Charles Seha M.A.

05/10/2026

Your 'Weeds' Are Actually Soil Surgeons. Learn more here -> https://www.ecosnippets.com/environmental/using-dandelions-to-fix-compacted-soil/

05/09/2026

Have been seeing this a lot. Mostly from "Professional" grounds keepers.

The mulch piled up against tree trunks in American landscapes — the volcano shape — is one of the most widespread tree-killing practices in residential gardening. And it is visible in most neighbourhoods across the country. 🌳

Here is what it actually does:

Tree bark is designed to be exposed to air. When mulch is piled against the trunk and kept constantly moist, the bark begins to decay. Fungal pathogens enter through the softened bark. Root girdling develops — a root circling the trunk base through the moist mulch layer that physically strangles the tree over 10 to 15 years.

The damage is completely invisible until the tree begins to decline — by which point the vascular system is already compromised.

The correct mulch ring:
✓ Flat donut shape — not a volcano
✓ 2 to 3 inches deep maximum
✓ Extends outward to the drip line
✓ 6-inch gap maintained between mulch and trunk bark
✓ Trunk flare always visible above the soil line

04/22/2026

The mulch covering most American garden beds and foundation plantings looks like wood chips but often is not. Dyed mulch — the bright red, black, and dark brown material sold by the cubic yard at every home improvement store and landscape supply — is frequently manufactured from recycled construction and demolition waste: ground-up pallets, old decking, demolished building frames, and shipping crates. The dye is applied to make inconsistent source material look uniform, and the color is the only thing that is consistent about it. 🌿

The issue is not the dye itself — iron oxide (red) and carbon black are generally considered low-risk colorants. The issue is what the wood was before it was ground up and dyed. Construction pallets are routinely treated with methyl bromide or heat treatment chemicals. Demolished decking may contain CCA (chromated copper arsenate) preservative from pre-2004 lumber. Old painted wood carries lead-based paint residue. Shipping crates may have been treated with fungicides for international transport. Grinding this material into mulch and coloring it does not remove the chemicals — it distributes them across a larger surface area in direct contact with your soil.

Mulch materials to avoid around food crops and in sensitive areas:

Dyed mulch (red, black, brown) — recycled source material of unknown origin. The dye masks wood quality so you cannot identify what the original material was. A piece of CCA-treated lumber looks identical to untreated pine once it is ground to chips and dyed black. The chemical risk is unverifiable because the supply chain is opaque. For ornamental beds away from edibles the risk is lower. For vegetable gardens, berry patches, herb beds, and any area where children or pets play in the mulch, avoid dyed products entirely.

Rubber mulch — made from shredded recycled tires. Contains zinc, cadmium, and petroleum-derived compounds that leach into soil when wet, particularly in heat. Marketed as permanent and w**d-suppressing, but the chemicals it releases are the same ones that make old tires an environmental hazard in landfills. The EPA has flagged concerns about rubber mulch in playground and garden settings.

Thick uncomposted grass clippings — fresh grass piled more than two inches deep goes anaerobic within days. The interior of the mat heats up, ferments, and produces alcohols and organic acids that kill the plants underneath. The sour smell of rotten grass clippings is the signature of anaerobic decomposition. Apply grass clippings in thin layers no more than one to two inches deep and let each layer dry before adding more.

Black plastic sheeting in vegetable beds — suppresses w**ds effectively but overheats root zones in summer, prevents gas exchange between soil and atmosphere, and degrades into microplastic fragments that persist in the soil indefinitely. Commercial vegetable farms use black plastic for specific short-term w**d suppression and remove it after the season. Leaving it permanently degrades soil biology.

Landscape fabric — marketed as a permanent w**d barrier but breaks down under UV and foot traffic within two to three years into strips of synthetic material that tangle in soil, wrap around roots, and persist as microplastic contamination. Weeds eventually root through or on top of the fabric, and removing the degraded material from an established bed is nearly impossible without disturbing every plant in it.

