Archive for the ‘arboriculture’ Category

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Garden Coach on Tricks to Make Maple Seed Messes Easier to Manage

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Mark M. of Richmond, VA writes:

“My Maple tree will soon shower me in seeds. The little helicopters get into everything. The tree is beautiful the rest of the year. We also have a pool and I cut roots every year that get close. I hear the tree can be sprayed but cannot find anyone that will. Is there huge ground covers to catch?? “

Mark, thanks for writing in. It sounds like you have a love-hate relationship with your maple tree. Hopefully, there are some things you can do to make it 100% love!

First, I wonder if this is an example of wrong plant in the wrong place. Is the tree of a size/age that you could move it to a location where you don’t feel the need to cut its roots annually? If not, I suggest you contact an ISA certified arborist to be sure you are managing the root systems properly. Frequent and improper root pruning can create hazard situations. It is important to have your tree’s top and bottom growth and care evaluated.

Second, I’m not sure why you want to spray the tree. So, I’m not sure how to address this question. Talking to an arborist is going to help you determine if the tree has any issues that indicate a need to treat the tree with anything.

Third, and finally, one trick that might help with the helicopters is to drape an old sheet (or sheets) under the tree during the seeding time. I prefer sheets to a tarp because a sheet will allow moisture and possibly some light to make to the earth below. Weight down the sheet(s) so they don’t blow away. If placed in the zone where most of the helicopters fly, it may make clean up easier in the end. Don’t leave the sheet down for a long time though or the plants below it may not thrive.

I hope this helps, and best of luck with all the buzzing helicopters!

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Arborist Katy Writes About How to Properly Care for Balled and Burlapped Trees

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Burlap Removed & Roots Cleaned for Planting

Burlap Removed & Roots Cleaned for Planting

This weekend, my husband and I planted our 40th tree! Some have been bare root, a few in nice potted soil and some salvaged but most of them have come “balled and burlapped”. You too may have invested in some trees but what to do about the roots wrapped up like a present?

Regular readers of this blog will most likely be familiar with the concept that you want to remove most of that wire, fabric and twine before planting. In my book, removal of as much non-plant material surrounding the root ball is preferable. Plus, after all that disturbance I like to give the leftover roots a clean cut with sharp hand pruners to avoid unhealthy roots trying to heal while also trying to establish.

The obvious reason for taking all this stuff off is so roots won’t have any barriers to growing and establishing at the soil level they are planted. However, what you often don’t read about is the fact that roots growing around and around in hard clay or with the barrier of twine or burlap will start to become good candidates for becoming girdling roots. Worse, they will try to find any easy access to the nicer soil they’ve been planted in and grow up and over the original ball. Both of these situations will create less than ideal root situations.

Roots trying to escape their wire and burlap cages by growing up and over the top of the ball will often result in exposed surface roots growing above the level of the base of the trunk flare. Roots rising above this level can often be nicked by lawn trimmers or mowers, tripped over by people and pets and can’t be covered with mulch without covering the rest of the root zone too deeply.

This Trunk even Looks Like it Wore a Girdle!

This Trunk even Looks Like it Wore a Girdle!

Girdling roots are roots that have grown in a manner with the potential strangle tree (or shrub) parts in one way or another. When roots aren’t flared out or remain balled and burlaped they will actually continue to grow around in a circle for a very long time. As the roots enlarge and happen to be near to a trunk or other root they have the ability to strangle and impede the flow of nutrients. A even worse situation is a completely girdled trunk (see photo). As one who performs tree risk assessment, seeing this kind of abuse raises all kinds of red flags for the hazard this tree presents now and into the future, not insubstantial in this case considering the trees’ beachside location and purpose of buffering strong southerly winds. While this specimen seemed to be growing ok after the (extremely overkill) rope had been removed the trunk will always have this defect and remain the weakest part of the trunk, no matter how old it gets.

Give your new investment a fighting chance and unwrap those roots carefully and completely. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Still confused? Get in touch to schedule a garden coaching session. We can help you unwrap your new tree and plant it to thrive!

