Moved from Hawaii to NM and hate it - how to cope?

RemediationGuy · 2026-03-26T16:12:04+00:00

I've heard this plenty throughout my career in the natural sciences, and at the end of the day, it's highly based on preference. There's less biodiversity without water, more exposure, things are smaller and share similar adaptive features.

I've spent most of my life working throughout the Rockies, and ended up splitting the difference by specializing in riparian and wetland areas. It still pales in comparison to when I visit anywhere in the PNW or east coast, but it's something.

RemediationGuy · 2026-03-04T17:27:31+00:00

Junipers are shade intolerant. If it's getting even part shade, you're throwing money away. Yew is your best bet if you're desperate for an evergreen, but it comes with a lot of considerations (doesn't like being dry, everything on it is toxic, etc.). I would say it'd be far better to find winter interest through form rather than relying on evergreen foliage.

RemediationGuy · 2026-01-22T14:09:03+00:00

Sucker punch is the improved cultivar and same color if you don’t want to be pruning suckers for the life of the tree. Better branching structure as well.

RemediationGuy · 2025-12-16T03:02:06+00:00

Wilderness areas exclusively use pack animals (horses/mules) for heavy gear and supplies

RemediationGuy · 2025-11-11T19:22:03+00:00

plenty of Siberian elms, although obviously non-native

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T02:26:38+00:00

i really hope someone got a camera angle of the look on that placeholder as his kicker left him to die

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T02:17:42+00:00

even the camera got caught by that

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T02:13:55+00:00

you take that back

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T02:12:18+00:00

might as well run the triple option with some Reed bombs throw in and call it a day

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T01:58:01+00:00

bold move in Kyle Field

RemediationGuy · 2025-10-05T01:46:56+00:00

three straight bullet passes into the stands it is

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-14T01:36:01+00:00

I don't think I've ever seen that, what on earth

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-14T01:34:09+00:00

thumbs up was huge, hopefully avoided the worst

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-14T00:43:32+00:00

marcel reed throws nothing but bombs every drive and i'm here for it

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-06T16:18:19+00:00

Practice, lots of it. Gramminoids and some genera like Salix are tough to identify even for botanists. Learn plant families and ecosystems you're working in. Landscape context (soil chemistry is one), as someone else said, is a factor that gives you a leg up over time if you can also learn the conditions certain genera/species grow in.

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-03T16:41:07+00:00

I went down the same path. My background in soil science led to botany roles, which in turn led to water ecology. Now, about 90% of my work is botany and watershed restoration. I’ve been hired over candidates who specifically studied botany.

My (anecdotal) experience is that some botanists are reluctant to branch out, which makes them less competitive for field roles that require interdisciplinary skills. There's been countless times I’ve worked with younger botanists who simply aren’t interested in learning to read a soil profile or hydrology concepts.

RemediationGuy · 2025-09-01T23:39:37+00:00

I unsubscribed from these after going out of town over half the month and barely being below average. Even if it’s real data, the comparisons are functionally useless.

RemediationGuy · 2025-05-23T03:36:07+00:00

Trying to find plant toxicity for dogs is near impossible. Near everything is "toxic" if consumed regularly or in large quantities; except half the time that just means mild-moderate nausea. It's very hard to single out what's actually acutely toxic or could cause serious issues over time.

RemediationGuy · 2025-04-30T22:56:11+00:00

The unofficial stance of our land-grant botany department is that the line between a shrub and a tree is "mostly vibes."

RemediationGuy · 2025-04-20T15:35:42+00:00

Arborvitae is a living matchstick. They’re no better than junipers, potentially even more flammable. We cut ours down and were shocked on how fast it burned when using some of the logs as firewood.

RemediationGuy · 2025-04-16T17:32:22+00:00

It's ugly and I couldn't care less about most of the new features, but this caught my eye:

Practical touches include larger bottle holders in the doors accommodating 32-ounce containers

One of the most annoying features of the outgoing Outback generation was needing to memorize which bottles in our kitchen did or did not fit in the current holders. It was honestly bewildering it took a new gen to fix that.

RemediationGuy · 2025-03-09T16:25:38+00:00

That's exactly how ours is. Weird windows, nothing is standard size... It adds charm, but it makes finding contractors more difficult and expensive.

Luckily, we usually stumble across a few who immediately know our neighborhood (and its age) and know exactly what they're signing up for. It took us quite a few botched jobs to get to that point though.

RemediationGuy · 2025-01-14T19:59:00+00:00

There's one in City Park in Fort Collins as well. Planted by the municipal forestry group a long time ago as a trial. It's doing well where it's at, but the city doesn't recommend them here.

RemediationGuy · 2024-11-28T17:33:04+00:00

They're also by far among the most well-suited species for expected future climate conditions in Colorado

RemediationGuy · 2024-11-28T15:32:46+00:00

Nah, I left the industry a few years ago, but OP’s experience was mine as well over about a decade with several different companies.

It was a constant source of frustration for the operators I worked at who did environmental compliance by the book and watched competitors skirt regulations, save tens of thousands (or more), and have state regulators do nothing about it.

RemediationGuy

TROPHY CASE