Posts Tagged ‘stress’

Tree Structure Evaluation/Risk Assessment Report

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Have Wood Acres Analyze Your Trees' Health

Are your trees ready for winter? After the past year’s storms they may have been weakened and could fail.

Wood Acres Tree Specialists offers the Tree Structure Evaluation/Risk Assessment Report for a homeowner’s peace of mind. It contains the following data:

  • tree species
  • size
  • species failure profile
  • evaluation of location and site of tree
  • visual tree analysis
  • wood rot-decay analysis
  • risk rating
  • interpretation of evaluation
  • remedial treatments

We can’t guarantee a tree won’t be taken down by severe, unpredictable weather but if your trees are showing any dangerous signs now you will be aware and can do something now before disaster happens.

Your report will be prepared by one of our certified arborists so you can be assured that it’s based on highly educated experience and scientific techniques.

Your valuable trees add so much to your property in beauty and the environment – but trees have liabilities associated with them. Be smart – the key to reducing those liabilities is to recognize when a tree becomes hazardous and take steps to correct or eliminate the hazard.

Should you have any unforeseen problems this winter, call Wood Acres Tree Specialists for Emergency Care. As a professional tree care company we employ the highest safety standards available and carry personal, property, and workers compensation insurance so you are protected. The average tree removal requires $100,000-$500,000 worth of equipment on site – we’re prepared to remove trees and stumps both large and small. If you have trees on your property, rely on Wood Acres Tree Specialists – we’re committed to being the best tree service in Montgomery County, Maryland and NW-DC  .

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Regular Pruning Saves Trees – & Money.

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.

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Identifying Bagworms

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Credits (left to right) Lacy L. Hyche, Auburn University, Bugwood.org John H. Ghent, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Terry Price, Georgia Forestry Commission, Bugwood.org

What is my shrub dying and what are those “pinecone” things hanging from the branches? We hear that a lot in this area, especially in this extreme heat when your trees are already in a stressed state.

If you do see bags made out of needles or leaves on a woody plant that is defoliated the chances are you have bagworms. Bagworm caterpillars make distinctive 1.5 to 2 inch long spindle-shaped bags that can be seen hanging from twigs of a variety of trees and shrubs.

Bagworms prefer juniper, arborvitae, spruce, pine, and cedar but also attack deciduous trees. Female moths cannot fly but the larvae can disperse. Very small caterpillars can spin strands of silk and be carried by wind, an activity called “ballooning”. Larger larvae may crawl to adjacent plants.
Bagworms pass the winter as eggs (300 or more) inside bags that served as cocoons for last year’s females. The eggs hatch and the tiny larvae crawl out to feed. Each uses silk and bits of plant material to make a small bag that protects and camouflages it as during feeding and growth.
Bagworm caterpillars feed for about six weeks, enlarging the bag as they grow and withdrawing into it when disturbed. Older larvae strip evergreens of their needles and devour whole leaves of susceptible deciduous species leaving only the larger veins. When abundant, the caterpillars can defoliate plants.
Heavy infestations over several consecutive years, especially when coupled with other stresses, can lead to plant death.
Should you see these telltale bags hanging on your trees or shrubs, please call Wood Acres Tree Specialists to assess and treat the damage before the stressed plant can’t recover  -or its natural form and beauty is ruined for years.

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