Mulch volcano on Martha! Oh no!

I was watching Martha this morning (Feb 28) and they promo'd a "proper way to apply mulch" story that I guess will run on Wednesday's show (March 1). They showed a picture of a little tree with a mulch volcano at the bottom!! Oh no! Surely that picture will ultimately serve as the "what NOT to do" example. Guess we'll find out.

Hmmm, perhaps she was behind bars too long and felt the need to sentence another living thing to an untimely demise? She seems to surround herself with decent staff so here's hoping that will be a how not to mulch example. Her real test will be what types of mulches she chooses. Will she or will she not steer clear of Cedars and the vaporized oils associated with them?

Martha is a great woman. She might have some severe personality things but don't we all. She survived all that our federal government threw at her and came out ready to go. She never looked back. What she was acused of is what every person in Washington does every day with their investments. They trade on legislation that is unknown to the regular investor. How do you think they all get rich. Insider trading. Really.

Well that settles it. When I grow up I wanna be just like Martha.

No from a business perspective she is a survivor. She visited a friend of mine's nursery. Herronswood and Dan told me that she was short on time so she brought out a helicopter and there was no place to land but on some of his neighbors property. The pilot told her that it was improper and she said Land. Well it was in the spring and herronswood is quite wet. Well the copter sunk into the ground and had to be taken apart to haul out. Or at least that was the story. He likes Martha but she is tough on her people around her.

She's evil, and hated by the horticulture industry. Many were screwed by her plant programs, from growers to guys that make the pots. I am sure she can spin her head around completely and spew pea soup.

Kevin,

that would be pea soup with a hint of bay leaf and a small touch of creamy butter to thicken to the perfect consistancy and texture...

lol.....very good!

I thought she and Trump were a "marriage made in heaven". Dueling egos. Not a ounce of humility in either one.

She does have a reputation for being "Ming The Merciless" when it comes to her staff. And she is definitely a shrewd business woman.

This is turning into a really funny thread, regardless of how any one of us feels about little Martha. I see valid points here on all sides, and I love Patrick's tasteful recipe for vomit! Joolz, be sure to give us the update after you see the show.
And Equil, no need to worry -- you'll never grow up!

Guy S.

All I can say is that I was saying "It's a good thing" since circa 1976. I wonder if she has "my" phrased trademarked? No matter. I never say it anymore since I found she does. Who are all those people willing to take a half hour to make a cup of cocoa anyway?

I am a capitalist who planned my life around Ayn Rand's two books Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and I respect anyone who can survive the business world. Albeit that they often fail in the personal world, that still makes me respect them. We all, if studied closely and enviously, would look pretty ugly to the masses through the unforgiving press.
Judge Martha not that you will be judged in the same way. I always say to myself.

And yet, you shall know them by their fruit..... and I'm not talkin compote here!

Yes so true. But just think maybe God encourages capitalists. Just look how he blesses his chosen people. Abraham never went for want of sheep. Issac was blessed for theivery. Joseph worked for the richest man in the world and got paid well etc. Though you cannot be considered a capitalist if you give it all away to those you choose. There are many who don't do what is right but that is their problem not mine. Maybe Martha did something to help someone. One I know is all of us who shop at Herronswood Nursery. Dan Hinkley was a nobody until Martha started showing what he was doing. So indirectly she has blessed us all.

Yikes! I missed the show! Did anybody see the mulch demo?

I saw it, I saw it! One of those fat chickens, you know with the feathers on the feet, took a break from laying those awful pastel teal and robin's blue eggs, sauntered over and scratched the mulch away from the trunk into a perfect circle. It was a very good thing. :>) Ken

That's good Ken!

Last time I was in Stein's that had some Martha books for sale from the early 80's before she sold out and had a perm then. I can't really dump on her too much because if I could do something I like for a buttload of money - I'd probably do it too.
Al

Oh my word, this thread started off talking about mulch and then got to tearing Martha apart. She did get some of the very young housewives into thinking that gardening, housekeeping and cooking were art and for that I give her credit.
Now, on the subject of mulch. If you should buy any within the next year, please check where it came from. Tons and tons of trees were mulched by the Corps of Engineers after Hurricane Katrina and some companies bought up the mulch. About 50 tons were mulched 5 minutes away from my house. Many of those trees that were felled by Katrina were termite infested. Buyer beware.

