Kentucky Coffeetree
Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) is a medium-sized tree that will fit into many landscapes and provide interest all year with its bark, leaves, flowers, fruit and even great fall color, if weather conditions are right.
Trees
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Fire Blight
Fire blight is a disease that can infect apples, pears, and certain ornamental species including crabapples, cotoneaster, and mountain ash. Occasionally it may also appear on cherries, plums, Juneberry (also called Serviceberry or Saskatoon), and raspberry. This disease, caused by the bacteria Erwinia amylovora, can damage blossoms, fruit, leaves, shoots, and branches. If it is not controlled, fire blight may kill the entire tree or shrub. Infected tissue cannot be cured, but will need to be removed from the tree to prevent further spread.
How to Identify an Ash Tree Infested by Emerald Ash Borer
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a threat to all the ash trees in our state. None of our native ash have any resistance to this insect and once attacked, unless insecticides treatments are started within a year or two, the tree will die. The emerald ash borer has been responsible for the loss of more than 60 million ash trees in the United States and Canada since its accidental introduction from Asia into Michigan during the 1990s.
Choosing Firewood
This is the time of the year where many people enjoy sitting around a fire. A roaring fire provides a cheery way to spend a cold winter evening. However if you choose the wrong firewood, it could become a smoky evening with little heat but lots of sparks flying from wood that has a musky odor. You have to start with the right wood.
Choosing the Perfect Christmas Tree
Christmas tree lots are already beginning to spring up around the state and Thanksgiving marks the start of the Christmas tree season, with more than 30 million trees being sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Trees & Shrubs
The United States is the world’s leading producer and consumer of forest products and accounts for about one-fourth of the world’s production and consumption.
Fall Yard and Garden Cleanup
Before the snow falls, a few tasks can help make for a healthier yard and garden next year.
Living Christmas Tree Alternatives
Living Christmas trees are not a new concept. Often this means buying a potted or balled and burlaped, normally hardy tree, from a local nursery, then bringing it into the home, right before Christmas to enjoy for a week or so before planting it out in the landscape.
Woody Weeds: Common Buckthorn
When considering weed control in tree plantings, the focus is generally placed on the control of herbaceous vegetation (grasses and forbs), particularly during the establishment phase. This focus is appropriate since control of herbaceous weeds is generally critical to establish a successful planting. As these plantings mature, providing perching sites for birds, another weed problem develops – the establishment of competing woody vegetation. These woody weeds are often left unchecked for many years because they look “natural” in a windbreak or other area of trees.
What to Do About Ice Covered Trees?
We are experiencing periods of freezing rain across the state. This weather has left many trees covered with a 1/8 to 1/2 inch glaze of ice. The ice weight is resulting in bent and broken branches. Here are a few do’s and don’ts for dealing with ice on trees.