Drought: Causes, Implications, and What You Can Do About It
Despite our abundance of lakes, Minnesota summers have been dry. A dry summer is stressful for people, trees, and plants. Although droughts are regular, dry weather during crucial growth periods can cause irreversible damage. The term “drought” refers to a period of time without precipitation. As the water content declines, trees can no longer extract […]
How to Help a Tree Fight Summer Issues
Summer provides many challenges to trees, from heat and drought, to attacks by other living things. Many things are beyond our control, but there’s a lot we can do to help our trees. Watering and providing good soil for a tree to grow in can help boost the tree’s natural defenses. Some issues, especially non-native […]
Starting a Career in Arboriculture
Arborist, tree surgeon, arbolista, Baumpflegerin, arboriste; whatever the title, professionals in the arboriculture industry exist worldwide. Everywhere there are trees, people practice the broad field of arboriculture in some sense or another. What is arboriculture? Arboriculture is defined as “the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants.” The […]
Woodpeckers and Emerald Ash Borer
At the Northern Green conference in January of 2017 Mark Abrahamson, Assistant Director of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, presented copious evidence of the direct correlation between woodpecker damage to ash trees and an Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation. Woodpecker damage is described in two ways: Flecking, vertical strips of bark are missing Pecking, making […]
Have You Met the Emerald Ash Borer?
In January of 2017, I attended the Northern Green, an annual green industry get together, and it’s Master Classes for tree geeks. The dangers of standing ash trees falling apart due to heavy infestations of emerald ash borer (EAB), was one of the main themes of the conference. The effect of EAB, an agrilus beetle […]