For heaven's sake, this thread started off talking about mulch then got to be a big discussion about Martha. I give her credit for one thing---she got the young marrieds to thinking that gardening, cooking and home decorating was an art and for that I am grateful. Pretty became a household word again.
Now for the mulch part. Buyer beware. Following Katrina tons and tons of trees were turned into mulch by the Corps of Engineers--there was a site 5 minutes from my house. Some companies bought it. Many of the trees that were felled by Katrina were termite ridden. Before you buy mulch in the next year, read from whence it came. And, whatever you do, don't build mulch into a volcano around your trees. That is not a good thing.

There is something going around the web today regarding the Formosan termite scare. Apparently it's mostly a scam because the likelyhood of a viable termite colony being moved in packaged wood chips is about zero, and it's not likely to be a problem anyway except in the Deep South where they can survive the winter. But pallets and other solid wood items made from green waste lumber might be a whole 'nuther story, and if they do manage to get into your house up north the winter temperatures might not be able to nail them once inside.

Regardless, check out any mulch you buy this year, and if in doubt as to its origin, leave it in the bag and let it bake in the sun for a few days (to at least 120 degrees F.) to kill all insects. Better still, use locally generated chips, from your friendly arborist or utility line clearance crew.

By the way, unlike the northern subterranean termites, Formosan termites can eat live trees and don't need direct contact with the soil (via the usual termite tubes) to survive. Bad, bad critters.

Guy S.

Guy, THANKS! You brought up a lot of things I never would have thought of! I love this forum, and I'm so glad to have "found" you again. (I always loved reading your posts on GW, and was sad when you left. Anyway, thanks to Dave for giving Guy a happy forum!)
--Joulz

Thank you Joulz, but I learn as much here as anyone else, and I think having your photos and wit available here now is a big plus for this site! I used to think it would be fun to have an in-person GW Tree Forum convention. Every year I meet a few more participants, and it just reinforces that wish. I still would love to do that, but with this crowd now. Short of that, I hope everyone will post info and a photo on their personal data pages so that we all can get to know one another better.

Guy S.

Back at the ol' Garden Party, in the mid-to-late'90s, Martha was frequently likened to 'The Antichrist'. I still think of her in that light.

I received an e-mail that was a spoof on her being a domestic goddess. It was a series on how she beautified her jail cell using not so ordinary and not so readily available items. I printed that out and took it to breakfast with me and passed it around to my lady friends because I thought it was the the silliest darn thing. My friends do not view her in a favorable light because she has a repuation for being abusive to subordinates.

I would agree that she spurred many of us on to viewing our homes as blank palettes worthy of investing time in to turn into sanctuaries and I must admit I have done quite a few of her craft projects and they turned out quite nicely. Some of her projects are a bit over the top but then again, one can always choose to flip the page and use her material as ideas. I'm not too creative so I appreciate people who are. And, I am not one of those people who is willing to take a half hour to make a cup of cocoa either

Would she put any of her products at K-Mart in her own house? I think not ! LOL

OK I'm jumping back in. I love Martha and I am impressed at her ability to entertain and lead we gardeners in areas that are universally enjoyed. She gives us something to watch in a gardening forum that pays for the sponsors to advertise. IE Kmart, Home Depot, Scotts, etc. I want more! Refer to this site. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/572301/

Sofer, "collect indigenous plants for profit" ? ? ? You bad boy you!

I forgot about that thread. I stumbled upon it once quite by accident. I'd still like to know if anyone was able to prove that birds were a reservoir for influenza.

Martha bashing. One could have a whole series on that. How mean she is, how devilish she can be. And how much of it is hogwash!

I personally know somebody who worked for Ms. Stewart. My friend's dad was featured on the show about potatoes in Maine, and Martha stayed at Tom's house that night. (I've known Tom & family since I was about 13.) Tom's wife, Rachael is no slouch when it comes to homemaking, decorating, etc. and she was terrible frightened of hosting Martha, as one can imagine. Well, Rachael says that she was a perfect guest, not picky, not prima-dona-like at all. Rachael's daughter, who worked in accounting at MSLiving, will be the first to tell you that Martha does not tolerate fools gladly. If you tell her that you can provide 12 perfect pink roses, don't show up with 11 perfect ones and a broken stemmed posey. Likewise, if you make a mistake, the first time is a mistake. The second time you make the same 'mistake', it is not.

