#quite a nice challenge

[justp34chy]

Gossiping w the girlies

Gift for these lovely ppl <3

@fiishgutzzz @voorice-corp @nocturnalzhagreus

Individual pics under cut

[esilher]

New stop in Klaine’s trip around the world: Marta in Italy for @fallevs

[shkika]

the last thing mother gave me

[canisalbus]

The way you draw hands, they are so expressive. So tender looking in their intent. I'm just in awe. I'm not a religious person at all but the first word to comes to mind when seeing the hands you draw is that they are somehow holy.

Aw geez anon, you're saying the sweetest things. Thank you!

[dimsilver]

🍛

[bgsartcavern]

Vigilante, for a color palette challenge from an art discord I'm in :)

(Reblog don't repost!)

[biffybobs]

Harper resorted to updating her new simsta account from the bathroom, and when Walter found out he wasn't too impressed.

Harper Bakewell: Drama Llama aspiration, Slob + Overachiever

[pomodoriyum]

heeey could you tell me a little more about your girdling method for ligustrum? what age group is the ligustrum in when you treat ti that way and at what density in the stand? it was never a high priority target in the places i worked before just because it was in such high density monotypic stands that we didn't have the means to do followup restoration work so i never really tried a lot of control methods for it!

Hi! Thanks for the questions, I’m pretty stoked to be asked about this.

Going to start with identifying the ligustrum I girdle first, mostly for folks who don’t know what it is, where it’s native to, what it looks like, and its role in the ecosystem it comes from (and how it doesn’t fulfill those roles in the Americas). also, going under the cut because this is long.

The plant that I girdle is Ligustrum lucidum (common name: glossy privet).  It’s a shrubby tree that grows about 20-30ft tall here, and creates monoculture stands (read: it’s the only plant in the area).  Bugs don’t recognize it as food, and it tends to soak up available groundwater in such quantity that it kills our native trees during droughts due to additional stress. Where I live it’s considered invasive, though due to deregulation many types of ligustrum are used in landscaping.  Ligustrum originates from china, japan, and korea, and in these areas, it’s a fairly important plant (frequently used in nonwestern medicine, but it’s also been documented as a poison and an allergen, so….don’t try at home?).

Riparian areas–especially disturbed riparian areas–is where most escaped ligustrum is found. 

Ligustrum is notoriously difficult to remove. It’s got really large energy reserves in its root system, so if it’s cut down, the tree will re-sprout rapidly. There are ways to chemically poison it, but over vast areas that’s dangerous and very expensive.  Usually, the best method is to prevent it from entering the ecosystem in the first place– once it’s there, best efforts are really about controlling its spread rather than completely eliminating it.  I do think part of the issue is that it’s commonly used in landscaping, so there’s endless ‘stock’ revitalizing escaped populations.  Also, ligustrum leads the way for other invasive species to colonize more land, as it is extremely quick to mature and reproduce, thus choking out other native vegetation.  It’s a bit brutal to see. Anyway, it’s everywhere once you know how to spot it. 

One drop of good news: the seeds that enter soil tend to rot within the year if they don’t sprout– though, of course, individual trees may produce up to three million viable seeds. One thing they do is feed cedar waxwings, which I can’t really be upset by. However, outside of their original ranges, they don’t do much to support the new communities they’re in, and actively kill legacy trees.

Now, to your questions:

could you tell me a little more about your girdling method for ligustrum?

Sure! Very simple and satisfying. I’ve also included a video link– similar method to mine.

The goal of girdling is to disrupt energy flow from the leaves of the tree to the roots, causing the trees to starve and die. It usually take 6 months to 1 year to fully kill the tree, though I’ve seen the effects (leaf wilt, drooping) as early as 2 weeks after girdling.

Tools needed:

Paint scraper

Isopropyl alcohol in spray bottle, or soapy water

Rough sponge that’s fairly abrasive

Hedge clippers

Steps: 

Identify the tree. Look for glossy, dark green leaves with grey-green bark.  The edges of the leaves will light up when you hold them up against the sun.  The edges of the leaves are also smooth, not serrated, and they are opposite each other on the stem. Ligustrum also tends to have 2-8 mini “trunks” that support its branches. When flowering, its white, perfume-y, and the flower branches are sort of shaped like a triangle or a cone.

Their seeds are drupes, blue and similar to seeds from some species of juniper. Please don't eat them.

Clean the tree up– frequently there’s lots of growth around the base, with a bunch of tiny little branches that should be trimmed away. The hedge clippers are handy here.

Remove the outer layer of bark from one of the trunks with the paint scraper, all the way around. It should come up easily in the spring, but will resist strongly during the summer and winter.  You want to make sure that there’s at least a 5-6 inch gap between the top and bottom edges of bark. I usually go between 1 and four feet of space, when the bark is easy to peel up. This layer is about an eighth to a quarter of an inch thick, depending on the age of the tree.

