Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com September 21, 2022 Read Desert Messenger online! Sign up for free email alerts when the Desert Messenger becomes available online! Join thousands reading the paper online at: www.DesertMessengerOnline.com Gardening with Dennis STORM DAMAGE By Alex Taft As the monsoon season comes to a close, and we look at all the empty spaces that were once fi lled with trees, storage sheds and trail- ers, now missing, because of storm damage, it is an opportunity to see what held up in the storm and why. Almost never is an ironwood tree uprooted. They may have broken branches from storm damage but that is all. Often the broken branch- es stay green because they are not broken enough to stop the sap run- ning through them. Along the walking trail on Plym- outh Avenue, the trees that are gone and either broken off at the trunk or uprooted are usually Desert Mu- seum Palo Verdes. Occasionally a Palo Brea, a relative of the Palo Verde is uprooted. Examples of that are on Central Avenue. What is left standing are the trees with light canopies, and the Dalbergia Sissoo, also known as Indian Rosewood. Most of the trees that went down on Central Avenue had very thick canopies. Additional pruning might have saved them. For the trees that were broken off at the trunk by the storm, there is little hope of restoring the tree. Sometimes growth will sprout from the trunk but it is more like a short shrub than a tree. The Chaste trees weather the storm well, as well as the eucalyptus along Plymouth Ave. and Quail Trail. The less canopy a tree has, the better chance it has of surviving a monsoon wind. Trees that grow taller and narrower have a better chance of survival. For a tree that has been uprooted there is a possibility of restoring the tree. First, it is helpful if part of the tree's roots are still in the ground and unbroken. Second, it is neces- sary to prune the tree substantially so there is less weight to it. Third, the hole where the uprooted portion of the tree roots came from needs to be dug out. Next, a guide wire to pull the tree upright should be looped around the tree. Cut a piece of old hose and run it through the wire to prevent the wire from cut- ting the tree's trunk. Next, pull the tree upright and re-bury the roots that were exposed during the storm. Add two additional guide wires to hold the tree steady and stake them. Desert Messenger News offers FREE Classifi ed Ads! Here's the small print: Items for sale under $1000. Private Party Only. 1 per month. Yard/Garage/Craft Sales, Wanted, Give-a-ways, Free, Lost & Found, etc. (non-commercial) For more information, contact Rain at 928-916-4235 or Email: Editor@DesertMessenger.com Town manager meetings have changed! The public is encouraged to attennd the monthly Quartzsite Town Man- ager's Meetings, which will be held at 1:00pm on the Wednesday immedi- ately following the FIRST Town Coun- cil Meeting of every month. Bring your questions and concerns. The meetings are held at the Quartzsite Library Meeting room, 465 N. Plym- outh Ave. For more information con- tact Town Hall 928-927-4333. Town Manager meetings The former parks department was successful with this process. It is not a one- person job unless it is a small tree. For cactus such as the Saguaro, if the top was sliced off because of fl ying debris, it should recover and fi nd a way to resume its growth. If it was blown down it is probably lost unless it was a small one and can be up-righted and replanted. The large and older ones are too diffi cult to restore because of their weight. When they fall, the weight usually causes them to break apart in sev- eral places and they are lost. Storms seem to fi nd a way to change the landscape. Sometimes the loss is not recoverable. What we are left with is a way forward and an opportunity to do better, to make progress and new choices that will hopefully endure our next monsoon season well. Note: for those who did not know Dennis, he was a part-time employ- ee of the town parks department, a Master Gardener since 1985 and instructor for the Master Gardener Class. He passed away in 2018. Quartzsite Shop Small Bingo August Winner August's Quartzsite Shop Small Bingo winner is Lynn Stimson. Using the Quartzsite Shop Small Facebook group made it easy for her to know the days and hours stores were open. The September cards are avail- able at the Quartzsite Chamber Visitor Center and on Facebook. Prizes were donated by Road- runner Rocks, The Salvation Army, Quartzsite Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, Mys- tic Dreams and Spiritstone Gems. We have extra special prizes for September's winner. The Chamber is located at 1240 W. Main Street, across from Mc- Donald's. We're open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10am-2pm. 928-927-5200

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