By Robin Y Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. Myth #1: “Topping” and “Lacing” are valid arboricultural pruning terms… They are not. DO NOT TOP YOUR TREES! Topping is destructive tree mutilation. You won’t find either term in the older ANSI A300 tree care standards or the 2023 updates. Although heavy crown-reduction in orchards may appear to ease fruit harvesting, the wounds increase risk of disease, sun scald and incur yearly high-maintenance - assumed by a grower

By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2026. Washingtonia filifera proving their resilience, even to wildfires, within their natural habitat in Anza Borrego. Photo: Tony Gurnoe. An Update, a Suggestion and a Request Several years ago, in “Diamonds Are Not a Palm’s Best Friend,” (SDHS Newsletter of November 2021) I wrote about California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) suffering from diamond scale in coastal San Diego County. The palms pictured with that article p

By Robin Y Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! August 2026. Banana Flower Close-up - Musa paradisiaca (Musa acuminata x balbisiana). Ruestz, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons. Are bananas as we know them doomed? Probably yes. Considering it’s the most popular and widely distributed fruit in the world, that ought to be a scary thought. Wild vs. Commercial Bananas. Composite image by ryrivet for SDHS 2026. What’s up? Bananas use

By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2026. Oakcrest Park entrance, February 2009. Image snipped from Google Maps by the Chartreuse Appreciation Society. America's First Urban Forest Xylarium Proposal Summary Encinitas has the opportunity to create what is likely be the first Urban Forest Xylarium in the United States—a permanent collection of wood specimens, tree cross-sections, photographs, and historical records documenting the trees that have shaped our community

By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2026. Oakcrest Park entrance, February 2009. Image snipped from Google Maps by the Chartreuse Appreciation Society. Adios amiga. West of the entrance to Oakcrest Park. April 2026. Photo credit: Chartreuse Appreciation Society. The Case of the Collapsing Canopy California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California is home to the Urban Forest Ecosystem Institute (UFEI). UFEI exists to research and share knowledge abou

By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! April 2026. Cherry Tree Grafting Calyponte , CC BY-SA 4.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons. Graft Smart - Don’t Grift Grafting is not mysterious. Like other forms of plant propagation, success requires knowledge of biology

By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. City of Encinitas 6281ETREE p re-construction, notice sidewalk and bench. Photo courtesy of the “Chartreuse Appreciation Society”. Don’t Park Your Baby Buggy Under City of Encinitas 6281ETREE Like many human relationships, with trees the relationship between a tree’s above ground parts (A) and below ground parts (B) is complicat

By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. Photo credit: LadyCamera, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Are Your Trees Climate Ready? Valentine’s Day is looming, but February 2nd is Groundhog Day . Although we have ample sunshine for groundhogs to see their shadow, where are all the woodchucks? Duh. There aren’t any marmots in San Diego ( unless you count the one that hitch-hiked from NorCal in 2009 ). So how do

By Tim Clancy, for Let's Talk Plants! January 2026. Expansive Empty Parking Lot with a Single Tree Under Clear Blue Sky - Urban Planning Concept Stock Illustration - Illustration of commercial, landscape: 329009840 Royalty free - AI generated. It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature Down at the City of Encinitas (COE) headquarters (HQ) the bureaucrats have been busy creating policies and legislation about trees. They are currently debating the finer points of … A) a Native Plant

By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! December 2025. Turkey Tails - Trametes versicolor - fruiting body on rotting tree log. Bernard Spragg – Flickr Pro: https://www.flickr.com/photos/volvob12b/41856600312 . Urban Tree Observations: Conks, Stains, Saps and Bugs In October, I wrote about abiotic tree mishaps – especially those inflicted on urban trees by well-meaning humans. Many were preventable, so please re-read that essay if you’re a DIYer, as many of those failures

By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! November 2025. Located on 101 in Solana Beach. Representative of which species? Photo credit: Chartreuse Appreciation Society. Travel Advisory – PODOCARPUS SPECIES Destination: Coastal Region of Encinitas, California Advisory Level: Level 3 – Exercise Increased Caution Summary: Podocarpus specimens are advised to exercise increased caution when choosing the coastal area of San Diego County as permanent growing locations due to inhospita

By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let's Talk Plants! October 2025. Jacaranda tree loses its foliage before blooming in May. Nearby trees have already leafed out. "SelecTree. UFEI. " Jacaranda mimosifolia Tree Record." 1995-2025. Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. Is That Tree Really Sick? “I think my tree is dying”. Sadly, this is a common lament for far too many residents. Decline of urban trees often arises from largely preventable abiotic causes. Environmentally stressed tr

By Karen England, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2025. Pomegranate, photo credit: WiX stock photo. I have been a regular speaker on the subject of herbs for close to thirty years and in that time, I have always enjoyed surprising audience after audience with just how herbal the entire plant world is and has been for millennia. Seeing people’s minds become “blown” (it looks much like the emoji 🤯 ) as I give my talks is a perk of my job, it’s better than television. One such

TREES, PLEASE! Your Nose Knows to Sense Scents