Volume 3 Issue 10 | October 2022
Acorns falling, birds flying south, jewel-toned beautyberries, putting gardens to bed: signs of the season.
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Look Around
Plunk, Plunk, Ker-Plunk… September and October are prime months for falling acorns, the leathery shell-encased fruits of mighty oak trees. During MAST years, occasional years of excessive acorn production, many of those nuggets may survive to germinate and produce a new crop of oak trees. In most years, the majority are gathered and enjoyed by the more than 180 species that feast on them. Wild turkeys, weevils, jays, deer, rabbits, raccoons, mice, and foxes are among the animals that relish an acorn meal.
Acorns photo by E Barth-Elias
Acorns are grown exclusively by members of the Quercus (oak) family with its more than 500 species. They help identify trees as oaks, particularly the ones whose leaves do not have a traditional oak-leaf shape, such as CHINKAPIN and SHINGLE oaks. Acorns vary widely and can distinguish one oak species from another.

Look for:
  • Cup surface. (Acorn CUPS are hat-like structures that cover one end of the nut.) Some acorn cups have scales that are tough and woody. Others have thick matted hairs or are smooth.
  • Shape. Acorns from the two main groups of native oaks in the United States differ. Most members of the white oak family produce acorns that are long and oval, while those from the red oak family tend to be round and flat. Some acorns have pointed ends as opposed to smooth, round ones.
  • Color. Acorn colors range from black, through shades of brown, to reds.
  • Size. Acorn nuts range in size from ¼ inch to 2 inches. Caps also vary in size.

The time that acorns fall varies by species, but is also affected by environmental conditions. Stressed trees produce fewer acorns and drop them early. During a mast year a mature white oak may produce 10,000 acorns. During stressful years, that tree may not produce a one. Bearing acorns is a lesson in patience. Oaks typically begin producing acorns at 30 years, with their best crop production occurring between 50 and 80 years of age. Acorns in the red oak family can take two years to mature.

What about eating acorns? While they are nutrient-rich and have been a food source for humans for thousands of years, the presence of tannins, which are bitter and irritating to the digestive system, give pause. Soaking or boiling acorns is a means of reducing those tannins. Roasting is one method of preparing the acorns for consumption. Check it out HERE.

Consider the acorn---that nutrient-rich nut with the makings of our grandest oaks. When you hear that next Ker-Plunk, pocket a few of those acorns and give them a head start. HERE’S how. LOOK AROUND!

K Edgington
Leaf Brief - Purple Beautyberry
Callicarpa dichotoma
photo by E Barth-Elias
Some plants have common names that can be perplexing or unflattering. Lungwort and toad lily are just a few that come to mind. But for purple beautyberry, there is no guessing. It’s all about the berry. Even the botanical name, Callicarpa, translates from its Greek origins to beautiful berry. The beauty is in the magenta-colored fruits that are set off against the light green fall foliage.


Purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) is a shrub that grows 4-6 feet tall with graceful arching branches that dip almost to the ground. Clusters of small mauve flowers in June give way to bunches of glossy purple berries along the length of its branches in September and October. 
Unlike the American beautyberry (Calicarpa americana), which is native to the southern United States (zones 7-11), purple beautyberry is more cold-tolerant (Zone 5-8) and a bit smaller. Most people would have difficulty distinguishing one from the other.

The berries are a distinctive magenta to purple color and are edible but not particularly tasty. Sour or astringent when eaten raw, they are generally used to make jams and jellies. Don’t harvest them all though, because the birds like them too. The leaves, when crushed, can be rubbed on the skin as a mosquito repellent. (This plant is your friend if you find yourself on your favorite survival show.)

Beautyberry can be used in the landscape as a specimen or group in soil that’s acid to neutral and not too dry. Full sun is best for more prolific berry production but beautyberry will tolerate light shade. Because the fruits form on new growth, beautyberry can be pruned severely in the spring about 5-6 inches from the ground. It may die back in the winter anyway, so you can start fresh in the spring. It can also be selectively pruned through the summer if branches become so dense they rub against each other. The three-inch leaves are medium green in summer but transition to a chartreuse color in the fall, providing a contrast to the magenta berries.

The berries will persist after the leaves have fallen and make a great addition to autumn floral displays, with or without the leaves. Pair them with sunflowers, dahlias, hydrangeas, or anemones to make a statement.

Cultivars include ‘Issai’, a slightly smaller shrub with earlier fruits, and ‘Duet’, a variety with white berries and variegated foliage. The shrub should be available at your favorite garden center. They are easy to spot this time of year because it’s all about the berries!

