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Archive for the ‘Pruning’ Category
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
 When Should You Prune Your Trees? When is the ideal time for pruning? After a rainy year like we just experienced your trees may be wild and overgrown.Pruning should be done to remove any dead, broken, injured, diseased, or insect infested branches or to prune out branches that are too large, low or overhanging or have become a hazard.
You should also prune when the weather is dry so disease doesn’t get in the wounds. Don’t prune when it is very hot or during drought conditions either as this could stress the tree or shrub.
Spring Flowering Trees & Shrubs
Pruning plants whose flowering time is before June 1st is best right after blooming to promote flowers for next year. Some examples include: crabapple, deutzia, forsythia, lilac, redbud, serviceberry, rhododendron, viburnum and weigela.
Summer Flowering Trees & Shrubs
Plants that flower after June 1st can be pruned at anytime, except in the heat of the summer when insects are active. Twiggy shrubs such as potentilla and spirea also benefit from a good trimming first thing in the spring. They will bounce back looking fresh and full. These plants may also be lightly trimmed after each flush of bloom to promote re-bloom.
Evergreens
After new growth and around late June is a good time for evergreens. You should have 50-90% of the new growth trimmed back, being careful to avoid cutting back into older wood. Prune every year to encourage tighter, more compact growth. Allow some new growth to remain every year. Evergreens shouldn’t be pruned in late summer or fall as late new growth will be prone to winter burn.
Trees
Many trees are best pruned in winter when they’re dormant. If certain species of trees are pruned early in the spring, they will “bleed,” stressing the tree and causing health problems. Maples and birches will “bleed” or lose sap from pruning cuts made early in the spring. This does not hurt the tree, and the loss of sap is inconsequential. With a few exceptions, most routine pruning can be done any time of year. The worst time is just as the tree has leafed out in the spring. Wait until the leaves are dark green in summer. The best time is when the tree is dormant.
Newly Planted Trees
Limit pruning at the time of planting to structural training and the removal of damaged branches as they need their crown to produce food and plant hormones that induce root growth.
Contact Wood Acres Tree Specialists for more information on the proper time to have your trees pruned. Wood Acres is staffed with certified arborists, We have been caring for trees and pruning them correctly to promote tree health in Maryland and Washington, DC since 1983. For beautifully healthy trees: Wood Acres Tree Specialists.
Tags: best time to prune, Maryland, pruning, shrubs, tree and shrub specialists, trees, Washington DC, weak branches
Posted in Pruning, Tree & Shrub Care, Trees & Shrubs | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
 Caring for mature trees is an investment Investing in the health of your mature trees brings many benefits to you and your property.
A well-maintained tree:
- increases in value with age
- increases property values
- beautifies our environment
- purifies the air
- saves you energy (provides cooling shade in the summer and protection from winter’s winds)
A preventive care program for your landscape plants is like a savings plan. Regular maintenance, designed to promote plant health and vigor, ensures their value will continue to grow and is much less costly and time-consuming than curing one once it has developed problems. A good maintenance program includes regular inspections and the necessary follow-up care of mulching, fertilizing, and pruning, & can detect problems and correct them before they become damaging or fatal. Many tree species can live centuries – as long as 200 to 300 years, so including these practices when caring for your home landscape is an investment that will offer enjoyment and value for generations.
Mature Tree Inspection
You should have regular inspections of mature trees at least once a year. Look for four characteristics that represent tree vigor:
- new leaves or buds
- leaf size
- twig growth
- absence of crown dieback
Any abnormalities found during these inspections, including insect activity and spotted, deformed, discolored, or dead leaves and twigs, should be noted and watched closely. If you are uncertain as to what should be done, report your findings to Wood Acres Tree Specialists, certified Arborists.
Mulching Mature Trees
Mulching reduces environmental stress by providing trees with a stable root environment that is cooler and maintains moisture longer. Mulch can also prevent mechanical damage by keeping machines such as lawn mowers and string trimmers away from the tree’s base which can wound it and expose it to insects & disease. Mulch also reduces competition from surrounding weeds and turf.
Place mulch 2 to 4 inches deep and cover the entire root system, which may be as far as 2 or 3 times the diameter of the branch spread of the tree. If the area and activities happening around the tree do not permit the entire area to be mulched, it is recommended that you mulch as much of the area under the drip line of the tree as possible. When placing mulch, do not cover the actual trunk of the tree. This mulch-free area, 1 to 2 inches wide at the base, is sufficient to avoid moist bark conditions and prevent trunk decay.
An organic mulch layer 2 to 4 inches deep of loosely packed shredded leaves, pine straw, peat moss, or composted wood chips is adequate. Thicker mulch depths or plastic should not be used because it interferes with the exchange of gases between soil and air, which inhibits root growth.
Fertilization of Mature Trees
Fertilization is another important aspect of mature tree care. Trees require certain nutrients to function and grow -especially in urban landscapes. If fertilizer is not applied wisely, it may not benefit the tree at all and may even adversely affect the tree. When considering fertilizer, it is important to know which nutrients are needed and when and how they should be applied which is a fairly complex process because conditions vary greatly in soil and environment.
Wood Acres Tree Specialists can arrange to have your soil tested at a soil testing laboratory and can give advice on application rates, timing, and the best blend of fertilizer for each of your trees and other landscape plants.
Since mature trees have expansive root systems that extend from 2 to 3 times the size of the leaf canopy, a major portion of actively growing roots is located outside the tree’s drip line. Many lawn fertilizers contain weed and feed formulations that may be harmful to your trees. When you apply a broadleaf herbicide to your turf, the same herbicide that kills broadleaf weeds in your lawn is picked up by tree roots and can harm or kill your broadleaf trees if applied incorrectly. Understanding the actual size and extent of a tree’s root system before you fertilize is necessary to determine how much, what type, and where to best apply fertilizer.
