I have just been "blown away" by Facebook advice.

[chibae]

I was on a gardening, as in plants growing in the dirt-not aquatic plants, page. There a person asked for advice on getting rid of garden snails and slugs. BTW, all advice given was lethal. When someone suggested they just get some assassian snails. Now, I may be wrong, but I double checked, and beleive assassin snails are aquatic. So feeling admittedly snarky I asked, "How would scattering aquatic snails on the ground to die help the problem?"
I have joined two FB pond/fish groups and am very thankful that I have skeptial side. So many people giving advice that even as a newbie I know is wrong. Or advice given without reading the entire original post.

 

[addy1]

Some fb groups are great, sometimes. A lot of the time people just type to sound smart and important.

The opposite happens.

 

[Lisak1]

Great summary @addy1 . I find that people will answer authoritatively with no authority behind their answer. haha! I'm in a few gardening/plant ID groups and the number of wrong answers far outweigh the number of correct ones. In my opinion facebook is useless for any kind of reliable advise.

Ask @Mmathis about her Facebook experiences -

 

[GBBUDD]

OK so since I am seeing so many master gardeners here how can I save this bush. It's a dwarf I believe alpine was in its name . But from. What I can put together it appears to be drowning from all the damn rain we have had in the north east.

I had to break out the prunes to cut out all the death. But unfortunately im seeing more days latter and we did have 3 days of heat and some sun. So im hoping letting some air in there to help dry it out will help. I'm even thinking of covering the area with plastic to help the area dry out.
Loved this bush it's like 20 years old or more and still a half pint. Any suggestions.?

 

[j.w]

OK so since I am seeing so many master gardeners here how can I save this bush. It's a dwarf I believe alpine was in its name . But from. What I can put together it appears to be drowning from all the damn rain we have had in the north east.

I had to break out the prunes to cut out all the death. But unfortunately im seeing more days latter and we did have 3 days of heat and some sun. So im hoping letting some air in there to help dry it out will help. I'm even thinking of covering the area with plastic to help the area dry out.
Loved this bush it's like 20 years old or more and still a half pint. Any suggestions.?

Too hard to move to a drier spot? I think that's what it needs but if it's too big disturbing it might just kill it but sounds like it is trying to die right now.

 

[GBBUDD]

It's not in the waters edge it's been there 7 years now always looked fantastic anything is possible but I know the soils under and around it lots of nuggets im sure the roots are intertwined. But I dig dig a 3 times the root ball and placed good soil
That's apparently holding on to too much water. Moving it I think would kill it im leaning toward putting a shed roof over the area as it is at the bottom of a little slope. If it survives I'll trim more and make a bonsai

 

[Lisak1]

We had the same thing happen to a beautiful mugo pine. I was sick to think we were going to lose it. However it recovered and now it's better than ever.

Typically with trees and shrubs what you are seeing NOW isn't a result of what's happening NOW - it's more likely what happened last winter (not enough snow cover maybe?) or even last summer or fall (not enough rainfall? Extremely high temps?). I'd recommend just giving it some time to recover. Browning needles are not the usual sign of a coniferous drowning.

 

[GBBUDD]

Unfortunately I know what your talking about in the depths every spring I'd see some browning but these branches are dead. They have no flex to them nothing is alive . The soils is soaked we have had rain faithfully at best every third day for a long time now. but on average a little rain almost every day. .
So what ever snaped with the smallest of pressure and had all brown got removed anything with some flex left to it is still going but.
I have put a leantoo over i. As they are calling for rain this evening and a good rain tomorrow.

Digging it out will stress it too much as it already is and the stalk is about 5 inches across it's an old alpine bush. And the roots seem to be very healthy the bush will not budge when i push on it

I am doing some rearranging and planting but I'll put that in my post.

 

[bagsmom]

I joined a pond group but left it soon after. The whole public aspect of it became concerning. People started posting porn clips and soliciting money. It was just creepy!

 

[GBBUDD]

ALL THE NUTS are on Fb I see BROKENSWORD every time I pop over there.

 

[Mmathis]

Facebook groups!!! The only reason I stick around on the ones I visit…..is because sometimes, just sometimes my comments/advice MIGHT help someone (this is on the pond or box turtle groups). If I need pond advice, I come here to GPF for help. If I need turtle advice, I look it up from a respected and knowledgeable source.

My main objection with FB groups is that they are a one-way conversation and a dead end. Too many people give inaccurate or misleading advice — a simple Google search would give better answers in most cases. But the FB groups are a “community,” so I guess they can be helpful in that regard. Some people are jerks and idiots, and some just want to be the expert and to look important.

 

[Mmathis]

@chibae Just curious, but which FB pond groups are you in? I’m in several, but there is one in particular that I get frustrated with (I don’t recall which one, though). I don’t think that group has a [knowledgable] moderator, so it’s a free-for-all.

 

[chibae]

Commons_ Comets_ and _ Shubunkins, DIY Ponds and Water_gardens​

I'm a moderator for a nature/wildlife group, I know how tough it can be. I like commons, comets, etc because so far all my comments have to be moderator approved. keeps me from being a troll.

 

[Mmathis]

Commons_ Comets_ and _ Shubunkins, DIY Ponds and Water_gardens​

I'm a moderator for a nature/wildlife group, I know how tough it can be. I like commons, comets, etc because so far all my comments have to be moderator approved. keeps me from being a troll.

I’ll have to look into the “commons and comets” group (didn’t know about that one). The “DIY Ponds” might be the one I was referencing.

 

[j.w]

ALL THE NUTS are on Fb I see BROKENSWORD every time I pop over there.

And you and me, guess we are in the nut group also cuz we both go there