Mulch materials that are safe and effective:

Untreated wood chips from tree service companies — the gold standard for paths and ornamental beds. Many tree services give chips away for free because disposal costs them money. The chips come from identifiable source trees with no chemical treatment. Arborist chips that include leaves, bark, and small branches decompose faster and feed soil biology more effectively than uniform bark chips.

Shredded leaves — the best free mulch available to any homeowner with deciduous trees. Run over a pile with a lawn mower to shred them. Shredded leaves interlock without matting, allow rain to pe*****te, and break down into dark humus within a single season. Whole unshredded leaves mat flat and repel water.

Straw — clean, w**d-free, and ideal around vegetables where you want to keep fruit off wet soil. Straw around tomatoes, strawberries, and squash reduces splash-borne disease and keeps produce clean. Hay is not the same — hay contains grass seeds.

Pine needles — naturally acidic, excellent drainage, and interlock without compacting. Ideal around blueberries, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Contrary to popular belief, pine needles do not dramatically acidify neutral soil — they maintain existing acidity in already-acidic beds.

Cardboard — a free w**d barrier that lasts three to six months before earthworms incorporate it into the soil. Use plain brown cardboard under any organic mulch to block persistent w**ds. Remove all tape and staples.

The cheapest mulch and the most expensive mulch on the lot can look identical once the dye is applied. The difference is what is inside

04/11/2026

White clover was not originally the enemy of the American lawn.
For decades, it was part of the plan.

That changes the way a spring yard looks.

Until the 1950s, white clover was commonly included in lawn seed mixes across the United States because it did useful work. It fed bees with small nectar-rich flowers. It pulled nitrogen from the air through bacteria in its roots and helped enrich the soil around the grasses growing beside it. It also stayed green through heat and dry spells better than many conventional turf grasses.

Clover became a problem later, when broadleaf herbicides were marketed for lawns and the plant those chemicals removed needed a new reputation. A mixed lawn of grass and clover had once been normal. Then uniformity became the goal.

So the little white flowers at the lawn's edge are not signs of neglect.
They are a memory of a yard that knew how to help itself.

04/11/2026

The American lawn is the largest irrigated crop in the country.

40 MILLION acres.
More than corn. More than wheat. More than any food crop.

-> 9 BILLION gallons of water per day
-> 90 MILLION pounds of pesticides per year
-> 2 BILLION dollars in lawn care chemicals annually
-> $100+ billion total annual spending on lawn maintenance
-> Mowing produces more pollution per hour than driving a car

What a lawn provides ecologically:

-> Almost nothing.
-> Turf grass is not native to North America
-> It provides no food for pollinators (no flowers)
-> No food for birds (no seeds, no berries, no caterpillars)
-> No shelter for wildlife (too short, too exposed)
-> Pesticide-treated lawns are actively TOXIC to visiting wildlife

The alternative:

-> Convert even 10% of your lawn to native plants
-> A 10x10 foot patch of native wildflowers supports 50+ insect species
-> Native shrubs provide nesting sites and berries
-> Clover lawns fix nitrogen (free fertilizer) and feed bees
-> Reduce mowing to bi-weekly, raise mowing height to 4 inches
-> Let it be a little 'messy' — that's what 'alive' looks like

40 million acres.

Imagine if even half of it was alive.

The largest conservation opportunity in America is your front yard. 🌱
:

04/11/2026

Planting a tree seems simple until you see one struggle a year later.

Most of the time, it is not the tree.
It is how it went into the ground.

A few things I always pay attention to:

1. Call before you dig.
It is easy to forget, but buried utility lines are not something you want to guess on.

2. Pick it up by the root ball, not the trunk.
That part matters more than people think, especially with younger trees.

3. Make the hole wide, not just deep.
I usually go much wider than the root ball so the roots can spread out easier.

4. Watch the planting depth.
One of the biggest mistakes is setting the tree too low.
The trunk flare should stay a little above soil level, not buried.

5. Backfill gently.
I like using the native soil in most cases and pressing it in just enough to remove big air pockets.

6. Keep mulch away from the trunk.
Mulch helps hold moisture, but piling it against the bark can cause problems later.
A little space around the trunk is always better.

