Asian and Pacific Islander moms in the US embrace ancient post-birth traditions.
Unknown, Stanwood, WashingtonA: Your tree may be suffering from fire blight, a bacterial disease that spreads through pollinating insects. It usually begins where flowers are attached, then moves into the branch. When dieback occurs, it can make the tree look as if it caught fire.To submit your own question, visit www.americanforests.org/treedoctor.>Harbans Bawa, Punjab, IndiaPruningWhile fungicides may offer some protection, the severity of the disease can vary each year based on moisture levels. Additionally, pruning affected branches and sterilizing your pruning tool between each cut may also help.Most bonsai trees need to be re-potted about every second year. It is crucial not to let the bonsai's roots get overcrowded in it's pot. The perfect time of year to re-pot your bonsai is in the fall. The primary purpose of re-potting is to give you an opportunity to prune the trees roots. The effect of root pruning will be to stimulate healthy new growth. Once you have carefully removed the tree from it's pot you can rinse off the roots with running water.This will make it easier to prune and to re-pot. Be sure to carefully examine and remove all dead or damaged roots. Re-pot your tree in a potting mixture that consists of 1/3 loam, 1/3, peat, and 1/3 coarse sand. For all styles except a cascading style, you want to use a shallow pot. This will compel the roots to spread out and will create a stable root base.Furthermore, both Lu and Chen say that mothers no longer need to avoid bathing. The task can now be performed safely, thanks to modern, chill-warding conveniences such as heaters and hairdryers. Still, waiting at least a few days after giving birth to take a shower is a good idea, as this gives the body time to rest, Lu says.A: Yes, you can remove the top limbs, but the tree will have the best chance for survival if you follow proper pruning practices. Here are some guidelines:For example, Lu cautions against consuming anything made with alcohol (rice wine is a common ingrethent in postpartum dishes) or Chinese herbs. While there�euro(TM)s not much research on any beneficial effects, the various chemicals would likely be passed on to the nursing baby, he said. High-protein foods such as chicken soup, however, are essential during the post-birth period, because the mother needs to heal and restore her blood loss.The Japanese maple will normally have stopped providing it's leaves with water by late fall. The roots of the Japanese maple will remain active long after all of the leaves have fallen off, provided that the temperature remains above 55 degrees. When you prune the roots prior to the temperature dropping below 55 degrees the roots should have a chance for some new growth.Bonsai gardening is a hobby that is fascinating, affordable, and easy to get involved in. Bonsai can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and can last a lifetime. Click this link to learn more about growing your own amazing Japanese maple bonsai, and sign up for your FREE 7-part introductory mini-course on how to grow miniature bonsai trees. Or, to get started growing your own bonsai trees right away check out the highly regarded "how-to" bonsai book "Beautiful Bonsai Secrets".Q: My Japanese maple has become too tall for its location. Can the tree's limbs be shortened by about 3 feet without too much damage?Fine, delicate branches are a feature of superior Japanese maple bonsai specimens. After you prune your tree to prevent long internodes the result is going to be delicate branches. The space between one pair of leaves and the next pair of leaves on a branch is call the internode. To shorten the internode you need to regularly pinch back all of the new growth throughout the growing season. You'll want to pinch back new shoots by pruning them back to just two sets of leaves (internodes). When you pinch off new shoots it creates a shorter internode on the next shoot, and when the internodes are shorter the foliage is always denser.Pruning your Japanese maple's leaves , also called defoliating, can be carried out each alternate year in early summer to encourage smaller leaves. Defoliating necessitates the removal of all of the tree's leaves, but leaving the leaf stems undamaged on the branch. By removing the leaves in this way the tree believes it is fall and it will then produce a second set of leaves which are smaller than the first set produced in the spring. Defoliating should only be performed every two years, and you should not defoliate your plant during the same year that the tree has been repotted.The Chinese tradition of zuo yue zi , which translates into 'doing the month,' dates back at least 2,600 years, says Wendy Chen, president of the California Alliance of Acupuncture Medicine. The belief is that during this period, one's pores are 'extra open' and that during this susceptible period, illness or infection could easily result from becoming chilled or exposed to wind. Even washing hands in cold water is avoided. Many Southeast Asian cultures subscribe to this idea, practicing 'mother roasting', or nam lua in Vietnamese, where a fire keeps the mother warm for a month. The practice involving an actual fire has largely disappeared in the United States, where indoor heaters now do the job. Among Indians, post-birth care is based on ancient Ayurvedic traditions, a health system dating back nearly 5,000 years that involves warm oil massages for both mother and child and eating heated foods like clear broths.Q: I planted a couple sagwan trees in August. Unfortunately, they have stopped growing, and the leaves are drying up. Is there anything I can do to save them?Q: What can happen to trees--pine trees in particular--when drain fields have been put all around them? Does it shorten the trees' lifespans? Can the salts weaken the trees?Q: I was wondering if there is a disease of any kind wiping out Bradford Pear trees in the Norfolk area of Virginia? Our tree wasn't as full of beautiful blooms last spring, but we didn't think anything of it till mid-summer, when we realized the tree was losing the leaves as if it were fall. I'm afraid the tree may be dead now. What could be causing this?At a six-bedroom, Spanish-style house in the Los Angeles suburb of Rowland Heights, an older Chinese woman watches over three sleeping newborns swaddled in blankets, their beanie-covered heads all facing the same direction. Their mothers rest in the other rooms of this zuo yue zi zhong xing , or postpartum care house.A: The sagwan is a deciduous tree that will shed leaves for 3-4 months during the latter half of the dry season. The rainy season in Punjab is July to September. Presumably the new transplant received plenty of water through September, and then lost its leaves naturally between October and January. They should break bud and releaf in spring. Sagwan seedlings should be transplanted in April.
Another option is to hire a live-in caregiver, which my friend Kathy Chow of San Marino, CA, did last year for the month after her son's birth. Chow, 32, initially considered using a food delivery service, which would have freed her family from the hours of shopping, preparing and cooking involved in assembling traditional meals. Ultimately, Chow and her husband moved in with her parents, emigrants from Taiwan, for the month and hired someone from a Chinese nanny agency who cooked for them and cared for the baby at night. These full-time "night nannies" typically cost $2,800 per month.
Author: Chang, Momo
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