Category Archives: Tree Care

News and information related to trees.

The Case of the Fruitless Plum Tree

Posted on June 14, 2020 by admin

I wanted to share a short story about a plum tree. I’ve been working on a plum tree for a client for the past 3 years. They originally got in touch because their 8 year old plum had only been … Continue reading →

Posted in Curiosities, Fruit Trees, Tree Care | Leave a comment

Callus Growth

Posted on March 18, 2019 by admin

An example of how allowing new shoots to grow at the margins of a pruning cut help it heal over quicker. Ideally large cuts like this would never have to be made, but sometimes we don’t get around to pruning … Continue reading →

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Cherry pruning

Posted on April 20, 2018 by admin

I wanted to share a couple photos of a cherry I pruned last week. I started a multi-year process to create more healthy fruiting branches lower in the canopy where fruit can be reached. This first pruning in many years … Continue reading →

Posted in Before & After (photos), Fruit Trees, Tree Care | Leave a comment

Planting Trees

Posted on April 15, 2018 by admin

When planting trees it’s important to remove all the soil that it comes with. Besides making sure you’re planting it at the correct depth (very important!) which is very hard to tell without removing the soil, you’re helping the tree … Continue reading →

Posted in Landscapes, Tree Care | Leave a comment

Kretzschmaria deusta

Posted on March 9, 2018 by admin

It may sound like some kind of monster, and in some ways it is, though normally it just appears as in innocuous fungus at the base of hardwood trees. It’s a fungus called Kretzschmaria deusta found in temperate climates worldwide … Continue reading →

Posted in Fungi, Tree Care | 1 Comment

Prune in Moderation

Posted on January 2, 2017 by admin

Another reason not to prune a lot out of a tree all at once- I was working in Seattle in the upper canopy of a narrow leafed Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) last week, and noticed the top of a number of … Continue reading →

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Mulch Around Trees

Posted on April 30, 2016 by admin

Adding wood chip mulch around young trees is one of the best things one can do to assure their success. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, wood chips have a number of benefits. From moderating soil temperature, holding moisture through … Continue reading →

Posted in Before & After (photos), Landscapes, Tree Care | Leave a comment

Plum blossoms

Posted on March 12, 2016 by admin

It’s flowering time for the plums here in the Seattle area, specifically the Asian type of plum (the European types bloom later). Pruning on these trees can also begin in the next couple of weeks. There are less fungal spores … Continue reading →

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Weeping Larch

Posted on March 10, 2016 by admin

Larches are a type of conifer that lose their leaves (needles) for the winter. This sometimes causes people not aware of what they are to think they are dying, despite this being a completely normal process. Larix species are native … Continue reading →

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Pear Trellis Rust

Posted on December 4, 2014 by admin

Pear trellis rust (Gymnosporangium sabinae) is an interesting fungus in that it requires two entirely different plant hosts to complete its life cycle – pear and juniper. Spores produced on junipers only infect pears, and those produced on pear only … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruit Trees, Fungi, Pests and Diseases, Tree Care | 1 Comment