I’ve learned that a tree planted right from day one usually establishes faster and gives you a lot less trouble later.

Have you ever planted a tree that did really well, or one that struggled?

04/05/2026

🌿KITCHEN GARDENS🥕
*I was taught to always use the proper tool, and that each tool had its proper place. Kitchen gardens are designed as much to be a tool as a resource. They are a tool for healthy eating, for teaching household botany and resource management; and for untold centuries, their place was right outside the kitchen door for easy access. In them, we cultivate the nearest and dearest herbs and vegetables for our tables and medicine cabinets. We raise generations of children who help sow the seeds and run out to harvest sprigs for the soup kettle and teapot. Together, we learn the flavors, medicinal properties, and cultural needs of plants used in daily household botany.
Early books of husbandry and housewifery recommended raised
beds in repeating four-square patterns radiating out along a path
from the kitchen door. According to other primary sources and pictorial evidence, raised beds, approximately eight to twelve inches tall, were filled with a blend of rich compost and composted manure.

Most were four feet wide and either four or eight feet in length. For
ease of working and harvesting the rows of vegetables or greens
within, one- to four-foot pathways of low-growing fragrant herbs,
sand, or gravel filled the space between raised beds.
Beyond the kitchen garden, compost and wood piles, laundry
and chicken yards, and privies would be further distant but still
within the confines of the garden fence, within sight of the home.

Historically in many places, a garden fence was required of the
homeowner by law to protect crops from neighboring animals and
people; the fence also created a safety net for chickens, children, and produce. We can still see evidence of gardens and homesteads like these around old cellar holes and often even in our own backyards—an errant patch of mint, thyme in a lawn, or daylilies that once bordered a path or foundation growing in a row.
In my own kitchen gardens, I usually build raised beds for
perennial plants from stone; I have annual salad greens and veg in
wooden raised beds, or just simple hilled earth with paths between.
Root crops are in either wood or stone raised beds so long as they are one to two feet deep, to provide maximum clearance for deep-rooted plants like carrots, turnips, and salsify.

I can’t say that I always put tools back in their proper place. My
idea of a proper place is one that is convenient and accessible to
me. For the same reason my kitchen gardens have not always fallen
in line with prescribed method. Some have cropped up in a side or
front yard, in pots on a balcony, in window boxes, or in a community garden down the street. Whatever inspires you to grow and eat your own veg is the perfect answer to what your kitchen garden should look like—a delicious labor of love!

Kitchen Garden - Hans Weidig. Dutch woodcut artist 15th century.


*From my book, available at your local bookstore, or as an audiobook or hardcover here: https://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Gardener-Traditional-Plants-Skills/dp/1604699930/?

04/04/2026

🌱 TILLING VS NO-DIG GARDENING 🌱

1️⃣ Tilling method
Mixes soil layers and disrupts natural structure.

2️⃣ Root damage
Breaks root systems and disturbs soil life.

3️⃣ Microorganism loss
Reduces beneficial organisms in the soil.

4️⃣ No-dig method
Keeps soil layers intact and supports ecosystems.

5️⃣ Healthy soil life
Encourages worms and beneficial microbes.

6️⃣ Strong root systems
Allows continuous and natural growth.

7️⃣ Long-term benefit
Improves soil health and sustainability.

03/20/2026

Native plants and ecological design have been the rage for quite a while and I started into it way before it became a fad.
Often, I like to use the good ole pioneer plants our ancestors brought with them.
Peonies, Lilacs, Spireas, Iris, etc.
What do you think?

03/20/2026

A lot of landscapers fiddle around with glacial boulders that end up buried in shrubbery,
Instead of a truck load of small boulders I like to do a few large ones sympathetically placed to look more natural.
These are all several tons each.
The smallest should be about waist high.

02/08/2026

Just when I was going to retire and go fishing and finish a book:
A couple years worth of good projects with great clients show up. The endorphin rush of building landscapes is an addiction I can't shake.