Charlie: Hi there, Charlie here. Communications Manager for Cornell Cooperative Extension and this is my little pet project 'Good Work, New York!' a podcast where we're talking about all the good work that happens here in Rockland County, the Hudson Valley, and New York State. And today I have with me two special guests to my right I have Mr. Stuart. Say hello.

Stuart: Hello.

Charlie: Mr. Stuart please introduce yourself.

Stuart: I'm Stu Leventhal from Down to Earth Living in Pomona, New York.

Charlie: And Down to Earth Living is a garden is a garden center and nursery?

Stuart: A garden center and nursery.

Charlie: And you have some wonderful samples here and we're actually here specifically because of this wonderful garden demonstration that you have behind us. Miss Kristen to my left. Please introduce yourself.

Kristen: Hello I'm Kristen Ossmann I'm the Horticulture Resource Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rockland County.

Charlie: Today we are out and about in this wonderful garden and it is a special garden showcasing Japanese maples. Mr. Stuart, why did you make a garden showcasing these wonderful trees?

Stuart: Japanese maples have been my love since the day I discovered them, and as I became more and more involved with Japanese maples I learned of the great variety of sizes shapes and colors that they come in.

Charlie: That's true. you just have a few samples of the all the different varieties that are available, and there's every shape and every color and every size kind of tree you could ever ask for. How many varieties do you have?

Stuart: There are approximately 28 varieties of Japanese maples in this garden, and they range and have it from very diminutive species such as Acer palmatum 'Beni Hemi' which grows approximately 2 inches a year to Bloodgood maple which is a red leaf Japanese maple that will ultimately grow to about 15 feet high and 15 feet wide.

Charlie: That's great so these trees that are here they're on display Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and they're gonna be up until about October 20th. It's free for the public to come and tour and it is just breathtaking. I had a nice little private tour with Stuart before and there are just so many varieties, isn't that right?

Kristen: Yeah it's beautiful!

Charlie: Now Kristin and I have talked in the past about things called invasive species but even though the Japanese maple which is obviously from Asia is not native to this area, it's not a threat invasive species?

Kristen: No, not whatsoever. Unlike the Norway maple which is an invasive in the area, the Japanese maples have no invasive threat.

Charlie: That's great and we are also talking about how these trees are not the best reproducers of their traits right they when they have little plant pod babies they come out looking a little different?

Kristen: Yeah I mean they don't, Japanese maples are grafted trees and so their seed pods aren't going to come up the exact same as what you would see.

Charlie: And that's because of genetics? So Mr. Stuart, can you explain what a grafted tree is?

Stuart: A grafted tree is a tree that has the root stock of one species and a branching structure of another species.

Charlie: So basically you're taking a tree that might not be the most suited to an environment and attaching it to a root system that is more suited to the environment?

Stuart: Not exactly. The root system as well as the top growth of the tree are viable in the environment we're in. Why we graft trees is because of the characteristics of the branching structure, the color, and leaf quality of one tree that may not be viable in all environments but once grafted on to a root stock which is viable, then entire tree becomes viable.

Charlie: Great, so there are so many different varieties of these Japanese Maples How did they all come to be?

Stuart: There are people in Japan and Asia that are dedicated to scouring the mountains and valleys of those countries looking for unique kinds of trees. Unique in terms of the color of the leaves, the shape of their leaves, the quality of the color of their leaves. They hunt these trees and they found that the only way they could bring the beauty of all these trees to a wider audience was to be able to graft -which means they take a piece of the tree they've discovered and attach it to a root stock which is viable under all conditions and allow it and to mature with the branch and color characteristics of the leaf stock.

Charlie: Very interesting. So this garden is open again through October 20th or so, and it's free to the public. Tt's just beautiful. There are so many things to see, there water features, there are sculptures, there of course all the different specimens that are here. You should really make an effort to come on out to Down to Earth Living in Pomona, New York and see this wonderful garden. And that's our episode for today and I thank mr. Stuart for inviting us and giving us a private little tour of the garden, and we'll be back next week with another episode of 'Good Work, New York!' and that's some good work New York! Bye! English Up next