Repeat this step to all of the trunks present.  Make sure that you remove the bark from all the way around each branch. This prevents it from scabbing over.

You’ll notice that the sapwood is slimy to the touch where the bark has been peeled away. This is a tissue layer responsible for generating more bark, and it must be scraped off, or else the trunk will scab over and recover.  Use the paint scraper to get rid of all of this material in a ring around the trunk, about 5-6 inches wide.  If you miss any, it will start drying a dark brown color on top of the lighter sapwood, and is easy to spot.

Make sure to remove all leaves and non-girdled branches that are below the cut / where the ring of bark was removed. This prevents sugars from being created by leaves that are still connected to the roots.

Finally, take your spray bottle of isopropyl and spritz each girdled band all the way around, and scrub it in with the abrasive sponge.

Congrats! It’s been girdled!

The tree will likely try to sprout new growth underneath the girdle bands over the next year. If you return and remove them before the stems become woody, the tree will die.

what age group is the ligustrum in when you treat ti that way and at what density in the stand?

I’ve girdled trees that are fully mature (30ft) as well as smaller saplings that are still part of the understory (8-10 ft).  Typically, I prioritize removing ligustrum within 20 ft of our legacy trees (oaks, pecans, hackberry that range between 50-200 yrs old). The project area’s pretty large, and has stands of trees with various percent ligustrum, probably between 10% ligustrum at the least affected areas and 85-95% ligustrum in most affected areas.  Most of my work has focused on areas with less than 50% ligustrum monoculture.  I’ve noticed that smaller trees tend to die faster when girdled, while more mature trees need to be checked frequently to prevent regrowth. This is probably due to large amounts of stored energy in the roots. 

 A lot of follow up is needed for these plants– about half of the ligustrum I’ve girdled so far has actually died, while the other half (while severely injured and on the way out) have needed new growth removed from their bases at least once, if not twice so far.  It’s a highly intensive process, and probably isn’t suited for large scale restoration projects, unless endless time and money is available. I just happen to be the right flavor of nuts to do this in my free time. You’ll need to check girdled trees at least once every three months for a year or so.

One thing that kills ligustrum pretty effectively are temperatures below 15 degrees F for a week or more, though larger trees will recover from the damage. Those kinds of temperatures clear out small 4-5 ft trees decently, and guarantee death for the 3ft bushes. If you figure out a way to selectively control the weather, let me know.

For trees below 4 feet, I use a tree puller to uproot them. It’s more efficient than girdling.  Also, snails really like climbing up ligustrum when it rains, so watch out not to smash them!

Thanks for the questions, feel free to reach out for more info!

Photos are from wiki commons and creative commons.

[incrediblysalt]

Irelian Toughhorns, Automaton Nephilim Barbarian

Irelian Toughhorns was crafted from pure marble to be a perfect intimidating and immovable guard. While she carries a javelin, her horns tend to be her preferred weapon in combat.

Did a fun character design challenge with my partner where we took turns adding one feature at a time to build a character! And being the Pathfinder nerd they are they wanted to build her an official sheet too lmao

[masonscig]

dom avalos of tangerine dagger 🍊🗡️

yes dom uses the band’s instagram like a diary. yes she is a private person. she exists

template

[frostios]

Enjoying the dlc so far but my biggest gripe. The starfall sequence that you cant turn off like you can do with the slots in the base game. So your screen is just fully filled with bright neon lights that make focusing on whatever task youre doing so much harder. Not to mention the fucking strobing if you happen to pick up the item!!!!!!!!!! I literally have to put my controller down and just wait the sequence out to be able to play. WHOS idea was this

[vibrantfoxart]

Palette-uary Day 1 - 3

original prompt from Tailsteak on twitter (image + rambles below the cut)

I meant to post these so much sooner but i forgot > < aaaaa

It's actually been soo long since I'd done limited palette drawings before these but it's genuinely one of my favorite art exercises~ this was another instance of me not fully finishing an art challenge but it was very fun to experiment again nonetheless and I'll probably come back to these just for fun ^^

[sskk-manifesto]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[gear-station-clerk]

Texted my boss and told her what happened. Of course she didn't take it seriously until I joined a video conference. I'm. Still a bit shaken up, but I can't let that show right now. Have to remain calm. We have to figure out how I'll keep my job until I return to normal.

... If I turn back to normal. No. Don't worry about that. Just need to get through today.

[gametriprant]

...

[knowlesian]

love that on my Morally Reprehensible Cannibals show the most horrifying person around is a cop they introduced this season

i hate him so much he fills me with incandescent rage he is the walking avatar for incredibly banal wrongdoing in a world where people are constantly doing the weirdest crimes you’ve ever seen and i can’t wait for him to die.