Category Archives: Tree Care

News and information related to trees.

Mulching

Anytime is a good time to mulch your landscape, but fall is especially great. Covering bare soil before we get heavy fall rains and adding another few inches around the trees you mulched last year will really pay off next … Continue reading

Posted in Landscapes, Tree Care | 1 Comment

Cherry Bark Tortrix

The Cherry bark tortrix is a pest on trees and shrubs of the rose family (Rosaceae). This means most common fruit trees have the potential to be affected including apple, cherry, plum, and peach. It’s a relatively new pest to … Continue reading

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Verticillium wilt

Around the Seattle area this spring I noticed a number of Japanese Maples infected with what appears to be verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae and V. albo-atrum). This soil borne fungi can infect a very wide range of species. It causes … Continue reading

Posted in Fungi, Pests and Diseases, Tree Care | Leave a comment

Fruit Tree Pruning

There are two basic times of the year that it’s best to prune fruit trees; dormant and summer. Most people prune when the tree is dormant (no leaves) because it’s easier to see what and where you are cutting. But … Continue reading

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Reaction Wood

Have you ever wondered how a tree supports itself as it reaches towards an opening in the canopy? Or how a long limb holds itself horizontal? The answer is reaction wood. Reaction wood is a special kind of wood that … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Tree Care | 2 Comments

Leafhoppers and Spider Mites

As the summer progresses insect pest damage often becomes more apparent. I was recently called out to a home in the Greenlake area of Seattle to look at a vine maple that was having a pest problem. The tree actually … Continue reading

Posted in Gardens, Landscapes, Tree Care | 1 Comment

Cherry Brown Rot

It’s well past cherry season here in Seattle and Western Washington, but earlier this summer you may have noticed a brown mold covering fruits just as they were ripening. This is due to a fungus called cherry brown rot or … Continue reading

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Co-dominate Stems

Co-dominate stems often become a problem in mature trees. Co-dominate stems, or “double trunks”, arise when the terminal growth point on a tree is broken or cut off. The tree then sends up two or more new leaders which compete … Continue reading

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Clearing Branches From Utilitiy Lines

I thought I’d share a couple of photos from a job I completed last week. Three large beautiful Deodar Cedars (Cedrus deodara) were growing in a backyard in the Wedgewood neighborhood of Seattle. The only problem was the six utility … Continue reading

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Leaf Miners

Leaf Miners tunnel between layers within a leaf, eating the plant tissue and often leaving a very distinctive trail through the leaf or patches of dead brown leaf tissue. These sometimes strange looking markings on leaves are caused by the … Continue reading

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