Perhaps I was so passionate about Badboulder's manzanita in our last blog David fears that readers may confuse me with Pollyanna. Such is not the case.
Sonoran scrub oak, most common habitat being central AZ, gives me the grumps.
I have truly tried to like this scrub/small tree because it is hardy--requires very little water. It can grow out of a crack in a granite boulder. Actually a blasting permit and dynamite couldn't kill this stuff. The scattered bits and pieces would develop roots and flourish.
I know that it provides sanctuary and food for birds and animals and that knowledge should endear it to me. Unfortunately Badboulder's ungulates, mule deer and javelina, prefer to browse on fruit trees, vegetable plants, and pansies. I've never spied any animal munching down on scrub oak. Our live oak trees provide billions of acorns; so the paltry few acorns provided by our scrub oak are readily available for propagation.
The Sonoran scrub oak, no doubt because of our arid climate, doesn't need to reproduce vegetatively, but sends out great multitudes of sprouts. These sprouts are the only plant that can grow seven feet in height in just one season here at Badboulder.
I try to fight back scrub oak during rattlesnake hibernation. In order to win the battle, I would need to challenge it on a daily basis. That won't be happening.
I have found that I can eventually trim it into a semi-manicured look, shaping it into low bushes and small pom pom trees. After about ten years of my trimming, the shrub requires only semi-annual trims. The greater problem being all the sprouts that need removing from the base of the pom trees. Edward Sissorhands would be most welcome here.
Wikipedia writers describe the scrub oak leaves as small," spine-tipped teeth". I am wondering if they ever experienced one of these leaves jambed under their fingernails or sprinkled into their bras. Scrub oak has needle sharp teeth.
Those leaves never deteriorate, they will be here the next millennium. To avoid sinus flare-ups or asthma attacks, cleanup requires HazMat gear.
Initially my landscaping plan was to eradicate scrub oak--no chemicals--just a bow saw and pick axe. The scrub oak won, so now I try to contain some of it--still no chemicals. David's solution is to let it grow into the brambled mess that surrounded Sleeping Beauty's castle. I would love to be the beautiful princess discovered at Badboulder Castle a hundred years from now when Prince Charming breaks through the mighty wall of scrub oak.
FROM THE KNOTHOLE: Someone once told me that the amount of leisure time one enjoys is a measure of nobility; you know, the more leisure time the nobler. I always thought it had something to do with family bloodlines. Either way, by either measure, I don't claim to have a noble bone in my body. I'm just a backbreaking, butt-busting, shamelessly independent American. Came by it honestly. One of my grandfathers is said to have believed that you must work hard and sweat everyday. That, he said, is the secret to good health. The Herberts in my family were known to ridicule the Kellys in my family for being studious, intellectual, and weak. When I was growing up, the supreme insult from my father was to be called a Kelly. My father was the consummate Herbert; his mother was a Kelly. The Kellys, especially compared to the Herberts, were more genteel and smaller physically. They pursued trades and industries that required use of the head as well as the back. And, oh my gosh, they read books. Tennessee Ernie Ford probably had the Herberts of the world in mind when he sang, ...if you see me comin', you better step aside..
a parting shot from bbman: been to white castle lately? yum.
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