J Gramlich
Creature Feature - Southward Bound
It’s FALL. Leaves change color, mornings grow frosty, and migration begins! Snowbirds pack their RVs and head south in search of warmer habitats with golf, pickleball and cocktails with tiny umbrellas. (I know because I am one.) Interesting as these travelers are, another migration is taking place which is even more fascinating — the mysterious migration of birds. 

Migration refers to the seasonal movement of large populations from one locale to another, as animals leave areas where resources are decreasing for those with plentiful resources.
A migrating Blackpoll Warblers snacks on a dogwood berry.
photo by Kathy L Mock
About 40% of the 10,000 species of birds in the world migrate, and around 350 of those are in North America. Migration generally takes place in the Northern Hemisphere, as birds seek northern breeding grounds in summer with longer daylight and lots of food, and return to tropical climates in winter where insects and plant life remain abundant. The benefits of migration must outweigh the risks. Migrating travelers contend with bad weather, lack of food and water, towering skyscrapers and predators, and an estimated 2.6 billion birds don’t survive the journey. There is much about bird migration that ornithologists don’t understand, including whether it first began as a southern trek for food in winter or a northern journey for better breeding opportunities. Current evidence suggests the southern journey came first (“northern home” theory). Learn more HERE.

Different species migrate at different times of the year and day. (The timing of human snowbirds is also variable and might depend on avoiding Aunt June’s Thanksgiving dinner.) Ohio is a major layover for migration, thanks to its varied geography and bodies of water such as the Ohio River and Lake Erie, and southern migration begins as early as July. "Marsh Madness," at Magee Marsh on Lake Erie, draws as many as 90,000 enthusiastic birders from around the world for the May migration of warblers to their Canadian breeding grounds. Songbirds generally migrate in September and sparrows in October; most waterfowl fly the coop in November. Blackbirds and finches migrate in unpredictable patterns. By December most birds going are gone as snowy owls arrive in Ohio from their summer breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra. Click HERE for detailed info about migration timing. 

Flying takes an enormous amount of energy. Once cooler temperatures, less daylight and genetic factors trigger the urge to migrate, birds develop “hyperphagia” — a strong desire to eat unrelated to hunger (I know that feeling.) For two or more weeks birds gorge themselves on berries and fruits stored as fat. Remarkably, many birds shrink the size of their internal organs (liver, kidneys and digestive tract) by 25% to make room for this fat through a process called “autophagy”. The bar-tailed godwit, which flies 6800 miles nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand also can increase the size of its heart and chest muscles. The tiny ruby-throated hummingbird generally doubles its weight before making the 2,000-mile journey to its winter home in South America, which includes 500-miles non-stop over the Gulf of Mexico. Once they reach their destination, birds will need to replenish about 20% of their body fat. (Snowbirds think about losing body fat before they migrate...)

Smaller birds such as songbirds migrate at night to avoid predators and enjoy smoother atmospheric conditions. Predatory birds generally migrate in daylight. How do birds sleep during migration? Scientists think bird brains change to allow birds to function nocturnally and sleep less, in short intervals. Alpine swifts have been observed to stay aloft for 200 days, and scientists believe their brains may engage in “unihemispheric slow-wave sleep” — half the brain rests while the other half stays awake (similar to dolphins).

Migration distances may be as short as traveling from a higher elevation on a mountain to a lower one (the yellow-eyed junco practices this “altitudinal migration”), or as long as the arctic tern’s 25,000 mile journey from its Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctica. (During a 30-year lifespan, the tern will travel the distance of three roundtrips to the moon!) A typical migration is several thousand miles long from breeding grounds in the U.S. or Canada to Central or South America. Birds generally travel around 30 mph, although the great snipe reaches up to 60 mph on its 4,200 mile journey. And some birds walk. The adelie penguin walks (waddles?) almost 8,000 miles in a circular migration. See these BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS.

The ability of birds to navigate these distances is incredible. Scientists believe they use the sun, moon and stars, and the sightings of landmarks such as mountains or coastlines, but aren’t sure if the skill is innate or learned. There are four major U.S. flyways that millions of birds migrate over every year — the Pacific, Atlantic, Mississippi River and Central —with well-used spots for food and rest. Birds may also use the earth’s magnetic field to help navigate. Learn more HERE. Bird vocalizations during migration differ from normal bird calls, and occur more often during bad weather or when birds collide with tall structures. Perhaps these "NIGHT FLIGHT CALLS" help direct fellow feathered travelers.

BirdCast, a collaboration among Cornell, University of Massachusetts and Colorado State University, has some incredible tools relating to migration. Their Migration Dashboard shows how many birds migrate over Akron every night! CHECK IT OUT.

This beautiful VIDEO celebrates the work of Christian Moullec, who spent decades flying with migrating birds in a microlight aircraft.

