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Information about the book:

As a celebration of its 25th anniversary, the highly respected newsletter Avant

Gardener published a list headed “The 25 Best Gardening Books of the Past

25 Years.” Up there on that list, at number seven, was the first edition of Drip

Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates. Great then, even better now.

Yes, Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates, by Robert Kourik,

is now available in an updated second edition. It will give you the knowhow

to optimize your water use, survive a protracted drought, or work with the

unpredictable intermittent rains of certain climates. Its light-hearted approach,

step-by-step instructions and clearly drawn diagrams will allow you to construct

and streamline your own drip-irrigation system without the clutter of superfluous

widgets and gizmos.

Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates also describes, in clear

and scientific terms, how drip-irrigation systems can be designed or reconfigured

to use less water while increasing yields of fruits and vegetables and improving

the growth of all plants. New in this edition are descriptions of how to use two

very important water sources—grey water and cisterns—as well as how to utilize

satellite control or a home-based weather station to irrigate your garden with

precision.

In short, this fully revised edition of the original ground-breaking book is designed to 1) help gardeners manage

precious water supplies with ease and efficiency, and 2) create sustainable water-efficient gardens and landscapes with the latest technologies of drip irrigation.

Page Count —192 (74 more pages than the 1993 edition)

Number of illustrations—89 B&W (21 new B&W illustrations)

Includes: A Bibliography, Glossary, Web sites to explore (new to this addition), and an expanded and detailed Index.

Invisible Fire

Fire. Essential and dreaded. Fire has historical tendrils back to primeval times when people first discovered how to make fire when needed. Fire also includes the combustion and flames of a gas stove and oven, campfires, propane-fueled lanterns, and barbecue briquettes. All welcomed, desired.

Every garden is always on “fire”—without flames. Combustion is the oxidation of carbon-based materials which usually produces a flame. Garden “fires” are usually invisible, slow, and important. A single teaspoon of soil contains over one million of the soil’s beneficial bacteria alone This does not include: nitrogen-fixing soil algae, microbes, beneficial fungi and many other useful life. Each consumes various life-forms or inert elements and releases very minute amounts of heat into the soil. Like an aerobic workout, soil heats up—only in extremely tiny amounts.

Combustion in the compost bin also is at a lower temperature than a visible fire. Microorganisms feed on the carbohydrates; the carbon. The warmth of a well-made compost pile is tangible garden low-grade combustion. When the first nips of frost arrive, a compost made of fallen leaves, green lawn clippings, manure and kitchen scraps (I send all my kitchen compostables to an earthworm bin.) sends its wisps of warm fog to rise above its mass.

Only the fanatic composter runs the risk of spontaneous combustion. The pile has to be very large. And it rarely bursts into flames, but usually smolders like a coal mine "fire." Tim Dundon aka Zeke the Sheik (the compost king), of Los Angeles County, accumulated a compost pile over 17 years which reached the gargantuan size of 40 feet tall and up to 200 feet long. Twice in one month the pile spontaneously burst into flames and smoke, and the fire department arrived to douse the flames. While Zeke defends composting as "the key of energy that will eventually set mankind free from misery and gravity," I'd say his pile shows what happens when a zealous intellect elevates a natural process to unnatural proportions. He turned a beneficial process into a hazard.

The image above is a manipulated Polaroid. See my web site (www.robertkourik.com) for more examples of "Impressionistic Photography".

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert

YIKES, Don't do this at home!

NOT MY GARDEN!

I ran across this poor tree and was amazed at how it was butchered. Seems they tried to cut almost flush on a few cuts. But heaven knows who left the enormous "stub".

If your tree, like this fir, doesn't have a noticeable hump or shoulder (branch collar) at the base of the limb, you can use the drawing to figure out where to cut. Make one cut a foot or so under the limb part way out from the trunk. Cut further out from the first cut. When the branch falls, it won't rip bark past the first cut. Lastly, make a proper cut as illustrated from A to D. In all cases, don't cut flush!

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert

Pruning in the Summer versus Winter Pruning

Why in the dickens am I mentioning summer pruning now? Well many people still don’t know that it’s possible to prune throughout the summer. I used to have to cover summer pruning during winter pruning lectures because nobody would sign up for just a summer pruning class in the summer. In fact summer pruning may be more helpful than winter pruning. Summer pruning [especially repeated pruning] is the best way to control a tree that is growing to tall or fast. Summer pruning slightly reduces the tree’s vigor. While winter pruning stimulates new growth in the spring as it begins to leaf out.

Grandfather never lied. When he said “pruning trees in the summer is bad, especially with fruit trees—they might bleed to death” he was just repeating an heirloom myth. I know better now. Summer pruning will not cause plants to perish. In reality, summer pruning is a very valuable addition to the gardener’s repertoire of techniques (a tool, if you will) for shaping and nurturing all garden growth.

Summer Pruning’s Virtues

There are many practical aspects to summer pruning. First, it’s comfortable; you can wear shorts and a tee shirt instead of being cumbersomely bundled up. Now, pruning is spread over a greater number of months to ease a gardener’s busy spring. Since the foliage is readily visible, it’s easier to spot dead, damaged, or diseased growth; and you can watch how pruning effects light and shadow patterns.

It offers more opportunities to control unwanted growth on a tree. Mid- to late-summer is the best time to remove unwanted suckers and so-called water sprouts—those poorly-named straight shoots which tower through a tree’s crown [a.k.a., canopy] or along the top of horizontal limb—with a single pruning.

Summer pruning can allow you to enjoy bountiful flowering and then control the size of the tree. Summer pruning allows more light into the crown to add a colorful blush to ripening fruit. Pruning cuts callus-over with the assistance of active photosynthesis, sealing the wound.

Summer Pruning’s Shortcomings

Foremost, summer pruning is a new concept to many. Pruning trees in leaf makes it harder to see a deciduous tree’s winter branching pattern. The main and secondary limbs may get sunburned. [When pruning in hot summer areas, cut with discretion, leaving enough foliage to protect the main the trunk.] If you prune too late in the summer where winters are cold, any new growth will be vulnerable to some freeze damage. With fruit trees, some fruit may be knocked off if you prune on older limbs before harvesting.

Some diseases enter open pruning cuts. The fungus Anthracnose sp. causes cankers and enters cuts during fall rains in the west—don’t prune too late in the summer, allow plenty of time for a callus to form. Check the Cooperative Extension Service and its Master Gardener Program or an arborist for other diseases specific to your area.

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert

Soil Biota Horizons

This is my favorite illustration from Drip Irrigation For Every Landscape & All Climates and Roots Demystified. (Click on the drawing to enlarge it for easier reading.)

The upper layers of the soil are the most aerobic, with the highest population of air-loving bacteria and soil flora. As seen above, the top three inches of the soil has nearly four-and-a-half times more bacteria, almost eight-and-a-half times more actinomycetes [tiny aerobic organisms that help decompose dead plant tissue], more than twice as many fungi, and five times the algae of soil found eight to ten inches deep. These bacteria and flora are responsible for the decomposition of organic matter and the liberation of mineralized [unavailable] nutrients into a soluble form that the plant can absorb. They live near the soil’s surface because they must have plenty of oxygen to fuel their activity.

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert