property lines. Besides, most of the situations I've seen are where one can just tell that these are not yards where anyone is spending 10c on chemicals of any kind. For example, the yard with 4 large oaks dying looks like an abandoned rental property. There's been no attempts to eradicate weeds there. Maybe it gets 2 mowings a year at best. Salt water incursion I would rule out for many obvious reasons. It's not a possibility. And we would have hear about something like that long before it got here. I haven't postulated any theory or made assertions yet as to the cause. Nor have I heard anyone in a knowledgeable capacity state a definitive cause. I speculate a disease or insect infestation that may or may not be affected by the recent lack of winter (our normal dry season) rain. There is talk of a beetle but I don't have enough details... certainly no confirmation at this point.

I wish I could pose with the Jenny and Forrest Gump tree, but, I was on the wrong side of the Atlantic. That pic was in the UK, Wales actually. I can only hope to see it (Gump tree) in person some day. The closest I've ever come was going through SC on the way to Florida 3 seperate times. The nicest live oaks I saw were in Webster Florida, it was a rural area, lots of horses and cows under the trees, I loved that area. Lots of yards with many L.O. trees shading the yards. Many homes were old single wide trailers, but, the mature L.O.'s made it so beautiful, the trailers looked nice and inviting. Well, Webster is likely known for it's big Flea Market, there was a nice place with garden statues and outdoor furniture etc near the Flea market. The bad thing about Webster is that is one of the many sinkhole infested areas. Sorry for the meandering post, but, Webster is a nice place to see many old L.O.'s on the Gulf side of Florida, they seem to have been pretty much growing wild, the branches reach the ground, no pruning done to most. poaky1

You guys should have been there. It was not nearly as busy as it sounds , I was home in bed at a good hour almost every night but 2. I am not up for late night scenes without DH by my side. I had time to shower between ventures out and rest a bit. The doormen at my DB's building were so funny, they said where you off to now lady ? I always told them where I was going and carried ID and my cell. Manhattan is VERY safe all hours of the day and night. The NYPD is everywhere and people are so friendly. I also used common sense as to routes etc. As one police officer told me, folks expect Manhattan to be safe and it is a very big responsibility but they meet it very well. The only crime is pick pocket stuff on tourists by Times Sq etc. I have never gone anywhere and been on my own like this in my life...never. My first bike was a Schwinn 50 years ago when I was 7. I was so happy to have another one....life has a way of making circles that are joined with other circles. I met so many folks from Alabama....I was eating a NJ peach at the green market and commented on Chilton County peaches...yep there was a Chilton County boy right there next to me. The guy on the row behind me was a grad of Univ of Al and teaches in Conn. There were girls and their Mom from right by my home town in Ohio standing next to me at the fireworks....the guy leading the bike ride on Sunday bought a house on Chartres and Spain St. in N.O . just up the street from where I lived in 1971....life is a circle....c

His advice is probably good for him as you would return in a year to buy another BB to replace the one that died:) Removing the fruit the first year is not so clear cut. It is best for the plant to do so as a general rule. There are a lot of variables though. Take a sweetcrisp.....since it produces only a moderate amount of flowers it would be ok to not remove the flowers. An Emerald on the other hand that produces way too many flowers it would be an almost certain death sentence to not remove some flowers at least. Now if you put the plant in perfect soil and give it perfect water and perfect care would leaving some of the fruit load hurt the plant? No.....would it slow it's growth for next year? Almost certainly yes to some degree. I do agree with him on chemical fertilizers. It is tough to use natural fertilizers with BB and still keep up the amount of growth I want. Because manures are alkaline they need to be avoided unless you are acidifying your water to counteract that alkalinity. Ammonium sulfate makes BB grow out of this world and is so cheap and easy to use.