What Happens After a Storm?
Here in Minnesota, we’re fortunate to not have to deal with some of the worst that Mother Nature can throw at us, but we do still have significant storm events. While trees are quite resilient, everything does have a breaking point. When storms come through our area, we inevitably end up dealing with broken limbs, […]
Have You Flossed Your Trees Lately?
Stem girdling roots grow against soil covered tree trunks, compressing the vascular system, and ultimately reducing the tree’s life span. As the trunk expands, the roots close in on the trunk, forming a tourniquet which slowly strangles the tree to death. When these trees fail, they break off at the base like a ball and […]
Trees and Pesticide Use: Finding a Balance
I try to see both sides of most issues. I’m willing to consider two seemingly contradictory, yet only contrary, viewpoints at the same time. I’m a Vikings fan, but I don’t hate the Packers. (I do hate the Cowboys since in my youth Drew Pearson did push off.) I think the conservatives have great ideas; […]
Emerald Ash Borer
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is serious insect pest of our native ash trees in MN. Although new to Minnesota in 2009, EAB has killed hundreds of millions ash trees in North America since 2002. Learn more at the EAB Network. The State of Minnesota has roughly a billion ash trees. Treating ash trees with insecticides […]
Our Least Favorite Pest — Sawfly
One of our early season “most wanted” for insect and disease control is the European pine sawfly usually found on Mugo, Scots, red, and various other pines. An infestation of these glutinous, greedy little larvae starts as a few stray larvae feeding on an inconspicuous shoot and grows into massive numbers that strip an entire […]
What Are These Orange Trees?
Do we have orange trees in Minnesota? Yes, we do have trees in Minnesota that are orange. However, they are hawthorn trees that have turned orange due to a non-harmful disease called quince rust. Some refer to the disease as cedar apple rust but that’s a little different. Quince rust infects the hawthorn fruit when […]
Sawfly Don’t Bother Me
What’s eating my pine? Sawfly larvae were feeding on your bristle cone pine, which is a very cool tree choice by the way. The larvae eat needles down to the fascicle, the sheath that hold the bundled needles together. Later in the year, the winged sawfly lays eggs (and earns its name) by sawing a […]
When to Prune to Reduce Oak Wilt Risk
Red, white, and bur oaks are some of our most-loved trees in Minnesota, and they face a mortal threat: oak wilt. Red oaks form the backbone of the red oak-sugar maple-basswood forests of the west metro. White and red oaks intermix through the Anoka sand plain and the southeast metro. Bur oaks line the uplands […]
How to Identify and Prevent Sunscald and Winter Burn
Winter in Minnesota provides many challenges for trees and shrubs, from extreme cold to dry winds and even the sun. Bright, sunny days can pose as much, or even more risk to some plants. The main issues we see later in winter are sunscald and winter burn. Both of these issues are best treated with […]
Tree Preservation Plans
Life in the urban environment causes conflicts between humans and the natural environment. But this does not mean people and trees cannot coexist in the same space. Quite the opposite is true. With planning, we can build homes under the canopies of large trees with minimal impact. A “tree preservation plan” protects before, during, and […]