Category: Tree Health

Turf and Tree Wars*

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* Shared from Tree Services Magazine article by Sharon Lilly from 1/1/13

There may be a battle brewing on your property between your trees grass. Trees and turf tend to be mutually exclusive in nature; you don’t see many trees growing in the prairies or grasslands as you may have noticed that grass is not common on the forest floor.

Our urban landscapes represent an unnatural ecosystem in which we force two somewhat incompatible plant types together and expect optimum performance from each. Trees and turf compete for sunlight, water, mineral nutrients and growing space below ground. Turf roots typically outcompete tree roots and win the belowground battle. However, the dense shade of a tree’s crown can be too much competition for turf, and trees win the aerial war. Read More

Tough Locations for Trees

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Even after a tree is selected and installed based on the site conditions of sun, shade, soil drainage, proximity to other trees and shrubs, nutrient availability, desired size, slope, surroundings, adjacent activity and more, it can fail to thrive.

Sometimes that’s because the tree wasn’t chosen well and sometimes it’s because it wasn’t planted well. But even more critical to the tree’s success is where it was planted. A tree’s proper location usually will determine whether it becomes an asset or detriment to the landscape. Read More

Bacterial Tree Ooze: How To Identify

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Slime spotted on trees is known as bacterial ooze. There are different types of bacterial ooze, and they’re not very well studied. Bacterial ooze can easily go unnoticed. At its most basic they form when a tree gets damaged and subsequently infected with bacteria. In certain circumstances if the bacteria is able to feed on the tree sap and nothing prevents it from multiplying it will eventually form this slime. Read More

Trees and Hedges Keeping Cities Healthy

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Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, fluorides, carbon dioxide, ozone. What do all of these hard-to-pronounce things have in common? They are all making their way into your body when you breathe. That’s right, these air pollutants are everywhere, even when you can’t see them. In cities, there’s a mouthful in every breath. Read More

Benefits of Trees

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Public Health and Social Benefits

Air Cleaning: Trees produce oxygen, intercept airborne particulates, and reduce smog, enhancing a community’s respiratory health. The urban canopy directly contributes to meeting a city’s regulatory clean air requirements. Read More

Inspecting for Tree Decay

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Odd-shaped growths on a tree trunk are good indicators of internal decay. Tree decay is one of those inevitable things in life. By itself, decay can be a major concern, especially if found in a soft-wooded tree species such as silver maple or poplar. Fortunately, some species are quite resistant and if other stressors aren’t present in a significant capacity, it may not be as worrisome as other problems such as poor location, planting errors, over fertilization or drought. Read More

Tree Decay

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Decay in Tress is Bad, Very Bad

Unfortunately, existing fungicide products are not effective at stopping or reversing decay. Decay in trees is often unsightly, but it can also result in a safety or property damage hazard. Decayed trees, sooner or later, start shedding limbs or can topple in strong winds. Trees or large limbs riddled with rot can (and often do) land on houses, cars and, tragically, sometimes people. Read More