And this ABC 20/20 PIECE showcases William Lishman, known as “Father Goose”, whose work became the inspiration for the film Fly Away Home. (And if you have any questions about snowbird migration, call me before November 15th!)
C Christian
Putting the Garden to Bed
Frost-tipped red raspberry leaves
photo by E Barth-Elias
Sadly, the gardening season is winding down, although I won’t miss the constant watering and accompanying water bills. It’s the time of year when our sights turn to making sure that the garden sleeps soundly. That’s what will ensure the next season starts right.

Fall is a good time to nourish the soil in your gardens. Adding compost, which breaks down over the winter, builds the soil, making it nutrient-rich for the new flowers or vegetables. Soil testing labs are not busy this time of year so getting a test now will guide you in adding just the right ingredients.
For perennials, the major question is whether and when to prune. Tracy DiSabato Aust, in her book The Well-Maintained Perennial Garden, offers many reasons to hold off pruning until spring. Leaving stems standing provides a break from the bleakness of winter. Birds will continue to feed on dropped seeds and use the standing and fallen stems for refuge. Certain insects, such as the viceroy butterfly, pupate during the winter. Solitary bees may use hollow stems to lay eggs.

Some plants provide color for the winter garden. Lamb’s ear, lavender and hellebores bring a touch of green to garden beds, joining conifers in breaking up a dull winter landscape. Leaving stems of later-emerging plants, such as plumbago, in place until new growth appears will prevent planting something else in what may appear to be an open spot.

One main reason to prune in the fall is to prevent pests and diseases from overwintering. The spores of many fungal diseases are not killed by the cold, and wait patiently for the right conditions to spread. Many insect pests find plant debris the ideal shelter in winter. Any late-season pruning should wait until the plants are dormant. Otherwise, the plant may send up shoots that, eventually killed by frost, will rob the spring plant of needed carbohydrates.

Vegetable gardens don’t offer as many prune or not-prune questions as perennial or mixed beds, but they do have their own special tasks. Garden cleanup begins as the hot weather plants, particularly tomatoes, slow their growth and production winds down. Remove the exhausted plants, cutting the stems at the soil level instead of pulling them up. Roots are a good source of organic matter that will decompose over the winter. Bean plant roots, with their nitrogen-fixing nodes, feed the soil as they decompose. Plants that harbor disease, such as tomato or cucumber, should be removed and destroyed.

Sowing cover crops in the fall does much the same as leaving roots to decompose but they actively enrich the soil as their roots grow deep and the plants, many of which are killed by the cold, are then dug into the soil as green manure. There are many premixed seed combinations available commercially that take the guesswork out of just what kinds of cover crop plants are best for your needs.

If you also grow fruit, fall is not the time to prune. Late winter or early spring will allow the plants time to manufacture and store carbohydrates, giving them the best start next spring.

Once you’ve completed these fall chores, put your feet up. Before you know it, the catalogs will start arriving and you can dream about what will happen when you wake your garden next spring.


S Vradenburg
From Dreams to Design
Second in a series of four articles on the garden design and installation process.
Crafting a garden design helps create a garden that is interesting and beautiful, one that "works". If the planning involves engineering, plumbing, or electrical considerations, there are experts that are well worth the investment. If you would like to create a simple, beautiful garden area that speaks to your plant and design preferences, get out your ruler and paper, roll up your sleeves, and let's start working on a plan.

Last month we discussed the first step to good garden design: asking questions that identify the site parameters and the area’s function. Now it’s time to start turning those answers into a garden design. This article describes how to create a plan on paper and illustrates the basic process. Those who use a computer design application can use the following principles and techniques to aid their online work.

A word of advice: start small. Create a design for that corner with great potential or the area you see from your favorite inside perch. When you have mastered the steps and are happy with your design, go for the whole enchilada.

Tools: Tape measure, graph paper, pencil, eraser, ruler, tracing paper, removeable tape. Optional: plastic design templates, colored markers