So far as some of the stuff written about her, here is one example of a distorted story: Do you remember when Martha was reported to have cussed out a poor lost soul who had the temerity to turn around in her driveway? How the poor people in the car were threatened with arrest for "innocently" trespassing? The fact is that a local person offered to show some out of town people where Martha lives (part-time) not far from Bar Harbor, ME. The driveway is over a 1/2 mile long, and it is posted well in advance because of the hordes who descend on her estate in the tourist season. The man was caught almost at the house, professing being lost and needing only to turn around. Fact is, he could have turned around on the public way, he knew who lived there (he was a local), and had figured that nobody was home because he had done this before. But, the story that goes out is how this poor 'regular guy', lost and only wanting to retrace his steps, was savaged by this billionaire witch. Sometimes the media just wants a good story and won't let the facts get in the way. BTW, I believe the man was convicted of simple tresspass, as well he should have been.

Yes, she is a public person. Yes, she is not perfect. But she does deserve a private life. So far as having her K-Mart collection at home, the lady who used to work for her say she definitely does use her own line of stuff where possible. Unlike many of the celebs who tell you to eat Wheaties (or whatever) but never do themselves, this is one thing that she can't be accused of.

Guy, thanks for commenting on the 'Termites in the mulch' controversy. I found that a little hard to believe that termites could travel and survive that way, but other insects such as Long Horn Beetles and Emerald Ash Borer have been able to migrate to North America through wood products, so I was skeptical... These days, I rarely use any commercially produced mulch. Instead, I gather leaves and Pine needles at the curb in neighborhoods where the City offers curbside pick up of yard debris if you rack it onto the road. My 'in town' house is located in such a neighborhood, and is populated with every kind of tree I could want leaves from, so I have an abundance of leaf piles to gather. I'm sure my neighbors laugh when they see me take their leaves, but I am happy to have all the free mulch! To me, throwing your leaves out is akin to throwing your soil away. I collected 25 paper yard bags full last Fall. Along with what I collected from my own trees, I had enough to cover all the beds that needed replenishing at my country property where the beds are mostly new, two years or less old. And I have seven barrels of Pine needles that I have saved for this Spring's overhaul of a large front border. I realize this isn't something that commercial landscapers can do easily, but it works well for me. I would rather send the money on plants than mulch, any day.

Such a controversial woman. I just hope she keeps up with her magazine. I like many of her projects. I have some of her mixing bowels from K-Mart, we bought my MIL a nice little patio table and chairs set, and I'm sure I've got other things around here that are from Martha Stewart's line. I gotta tell you I was totally unimpressed with her canned/bagged "wildflower" mixes that were sold in Lawn and Garden Depts of K-Marts across the Country. No excuses for some of the plants I saw listed on that label. Looked to me as if many of the wildflowers offered in her gardening display were no better than some of those offered by Ferry Morse Quick and Easy seed shaker cans. Oh goodie; let's all shake out Bachelor Buttons, Oxeye daisies, and possibly other noxious weeds so that they can get an even better foothold in our landscapes and natural areas. If my recollection serves me, sometimes it doesn't, those were two seeds included in the Martha Stewart wildflower mix.

I couldn't find information on what seeds were contained in her wildflower mixes but check out what Ferry Morse's definition of wildflower is here before they go on to state that, "Wildflower plantings utilize native and naturalized species (whether annual, perennial or biennial) from various areas of the country to create a natural-looking garden effect". Interesting
http://www.ferry-morse.com/gc_wildflowers.asp

Here is my small contribution to this discussion. Those $10.00 Martha Stewart hand pruners are excellent. Not quite Felcos, but a great value.

Scott

Louisiana imposed a quarantine for material that may contain the Formosan subterranean termite last fall. It is not going to be turning up at you local box store in bags of mulch.

Martha may create a recipe for a sautéed Termite canapé so they may actually show up in your local supermarket. Keep them chilled.

Wayne

I could never saute a termite. their screams would be too much for me. I would have to close the oven door and broil them.