Tool Time

The old adage “ the right time to prune is when the saw is sharp” probably doesn't tell the whole story, but pruning with dull tools is always a disaster. The bests results come from professional-quality tools that are in good condition. Most professionals use hand bypass pruners and pole pruners day in and day out.

These can be expensive but after purchasing and being dissatisfied with several home use items I decided to purchase the pro tools and still have them after 10 years.

Pruning tools come in two basic types bypass and anvil style. Purchase only the bypass type. Anvil pruners bring a sharp blade down onto an anvil that results in a messy cut and injures your shrub. I recommend bypass pruners exclusively.

Bypass pruners work like scissors with two sharp blades opposite each other passing each other to making a clean cut. For cuts up to ½ inch in diameter a pair of sharp hand pruners work best. Bypass loppers are over sized hand pruners that will cut branches up to 2 inches in diameter.

Bypass pole pruners use the jaws of a lopper with a lever mechanism to get a mechanical advantage with out having the long handles of a lopper. This combined with the ability to insert pole sections giving you almost unlimited height makes for a very useful tool. A bypass pole pruner will work on overhead branches between ½ an inch and 1 inch. They also can be used for cutting low branches without bending over. For most homeowners 3 small 4 ft poles will be enough for shrub pruning. They are easier to fit in the trunk of your car as well. Interchangeable saw heads can be attached for tall branches.

Most pole saw heads also have a sturdy cast hook on the rear side opposite of the blade, this is used for breaking off small dead branches. You may have heard the phrase “ by hook or by crook”, this hook is the root of that statement. If you didn't have the king's permission to gather the twigs for your fire, you would fall into the later part of the quote. Another hint at the antiquity of this tool is the ring and spring arrangement that was used to secure a brush form the dark ages when all pruning cuts were to be painted over with tar. Still capable of multi tasking today the saw head can removed and used as a hand saw to cut branches larger than one inch that won't fit into your pole pruner. Professional pole saw blades are readily available and will fit wooden hand saw handles as well. Good tools will literally last you a life time so take the time to ask questions and get professional grade. If you have a pruning question or a great picture of your ancient pruning tools send them in! One question or picture will be selected at random over the next three months to receive the professional pruning multi-tool pictured at the top of this article! Send your questions and pictures from the link on the right tool bar.

Tipping the Scales

Photo: K Ashton, Lecanium scale

Your plants are having the life sucked out of them, literally!

Trees and shrubs are little more than sugar factories and there is no shortage of freeloaders that want a part of this sweet treasure.

In this case the culprit isn't some vegan vampire it may be a scale, a simple insect with a big appetite.

Scales are small insects that have evolved a protective waxy coating that protects them from the elements and predators. This waxy coating, or scale, is the source of the insects name and its secret weapon. The scale often resembles a twig, bud or the bark of its host, making it difficult to identify and confusing it's predators.

The insect spends most of its life immobile, sitting under its armor, quietly sipping sap with its mouth, firmly attached to it's host. As it grows it sheds its skin which becomes part of its protective coating. At a certain point in the year it lays eggs that develop into crawlers. These small exposed crawlers are so small that they escape predators can even blow on the wind to new host plants. Once they find a suitably delicious host they insert their mouth piece into the plumbing of the host and start their high carb diet. Some of the sap goes through the scale and drips onto the foliage or branches of the plant and leaves a stick black mess. There is still lots of energy in this mess and it is attacked by a sooty colored mold.

This black sticky film on the leaves of a plant, your patio furniture, or the paint on your car is often the first sign of a scale problem.

Scales come in two categories depending on the thickness of their waxy coating. Thickly covered scales, often looking like oyster shells under the microscope, are called armored scales. Less robustly covered scales are referred to as unarmored or soft scales. Typically the soft scales are covered in a waxy or fluffy protective coating that is thinner that their armored kin. Scales tend to be very host specific each one favoring a particular species or group of plants over all others.

