Free Essays on The End Of Innocence

were comforting, but not exactly what I wanted to hear. I mean, this was it. This was the day that is supposed to pay off for the 13 years of school one had to endure. Maybe I was just making a big deal out of nothing. The time after breakfast and before the ceremony was like blur. No sooner had I finished my omelet, then it was almost time for me to get to the school. As I drove to campus, I remembered some of the fun times my friends and I had. The lunches in the cafeteria, the teachers we all loved to hate, the basketball state championship. All of these memories hit me like a ton of bricks. It made the feeling that was festering inside me worse. It was over; these times were gone now, forever. After graduation, everything would be different. I could not look forward to going back to school the next year with all the same people I was used to. Everybody was taking different paths. Everybody was starting their life in the real world. I dismis... Free Essays on The End Of Innocence Free Essays on The End Of Innocence High school graduation is a day that many people look back on with pride and satisfaction. It is a day that marks a major accomplishment in many lives. I wish that day had felt like an accomplishment for me. The day had started out ok. All the seniors had to report to the football field early that morning for practice. The sun was unusually strong for that time of day. After two hours of baking out there, we were dismissed. I met up with one of my friends and we made plans to go out for breakfast. I remember thinking it was funny how she showed up to practice in her pj’s. We went over to the IHOP by her grandmother’s house, she ordered the smiley face pancakes, and I had an omelet. I had been having a weird feeling about graduation and I wanted to know if maybe she felt the same. I asked if she was scared, and I will always remember her answer. â€Å"Of course I’m scared, everybody is. This is a big step on the road of life. It’s the end of an era, and of our innocence.† Her words were comforting, but not exactly what I wanted to hear. I mean, this was it. This was the day that is supposed to pay off for the 13 years of school one had to endure. Maybe I was just making a big deal out of nothing. The time after breakfast and before the ceremony was like blur. No sooner had I finished my omelet, then it was almost time for me to get to the school. As I drove to campus, I remembered some of the fun times my friends and I had. The lunches in the cafeteria, the teachers we all loved to hate, the basketball state championship. All of these memories hit me like a ton of bricks. It made the feeling that was festering inside me worse. It was over; these times were gone now, forever. After graduation, everything would be different. I could not look forward to going back to school the next year with all the same people I was used to. Everybody was taking different paths. Everybody was starting their life in the real world. I dismis...

Avoid Over-Fertilizing Your Trees

Avoid Over-Fertilizing Your Trees Well-meaning homeowners who want to stimulate growth or promote health in their landscape trees often feed them with fertilizers. Unfortunately, too much of a good thing can have the opposite effect and can actually harm your trees. In normal landscape soils, many trees require no feeding at all, and if you do feed them, its critical that you use the right fertilizers in the right ratios.   The Right Fertilizer With the Right NPK Ratio Trees are usually grown for the appeal of their green foliage, so the best fertilizer is one with a relatively high ratio of nitrogen, which promotes green growth. Unless your soil is deficient in potassium or phosphorus (a soil test can tell you this), fertilizers for trees should have a high nitrogen number in the N-P-K designation.   A good choice is a fertilizer with an N-P-K (nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus) ratio of 10-6-4, preferably in a slow-release formulation.  Slow-release formulations are usually non-liquid products that use granules that are released gradually into the soil.   Although balanced fertilizers, such as 10-10-10 products, can be helpful for many flower and vegetable gardens when used with discretion, such fertilizers can have a bad effect when applied to the soil beneath trees. Excessive amounts of these nutrients can create too much mineral salt in the soil, which will harm the beneficial soil microorganisms  necessary to healthy trees.   Stay at less than .20 pounds of nitrogen per 100 square feet of root zone application area, depending on tree species and size. Any time you exceed this recommendation, you will create a situation for on-site contamination or the potential for runoff pollution into lakes and streams. Extreme contamination of soil can harm the site for a very long time. The Effects of Excessive Fertilization on Trees You can actually kill a tree if you apply too much fertilizer. Applying high levels of quick- release nitrogen can burn the roots when applied to the soil and can burn the foliage when applied as a foliar spray or drench. And if the fertilizer contains too much potassium and phosphorus, it creates excessive soil salts that trees may be unable to tolerate.   The most common ways to over-fertilize a tree include: Over-use of fertilizers that contain an equal ratio of all three essential nutrients (nitrogen, potassium,  and phosphorus)Applying more fertilizer than the standard recommended application rate suggestsUsing fast-release rather than time-release fertilizers Any or all of these mistakes will increase the chance of root damage to your tree. Too much fertilizer introduces toxic salt levels that not only harm the tree  but also make the site unsuitable for future planting.   Symptoms and Treatment for an Over-Fertilized Tree Symptoms of a tree that has been over-fertilized include: A crust of fertilizer visible on soil surface beneath the tree drip zone (the area of the ground beneath the spread of the branches)Yellowing, wilting, and browning on the trees foliage, starting at tree leaf tips and marginsA tree that starts to drop leaves before dormancy  begins.   The tree may survive and the site can be much improved if you do a fairly simple, three-part treatment as quickly as possible: Remove the dying or wilting leaves, if you have any, to reduce fertilizer remnants in the tree itself.Water the fertilized area of the soil thoroughly to a flushing point. Copious supplies of water will be necessary to flush excess fertilizer from the soil.  Cover the critical root zone with a natural plant-based mulch- preferably composted leaves and grass.  Perform a second water flush over the composted mulch.