Preventing Winter Sun Scald on Trees.

Sun Scald is a real problem, especially with younger trees. This is the result of sun warming the frozen bark in the winter, then the bark freezes again quickly damaging the cell structure. Now is the time to get ahead of this before the winter damage occurs.

In the past, fruit tree orchards painted the trunks white to help prevent the quick change of temperature on the bark. However I do not recommend paint on living tissue.


You will see a lot of people wrapping trees as seen in this video. Which is acceptable and can help stop some pests from chewing on the bark in the winter.


I prefer using the white card board which your tree was probably delivered with from the nursery as shown by this nursery to the bottom left.

The wrap has a tendency to hold moisture against the bark and harbor insects whereas the card board allows air movement, can be put on very quickly and easily with zip ties, can be removed very quickly in the spring and easily stored to re-use next winter.

Sun scald damage is serious in that the vascular system of the tree is mostly vertical so to damage and entire side like this will inhibit growth on that side of the tree. This is a quick and simple way to protect your trees.

Snow damage to Trees

Look out for damage from these heavy snows. Due to the suddenness and amount of snow, many trees, especially our Maples, had not dropped their leaves. These trees will be holding far more snow load then they should. This can do severe damage if we get winds. If you can remove this snow carefully, without bending the limbs even more and breaking them, than do so. However, if it takes too much shaking, stop, you may do more damage than the snow load.
Props are not out of the question if certain limbs look in danger.

Do not raise beds around a tree

The Cell structure between the trunk and the underground roots is very important to the health of the tree. If this cell structure is covered by dirt it will eventually kill the tree. It will not happen right away, University studies have shown it takes ten to fifteen years. During that time period the tree will be more acceptable to frost damage, leaves will be smaller, growth will show stunting symptoms and random dead limbs will show in the canopy.

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A job I was on last week had the typical symptoms already starting to show because the home owner wanted to cover rising roots. This was the worse thing to do to the tree and half of the tree has already died back just a few years after the raised bed was put in.

This birch will be dead in a few years if this raised flower bed is not removed.

We often see people raise flower beds around a tree because the roots are starting to make it difficult to mow. The correct answer would have been to create a flower bed that starts a full foot away from the buttress roots using a shallow amount of soil composite of sand, mulch and well aged compost. The best compost and mulch to use are the natural leaves that would have fallen around the tree.

Always keep in mind that tree roots must have oxygen. Leaf compost is breaking down leaving air pockets. So whatever mulch you use around a tree should not be compacted or water saturated.

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Another common problem I see is grass being allowed to grow up around the base of the tree. We discussed earlier how this is dangerous for the tree in that lawn mowers and weed eaters can damage the area just under the bark cutting the cambium or "arteries" of the tree.

However grass creates another problem in that when the grass blade is cut off, a portion of the root of the grass dies back. This helps create a thatch layer that decays into soil. Over the years this will build up. Have you ever noticed how a older lawn will have the dirt of the grass grown up two inches above the sidewalk? It didn't start out this way. The sidewalk was probably even higher than the grass years ago, but as the grass was cut and the thatch layer of roots built up, the turf ended up inches of dirt higher. This happens with the tree base too. Grass growing up around the base will build up in the same manner until we have several inches of dirt now over the buttress roots which is starting to harm the tree.

In nature, grass and trees do not mix. Trees create a canopy and a layer of leaf drop in the fall to kill off grass and competing plants under the tree. The best way to keep a tree healthy is to mirror nature. Create a large natural tree well, if possible the size of the drip line, so the tree has an area for it to grow naturally.

Tree Roots in Lawn

Raised Tree roots in a yard.

This is one of the most often asked questions I get in this heavy clay soil area.

What causes raised tree roots?
Trees need air space called macro pores in the soil or they suffocate. Heavy soils such as clay have less macro pores. Macro pores are created when organic material breaks down actually leaving an air space. So if the tree is growing in a soil without enough oxygen, it will push up the roots looking for that air space.

Water will fill this air space. So if you water too much, the tree will again, push it's roots upwards seeking a better environment that it can survive in.

How do we fix raised tree roots?
Well we do not cut the root unless there is no other alternative. There are five main scaffolding roots the tree is using to support itself and to gather nutrients. If you cut one of these it would be like your diet being cut by 20% and your leg being cut off below the knee.

There are two good ways to properly take care of raised roots.

1. Amend the soil with organic material. The best way to do this is with the air spade we talked about in the earlier blog. This breaks up the soil and allows you to amend it with more organic material. This should be done by a professional ISA Arborist who has been trained in this specific work. A tree well, as wide as the drip line, is ideal although not often practical. This area can be covered in mulch. The best mulch is ground leaves which is what the tree would indigenously use.

2. The second option is to put a mixture of organic material like a leaf mulch or well composted material, in with a sand mixture, and cover the roots with an inch at a time. The grass will grow through this material well and actually thrive in it. Every few months add an extra inch until the root is completely covered.

Be sure to adjust your watering habits. Check the tree moisture within the drip line. This is best done with a water meter. The cheaper meters will work fairly well and be better than nothing at all. The tree should be wet once a week, and to the middle of dry on the meter, once a week, at least 6 to 8 inches down. If it is pegged wet all week, you need to adjust your watering.

Do not run over these roots with the lawn mower and scalp them. This allows disease and bacteria into the root system which can eventually kill a tree. If you've done this, leave it exposed and allow the tree to heal itself by compartmentalizing the wound. That is that rolled up look you see on old wounds. Once it has done that, use one of the above methods to cover the root so it doesn't happen again.

Root care is the foundation of the tree's health. Good link for Tree Root basics.

Trees Biggest Enemy

Keep in mind that the "arteries" of your tree is just below the outer bark called the phloem and xylem. If this is damaged it is like your artery system being damaged.