Two common scales in the landscape are an armored scale on spruce and a soft scale on arborvitae. Pine needle scale, Chionaspis pinifoliae is an armored scale that prefers conifers to dine on. Spruce, pine, hemlock, yew and hemlock are all affected by this scale. This scale looks like tiny grains of white rice stuck to the trees needles.Predators will keep low levels of these in check but occasionally, in our landscapes they will reach numbers that require control. There are a number of products that can be used to control these but they all are best applied when the crawlers are active. This occurs in late June to mid July. It will take several years to get adequate control.

Arborvitae, cedars, are afflicted by a soft scale called Lecanium scale, Lecanium corni. This scale has evolved to look like a small shiny bud on the stem of the tree.

Lecanium scale's crawler stage is in mid July and applications timed to hit them while they are vulnerable are most successful. If your car is covered in sticky black sugar or if find something that looks unusual on your trees contact your Arborist. They will be able to tell if that lump on the branch is a scale and recommend a plan to thwart it's sweet tooth.

Like Lightning Striking Again....

Like the lines of Lou Christies smash hit, “again and again and again”, every summer I see the tragic consequences of this all to common occurrence.

The people who track these things indicate that you are more likely to be struck by lightning that win the lottery. I know trees don't by lottery tickets but plenty of them get hit by lightning.

Its is extremely rare for a mature tree to survive a lightning strike with out major damage.

In my experience large single trees on rocky out crops get hit with lightning all to often. This is the preferred habitat for oak trees and they have long been listed as the tree most likely to be struck by lightning. In fact oak is the favored tree of Zeus, the Greek god of thunder, for just that reason.

Lightning takes the path of least resistance to the ground, this may be on the wet bark on the outside of the tree, or it may penetrate into the moist cambium layer and heart wood. The tremendous energy super heats the moisture in the tree causing it to explode. This can be quite dramatic, throwing splinters and debris for great distances. The force of the explosion can even break windows and in one case blew the wall paneling off the interior walls of the house.

More often than not the lightning flashes across from the tree into the houses electrical system causing extensive damage to appliances and electronics.

The solution to this problem is a simple as Ben Franklin's kite and key experiment.

Lightning protection in trees typically consists of a thick copper conductor running from the top of the tree to a ground rod driven deep into the ground. It sounds simple and it is.

The top of the conducting wire is attached to an air tip, a conductive rod that terminates the copper lead. The lead is held to the tree with bronze stand offs that are driven into the bark. If the tree is extremely wide or has more than one main trunk several leads may branch off from the central conductor. All metallic objects in the tree must be bonded to the central lighting conductor. This includes bolts and cables used to support the structure of the tree. Specialty hardware is used to connect the system together ensuring a good electrical contact.

Lightning protection, when properly designed and installed, can reduce the risk of lighting flashing across into your home.

Does this improved grounding of the tree make it more susceptible to lightning strikes?

Probably not, but it does make it more likely to survive a direct hit. The materials are expensive and the skills needed to install the system are beyond the average home owner. Have your certified arborist inspect large trees close to your house to see if they are candidates for lightning protection. The results will pay out more reliably than the lottery.

Bored to Death!

There are few trees that can rival white birch for its four season beauty in the landscape.

There are also few trees that can be so heartbreakingly disappointing when they suddenly fail. Growing up my parents had a large European white birch that gracefully dominated the front yard of our house. Every spring we would dutifully treat it to prevent bark borers.

One by one the birches in our neighborhood were removed after the slow process of dying back from the top down. Last year we took the birch down, not because of borers, it had gown so large that it no longer fit the landscape and was mechanically unstable.

The nemesis of most white birch trees is the bronze birch borer, Agrilus anxius, this North American beetle has caused extensive die offs of native birches in the past.

Most white barked birch trees are susceptible. European variety's are so prone to attack that they are not recommended for planting. In the wild birch trees prefer moist north facing slopes that allow them to have full sun on the crown of the tree and shade to keep the roots cool. This is a far cry from conditions most birches face in urban and suburban landscapes. Most birches in peoples yards are under stress. Stress makes birch trees attractive to bark beetle infestation.

The beetles lay their eggs on the rough patches of bark normally near the attachment point of branches. Eggs hatch and the larva tunnel into the cambium layer excavating zig zag tunnels around the tree cutting off the flow of sap as they destroy the trees vascular system.