Related Reading:

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Knowing an Insect’s Life Cycle to Develop an IPM Strategy

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Odette from Baltimore, MD writes in:

“I have a boxelder bug infestation. I removed the box elder tree in the back last fall, hoping they would go away, however, I as welcomed to my garden today with swarms of them again. for the past 2 seasons I have been fighting these bugs with sprays, which work, but they keep coming back because I may not have gotten them all. Now that I have removed the tree, will they go away? (I moved to this house 2 years ago – the previous owner complained about them but did not know that they came from the tree. can you help me here? what else can I do? Any help is appreciated. “

Odette this is an interesting discussion item. Without a quite a bit more detail, I don’t know how helpful I can be, but here are some items to get you started.

First, I don’t know what insects you’re dealing with. It is important to fully identify the pest in order to understand how its life cycle happens and what plants it uses for these cycles. Once you identify your pest fully, you will be better armed to create an integrated pest management program (IPM) for managing the issue. And, it’s critical to be sure the insect you consider a pest isn’t actually a beneficial!

It may be that you noticed the insect in the Box Elder, but it could be that it only spends part of its lifecycle there. It may spend, say, a nymph stage on another plant in your garden or in the soil, for instance. Or, it may only live in the Box Elder. Or, it may have only spent its adult phase in the Box Elder because the Elder was under stress (pests like to go for the most stressed plant in the garden first in many cases). Or, it may need the Elder for part of its life. So, I suggest you fully identify the pest (if you haven’t already) and work with an arborists or local horticulturist to understand its lifecycle requirements. That might help you know if it will come back.

Since you do mention that you’ve been spraying, I’m going to assume you already know exactly what pest you have and that it is a pest. Knowing which pest you have is critical to knowing what course of pest management to take. If you don’t  know the pest, your sprays may have been contributing to the problem. Sometimes pesticides are applied by the unknowing only to end up killing the beneficials that prey upon our pests. Once the beneficials are removed, the pests have that much more success overtaking our gardens.

One thing you don’t mention is any damage the pests did to the plant. Did they actually do anything to the tree or garden? Or did they just seem annoying in big buzzing swarms? Could it be that these were actually beneficial insects that might have been “swarming the tree” to attack another pest that you didn’t see? It’s a question to consider…

So, what to do?

Try to identify the insect, understand its lifecycle and preferred habitats during the life cycles. If you’re unable to do this yourself, try working with your local Master Gardener Extension office to start.

Thanks for writing in and keep having fun in the garden!

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Garden Coach Discusses Options for Trees Damaged in Ice Storms

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

Pam L. from Danville, KY writes:

“1. My magnolia tree suffered damage during the recent ice storms. Now I notice a fungal type looking stuff on the trunk. It is grey and has “lichens”. What is this? How do we treat it? If you can’t identify what I’m describing, where can I go to get help – either on the internet or locally? My local extension office isn’t much help.

2. My cherry laurel, which was over the roof line before the ice storm, had breakage of the main trunk – it broke off at about 8 feet. It has significant damage in the interior part of the plant – broken limbs. It is now much wider than it is tall and sparse looking in the center . What should we do? When is the time to do it? “

Pam, thanks for your questions. I lived through many rough ice storms as a kid growing up in Virginia. Boy do trees take a beating from them. Given the extent of your tree questions, you may be best served by hiring a local, certified arborist to evaluate your trees and help you develop a plan for managing them.

The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)’s tool for finding an arborist is available here.

And, if you are certain that the Magnolia only has lichens growing on it, don’t worry. They aren’t known to damage trees. However, if there is other fungal growth, there may be a bigger problem lurking. A certified arborist will be able to evaluate the situation in person.

Not sure whether you need a consulting arborist or a commercial arborist? Read Certified Arborist and Guest Blogger Katy’s article on the subject here.

Thanks again for writing in. Keep having fun in the garden!

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Garden Coach Discusses Treating Cherry Leaf Spot

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Patrick M. of  Springboro, OH writes,

“I have a Montgomery cherry tree that became infected with ‘cherry leaf spot’ and lost most of it’s leaves last summer. How can I treat this and what product do you recommend? “

Patrick, thanks for writing in. I’ve discussed this with a few gardenhelp contributors, and we all agreed that this isn’t something we can answer in a simple Q&A. Here are a few ways you might be able to deal with the issue, however:

I hope these resources prove fruitful and you are able to remedy your tree’s problems.

Thanks for writing in and keep having fun in the garden!

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