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Each fall there is no escaping the crunch of the smashed hulls of fallen black walnuts under our tires as we cruise back and forth in our cars along Pasturegate Lane. For those of you who don’t know what a black walnut is, it is a generic term for the wild walnuts native to North America. Black walnuts are related to hickory nuts and butternuts. There is one main species east of the Rockies, one of which grows along Pasturegate Lane between the horse stables and the “Honeymoon Suite.” Every Autumn this tree provides a bounty of nuts that typically are left to rot on the ground. This year I considered picking up the fallen walnuts and processing them rather than letting them go to waste. Ever eager to learn,…

Estimates are in on the cost of treating our ash trees against the emerald ash borer.  According to Deborah who received an estimate from Mike Henrietta, a landscaper, the cost for treating the two trees that shade the two recently-installed memorials are as follows:Colony Drive Bench Tree - $429; Pasturegate Road Gazebo Tree - $312.Sub-total:  $741.  Total: $370.50 (with funding through the the Virginia Forestry half-cost share program).Mike advises that the trees may need to be treated every 2-3 years for about ten years. The emerald ash borer comes through in a wave, killing all ash trees and then dying out for lack of a food source. At that point landowners may be able to stop treating the trees and monitor them only.  Also, less costly treatments are in development, hopefully…