Healthy trees may be able to wall the larva off by forming a callus layer around the insect and preventing it from excavating the tree tissue. More often the tree is stressed and slow to respond to the invasion and loses the battle. The callus tissue forms a lumpy mound over the larval tunnel that can be seen on the outside of the bark. The process from egg to adult can take a year or more and is dictated by the weather. Cold conditions slow the process down.

The result is active adult emergence and egg laying throughout the summer months starting in early June.

If you see the tops of your birch trees dying back you may have birch borers. Close examination of the dead branches will probably reveal raised tunnels under the bark can dark “D” shaped exit holes on the bark. Pruning out infested branches to below areas with any visible activity will be helpful. There are treatments available that can be applied to the bark or systemically to the root zone to limit the impact of the borers. Heavily infested trees should be removed from the area to prevent infestation of adjacent trees. Maintaining vigor and reducing stress factors present will be of great benefit. Properly mulching the area below the tree will help reduce root temperature and increase the vitality of existing plantings. Acting before you have any signs of borers will be of greater benefit than trying to catch up once they are present. The long term key to preventing birch decline is to chose resistant species and maintain the vigor of those that are susceptible. Contact your certified arborist for recommendations on birch trees to plant as well as maintenance regimes for your existing birches.

Lethal Weapons!

In the early seventies a man was going through a car wash in Houston Texas. He was watching spinning car wash brushes when an idea hit him, like a diamond right between the eyes. Why not use rapidly spinning plastic brushes to cut grass!

George Ballas is credited for inventing the string trimmer in 1971. Who knew that a tin can, some fishing line and an electric motor could produce such a useful and potentially deadly tool. From that point in time forward no tree has been safe from its ravages!

Trees are living organisms. There bark is designed to keep moisture in and keep insects and diseases out. Bark is no match for a string trimmer designed to cut tough fibrous grass. Trees and shrubs are susceptible to string trimmer injury year round but the most devastating damage occurs in late spring. Once trees leaf out the trunk start to grow in diameter. The vascular cambium, a slippery layer of plant cells just under the bark begins to divide and produce new living cells. Some cells differentiate in to phloem tissue immediately below the bark. Other cells differentiate into xylem closer to the hard woody tissue in the center of the tree. Xylem transports water and nutrients upwards in the tree and phloem brings carbohydrates back down the tree for storage and fuel to power plant processes. While this growing and differentiating is taking place the bark is “slippery” meaning it can release from the tree exposing the living wood of the tree. This is in stark contrast to later in the year when these cells have hardened and removing the bark is almost impossible.

You can test this on a twig or small branch, just dig your fingernail under the bark and see how easily the bark releases from the living wood underneath.

Impact from a trimmer string at the slippery stage can remove whole sections of bark.

The damaged area dies and the top part of the tree becomes disconnected from the bottom. If the damage completely circles or girdles the tree the tree will die. If the damage is less extensive the tree will struggle and eventually die.

While I don't advocate returning to the dark ages and cutting each blade with hand snips, I do have a few tips that can eliminate the damage caused by string trimmers.

Remove grass and unwanted plants from the area directly around the tree. Correctly munching under trees can eliminate the need for string trimming close in. There are commercial guards available that will protect the base of the tree. I don't recommend using them unless they are the only solution as they may restrict the growth of the trees by binding the root flare. Porous 6 inch plastic drainage tile, cut into a 6 inch tube and sliced on one side will allow the tree to breath. If you have to use these guards make sure they are loose and remove them frequently to check for damage. I have had great success with this on boulevard trees where the city was maintaining the lawn.

If you have an idea to protect your trees from string trimmer damage check with your certified arborist, they are experts in tree preservation.

It's Raining Landscapers!

The title of this article brings humor to a subject that is truly not funny, and may even prove fatal.

Arborists are tree care professionals with years of practical experience and extensive education that makes them experts in their fields. Having credentials alone is not enough to allow you to practice legally in most jurisdictions. State and Provincial licences prevent the lay person from pruning or treating tree diseases in most locals.