  1. MEASURE:  Choose key spots in your landscape for a frame of reference. Start with the corners of the area and measure one to the other, noting the angles. Note other hard features – the corners of buildings or paving areas, a telephone pole, large tree trunks – and take measurements between these key points. Write these measurements down, perhaps by creating a rough outline and filling in the numbers. Note the placement of permanent trees and other features.
  2. DRAW: Using a pencil, start creating the footprint of your garden on graph paper, determining the scale, or how many feet to each graph paper square. These squares are usually ¼”, so you can correlate the plan’s inches to garden feet, which will be the scale for your final drawing. Start in one corner of the graph paper and draw your corner measurement. Work from there and note the garden boundaries, existing plants, hardscape (walks, patios, etc.), building perimeters (including windows), and faucets. You are creating an outline of the garden area and the interior features. This first piece of graph paper is your rough drawing. 
  3. CREATE A BASE DRAWING: When you feel you have a good representation of the footprint of the garden area, copy your working base drawing onto a fresh piece of graph paper, using a pencil and ruler. Include windows, hard surfaces, and the elements that will be part of the landscape. Take a permanent black marker and go over your pencil marks, being precise and using a ruler when necessary. This is the base drawing that you will use for your design ideas. At this point make one or two copies of this base drawing on a copy machine---just in case.
  4. A BUBBLE DIAGRAM: Some people like to do a bubble diagram before they begin the design process. Take a sheet of tracing paper, lay it over the base drawing, and draw circles, or bubbles in different areas, indicating in the bubble how that area will be used. This helps direct design choices.
  5. DESIGN: Take a sheet of tracing paper and place it over your graph paper base design. Secure it with removeable tape to stabilize it. Use your pencil or marker to roughly copy your base drawing. Get out your notes on your garden use and the focal points you want to create and, using your pencil, start by filling in the FOCAL POINT plants and the plants that will frame each focal point. Add secondary focal points and their framing plants. Create LEADING LINES of plants, straight or curved, to direct the eye to that focal point. Fill in the other areas of your plan. Don’t worry about what kind of plant – at this point you are thinking about size and shape and whether the plant should be deciduous or evergreen. Scale is important. If you need a plant that will grow to 6 feet wide, use your determined scale to make that plant 6 feet wide in your drawing. (The graph paper squares make this easy.) HERE are some commonly used designs symbols for trees and shrubs. When drawing these plants, put a small x at the center where the stem or trunk would be and then use wavy or circular lines to indicate the exterior diameter. Spikey outlines indicate conifers. Taller plants are indicated with heavier outlines. In this way, shrubs can be place under tree canopies in your drawings. There are garden design plastic templates that can be used to make the plant drawings easier and more uniform. 

DESIGN PRINCIPLES: Now is the time to think about the design principles that will create a cohesive and engaging garden: UNITY, BALANCE, REPETITION, CONTRAST, THE RULE OF THIRDS, and if you want to delve a little deeper, the GOLDEN MEAN. You want to create interest by contrasting shapes and textures, and yet tie the garden elements and areas together. You want to lead the viewers eye from focal point to focal point. Remember that odd numbers are more pleasing when individual plants are distinguishable. Attend to the winter aspect of the garden area by mixing in evergreens to provide substance and interest.

At this point you are not thinking about sun vs. shade or wet vs. dry plants. You are not thinking about particular plant choices. You are thinking about where focal points and their supporting plants should be placed, and size, shape, and type of plant (evergreen or deciduous, groundcover or shrub, tree, or vine). Filling in with specific plants will come later. However, if there is are specific plants that you want or need to incorporate into your drawing you can note those, making sure that they are represented by their mature size. 
1. A corner in the back yard that needs to be landscaped.
2. Tools gathered to create the design.
3. A base drawing of the area on graph paper.
4. The design created on tracing paper.

photos by K Edgington
By using tracing paper, different versions of the design can be easily created and compared, and you will become adept at taping down a new piece of tracing paper and quickly sketching in your ideas. Sketch out a number of simple drawings and designs, and when you are happy with one in particular, take out a fresh piece of tracing paper, tape it on your base drawing, and create a final draft. Use your ruler and templates and be precise. At this point you can use alcohol or other transparent colored markers to color in the different plant material and indicate the scale and north/south direction, or you can save this step until you have made your plant choices.

Your garden design is complete, and it’s time to think about the plants that will bring your design ideas to life.

NEXT MONTH: Choosing plants for your garden design. 


K Edgington
Down and Dirty
October Checklist

  • Continue putting the garden to bed, cover with hay, or cover crop. Plant garlic.
  • Divide overcrowded perennials and plant larger trees and shrubs.
  • Plant spring bulbs. Consider something you’ve never tried before.
  • Harvest and preserve herbs for winter soups and stews.
  • Dig up tender bulbs and tubers like dahlias, canna lilies, gladiolus, and caladiums. Store in a cool, dry location. STORING TENDER BULBS FOR WINTER: Wisconsin Horticulture
  • Bring in houseplants before the nights get too cool. Keep an eye out for hitchhikers. BRINGING HOUSEPLANTS INDOORS: PennState Extension

J Gramlich
New Growth!
More learning opportunities:
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.
14th Century English Proverb
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The Root of It staff: Karen Edgington (Editor), Emma Barth-Elias (Photo Editor), Carolyn Christian, Jennifer Gramlich, Sarah Vradenburg, and Geoff Kennedy (Technical Advisor)
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