So the biggest enemy your tree faces is devices that can damage those arteries.

Who is the biggest Enemy?

Unfortunately it is us.

Lawn Mowers and Weed Eaters do more damage to trees than any other one item in the Tree World.

It's not really our fault in that we are trying to do a good job, getting the grass mowed down, that is growing up around the tree. But in reality that grass would not be there in nature, the tree leaves and needles would blanket the area and choke out any other grass or weed. We remove that natural mulch.

The other problem is we don't want grass to build up a thatch layer around the trunk flare and suffocate that cell tissue.

AND, we don't want the grass to compete with the tree roots directly around the tree. So lots of reasons to get rid of that grass right around the tree with a tree well.

How do we make it? Very simple, if it's a mature tree simply spray the active ingredient found in round-up called Glyphosate - generic version will work fine and cost a lot less. This product used properly will not harm mature trees, see link.

Simply spray around the tree like this. Notice the card board cut out to make it nice and even. Be careful that you don't drip on the lawn when you remove the card board.

If it's a young tree with soft bark, cover the bark also to keep the chemical off the tree and use far less product so it can not move into the younger tree roots. I've done this for years and never had any damage.

Do Not cut this grass out with a shovel in that there are roots just below the ground you may damage. Let the grass die down, then carefully weed eater it right down to the ground, and you have a safety zone from trees biggest threat.

Trees Planted too Deep

The area going from the trunk to the roots is the trunk flare which makes up a very critical cell structure for the tree's transition from full oxygen to earth.

Covering this area will lead to decline and will show damage in the tree around the 12 to 15 year age span.

Damage will be acceptability to freeze kill back on certain branches, reduced leaf size and overall canopy fullness. It's like a slow starvation for the tree.

Here is a very detailed article about the symptoms.

A tree should not look like a fence post or telephone pole in the ground. There should always be some kind of flare out from the root structure. If there isn't you need to uncover that area. However what you will often find is that the tree is pushing adventitious (small fibrous looking roots) up around the trunk flare now.

It is not a good idea to use a shovel in this are in that you can damage the larger scaffolding roots or trunk area. The answer is to use air. The industry name is a airspade which simply means a large volume air compressor blowing the dirt off the root system.

You can see how the dirt flies with concentrated air power. This work above is loosening compacted dirt around the roots, you can see the trunk flare is fine on that tree. Below is a tree that has been air excavated after being planted too deep and showing signs of decline.

You can obviously see the dirt line, we are just getting down to the root flare at the bottom

For More on this case click here.

 

You can rent an air compressor and begin excavating that area around your tree if this is an issue. Warning; you will take a dirt bath so wear all the safety equipment to protect yourself.

 

Drainage off this root area is also important and can be done at the same time.

 

Spring Tree Fertilizer

Every year I am called out on trees that are struggling health wise and hear the customer say, "well I put spikes in all around the tree to fertilize it and help it."

Fertilizer can be the worse thing for Tree Health Care if you are using high nitrogen.

As a Certified Arborist I am held to ISA ANSI standards which is comprised of top Tree Care Professionals around the world with the latest University studies and research. ANSI has reduced the nitrogen recommendation by 60% a year. I try to help customers understand the reason for this by pointing out that an Oak tree grows slowly and  is strong,  Poplar tree grows fast and is weak. The faster the cell elongation which is a key to nitrogen the weaker the tree.

Nitrogen is NOT what makes a tree healthy. Correct soil around the drip line of the tree is what makes a tree healthy and the trees ability to absorb the minerals around that tree. This brings us to Mycorrhiza the living organisms in the soil that penetrates the roots of trees and transfers minerals for the sugars the photosynthesis process in the leaves have created. This is what makes a tree healthy and self sustaining.

Products such as Organic Tea and additives such as SAVE-A-TREE as pictured above creates this environment. Spikes, too much lawn fertilizer and nitrogen applications are not your first step this spring. Large tree wells with well aged composted material such as the indigenous leaves are best with the focus on building better soil directly around the tree.

Tree Health Care

 

Tree Health Care advise must rank right up there with the ten best ways to discipline your children. Everyone wants to give you advise but by what authority are they giving you that advise?

With that in mind this blog covers basic information about Tree Health Care that everyone should know.

The first thing you must realize about trees is that they do not do anything fast. The slow Ents in the movie Lord of the Rings was a fun emphasis on that fact and it's true. Trees can't run and hide or move out of the way so they slowly try to remedy everything by growing through it.

The second biggest misinformation I hear from the "next door neighbor" is, bores are killing that tree. The fact is insects attack the sick trees in the forest not the healthy ones as part of the natural plan to eliminate the weak and make room for the healthy trees. So if you have an insect attack the tree was having a health problem in the first place. University studies have proven that insects can hear sonic cracking of dry or dead wood which leads them to those sick trees. See the University Study from Texas A&M as one example.

The third biggest mistake is assuming yellowing leaves means the tree needs more water. The fact is that you will get the same symptoms from too much water as too little. See http://forestry.about.com/od/arboriculture/a/tree_watering.htm  To prevent this the only real answer is to probe the ground around the tree and see how wet it is.

Even a cheap water meter like this for as little as $10 can help.

 

The Fourth mistake is to take a sample to your local extension office or nursery and believe they can diagnose the problem and the cure by looking at a twig or leaf. Never trust a person who states they can to that. The fact is you have to get the history of events happening to the tree over the past year (remember; trees do not react to anything quickly) and you have to look at the environment the tree is growing in. If you do not take all factors into consideration you are getting a diagnosis like a doctor who doesn't take the time to get your medical past and current conditions but gives a random diagnosis out of a book.

 

That's just a start, but a good start to help you with Tree Health Care.