Pruning the Mature Tree
Pruning is the most common tree maintenance procedure next to watering. Pruning removes dead, diseased, or insect-infested branches and improves tree structure, enhances vigor, or maintains safety. Because each cut has the potential to change the growth of (or cause damage to) a tree, no branch should be removed without a reason.
Overpruning is extremely harmful because without enough leaves, a tree cannot gather and process enough sunlight to survive. However, after pruning, the growth that does occur takes place on fewer shoots, so they tend to grow longer than they would without pruning. Pruning mature trees usually requires special equipment, training, and experience. If the pruning work requires climbing, the use of a chain or hand saw, or the removal of large limbs, then using personal safety equipment, such as protective eyewear and hearing protection, is a must. Wood Acres Tree Specialists Arborists can provide a variety of services to assist in performing the job safely and reducing risk of personal injury and damage to your property as we are fully insured and highly trained in the safe removal of trees.
The Plant Health Care Maintenance Program
Maintaining mature landscapes is a complicated undertaking but Wood Acres Tree Specialists can simplify this for you. Consider our professional Plant Health Care (PHC) maintenance program for healthier trees and shrubs. The PHC program is designed to maintain plant vigor and includes the Plant Health Care Report & inspection to detect and treat any existing problems that could be damaging or fatal. Thereafter, regular inspections and the right kind of preventive maintenance determined by our tree experts will ensure tree and shrub health and beauty for your valuable property landscape.
Tags: arborists, fertilizing trees, Maryland, mature tree inspection, mulching trees, old trees, PHC Report, pruning, tree and shrub specialists, tree doctor, trees, Washington DC
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
When you find downed tree limbs
You’re taking a stroll around your yard and you notice a big tree limb in the the back yard that wasn’t there a couple days ago. A look around the neighborhood tells the tale: the latest storm brought down several tree limbs of all sizes. Why do some tree limbs just bend with the wind and weather when others break? What about the big limb overhanging your house right now?
Weak Branch Unions
Branch unions are categorized as either strong or weak. Strong branch unions have upturned branch bark ridges at branch junctions. Annual rings of wood from the branch grow together with annual rings of wood from the stem, creating a sound, strong union all the way into the center of the tree.
A weak branch union occurs when a branch and stem (or two or more co-dominant stems) grow so closely together that bark grows between them, inside the tree. The term for bark growing inside the tree is “included bark.” The more bark included in the tree, the weaker the union and greater chance that it will fail.
In storm damage surveys conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Forest Resources Department, 21 percent of all landscape trees that failed in windstorms failed at weak branch unions of co-dominant stems. Some species are susceptible to having included bark: European mountain ash, green ash, hackberry, boxelder, willow, red maple, silver maple, Amur maple, cherry and littleleaf linden.
Epicormic Branches
Epicormic branches (also called sucker branches or water sprouts) are formed as a result of bad pruning, injury or environmental stress. They are shallowly attached instead of attached to the center of the stem. Epicormic branches are new branches that replaced injured, pruned or declining branches. You can see epicormic branches formed on the stems and branches of topped trees. Sprouting is common with borer damage. Look for D-shaped holes higher up on the tree. They do not appear along the lower trunk until the tree is nearly dead.When old, large and heavy epicormic branches are growing on decaying stems or branches, the epicormics are very likely to fail.
Weak unions that are also cracked, cankered or decayed are even likely to fail – more limbs in the yard.
Safety First
For safety’s sake, don’t try to inspect that lofty limb yourself. The tree business is very dangerous and experts, like Wood Acres Tree Specialists, should be consulted. We employ stringent safety and performance standards when analyzing your trees’ structure and taking steps to improving their strength and reduce hazard.
Tags: arborists, fallen tree limb, Maryland, pruning, storm damage, tree and shrub specialists, tree doctor, Washington DC, weak branches
Posted in Cabling & Bracing, Pruning, Storms, Trees & Shrubs | Comments Off
Friday, August 6th, 2010
 Wood Acres Tree Specialists recently received information from Wayne Knoll, City Forester of Rockville, MD. He was discussing the recent severe storms that had downed so many deciduous trees in his area of management and made an interesting observation:
According to Mr. Knoll,Rockville has approximately 28,000 street trees on 160 miles of street. His current budget allows for pruning all streets on about a 12-year cycle. During the February storm events, his office received approximately 200 reports of tree or limb failures. (Many of these failures were associated with evergreen trees, mostly white pine, in parks and on landscaped berms adjacent to major roadways. Since evergreens are more prone to failure due to excessive snowfall whether or not they have been recently pruned, he excluded these from his data). All trees listed below are deciduous street trees of various species and size. The majority of the failures were on maple species.
Of the 200+ tree related calls we received, 114 were for deciduous trees located in the City right-of-way along neighborhood streets. The vast majority of these were for partial tree failure with only a few whole tree failures.
- Street trees that received routine maintenance pruning within the past five years incurred 19 of the known failures.
- Street trees that have not received routine maintenance pruning for at least 6 years incurred 95 of the known failures.
Thus, 84% of the reported damage occurred on trees that have not received routine maintenance pruning for six or more years.
So, if you would like to significantly reduce your property’s tree failures during storm events, thus saving time, money and reducing liability talk to us about regular maintenance for your trees – and keep them beautiful longer.
Tags: Maryland, storm damage, stress, trees, Washington DC
Posted in Damage, Pruning, Tree & Shrub Care | Comments Off
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