Furthermore working with trees can be extremely dangerous. Workers compensation plans are aware of the risk involved and charge higher premiums to tree care companies as a result. As a comparison landscapers typically pay 6% to 10% of every dollar in wages to their compensation plans. Tree care professionals are required to pay 30% of every dollar in wages to be properly covered for workers compensation. Liability and damage insurance are also much higher for legitimate tree care companies. Knowing these risks professionals make sure they have in house safety programs for tree climbers and tree care workers.

The International Society of Arboriculture offers training for all levels of tree care workers from the person on the ground to the most experienced climber. Professional tree care companies use these programs to insure worker safety and maintain there ability to get affordable insurance.

When you consider that statistical research has proven that in an accidental fall situation 50% of all people falling from 6 feet will die, training and proper insurance are a necessity.

Aside from the noted safety issues Arborists are tree care professionals that have the most up to date information on tree care. This ensures that you are getting todays best practices and treatments for your home's valuable assets, your landscape trees.

I work with professional landscapers everyday. Many of them have great knowledge of plants and shrubs. The best ones know their limits and know when to call in tree care professionals to complement their work on the landscape. The experienced professionals know that when your working off the ground you need to be licensed and insured. Some have learned this the hard way after damaging property or injuring themselves or their workers.

You may think you are saving a few cents hiring uninsured unqualified companies or workers. When they injure themselves on your property and seek legal redress, you won't be hiring a lawyer from the temp agency.

I have included a collage of a news item and hand bill advertisements that one commonly sees. This guy was lucky. I didn't include a different news item of a landscaper that was taking down a large tree with unskilled help. The worker was pulling the tree over with a rope he had wrapped around his arm. The tree fell the wrong way violently pulling the worker into an adjacent tree, his baseball cap offered no protection as his head was slammed against the tree. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the local hospital. A high price was paid by this worker for his lack of experience.

For your tree care contact a tree care professional, an ISA certified arborist.

Winter Injury

photo MSU

For the avid plants person spring is the most thrilling and heartbreaking time of the year.

It is at this time that we get to see which of our old friends has made it through winters harsh blast.

While some trees and shrubs may look as though they are headed to the great hereafter, caution is always the rule at this time of year. More than one plant, having been given last rites, has literally come back from the roots on the compost heap! Take caution before writing a survivor off.

To understand how plants succumb to the ravages of winter we must have a basic understanding of plant physiology. Leaves are incredibly useful plant organs are notoriously fragile when it comes to freezing. Hardy trees and shrubs generally lose these most tender parts in preparation for winter. Those that don't lose their leaves have thick waxy cuticles, or skins, that prevent dessication. Dying out over winter has led to the demise of many a plant. You don't need a microscope to see how thick and durable a spruce or pine needle is, just hold it in you fingers and break it.

If you failed to water your evergreens last year they may be looking a little burnt out at this time.

Check to see if the buds are swelling and pinch the bark to see if its supple and alive. If you scrape back the bark with your finger nail you may see green, it may not be the end for this tree, wait a few weeks and see what happens.

Arborvitaes, junipers and other scale leafed evergreens may look scorched at this time of year, again wait a few weeks before you throw these babies out with the bath water. In most cases simple preparation in the fall could have prevented some if not all of these types of injuries.

Watering well until freeze up is a good strategy. Antidesicants, waxy sprays applied in the fall, are good for established plants that can have problems as well as fall planted evergreens that have yet to establish.

Late summer fertilization of evergreens is not recommended as it may delay the onset of dormancy and leave trees and shrubs susceptible to winter injury. Wait until trees are in the process of becoming dormant before fall fertilizing.

As for the trees and shrubs that are suffering from the effects of last winter? They should be watered well and monitored for signs of improvement. A small amount of fertilizer or better still an organic soil enhancer like pulverized liquid sea kelp can help with root growth and speed recovery.

Don't over water trees that have been winter injured but don't let them dry out completely either.

Use your finger to see if the soil in the root zone is dry. Be patient you may save an old friend from the compost heap.