Can you water a large tree?

Many people wonder if it is feasible to water a large landscape tree. In short, the answer is YES, and during our Seattle heat wave arborists are still planting, pruning, and watering trees. Some of the principals to consider when watering trees including big trees are:

• Water slowly to limit runoff and allow deep penetration.
• The root system of large trees can extend up to 1.5 times the height of a tree.
• Mulching can improve retention of moisture during hot weather. See previous mulching posts.
• Water early or late, not during the hottest parts of the day.

If in need of an assessment of your trees due to our abnormal Seattle weather, give us a call.

Help - My Tree Just Died!

One way to describe trees is as a big battery. As trees convert sunlight to starch, they store excess energy in their woody parts for later use. A vital tree stores converts more energy than it needs resulting in a surplus. A highly stressed tree is consumes more energy. At some point stress becomes strain, an irreversible condition. If this continues for too long, the tree begins to decline.

Decline in trees can sometimes take years. Tree death often occurs long after the initial contributing factor takes place. Because of the timing of tree growth many trees "die" in late spring. Why? One of the biggest energy uses for a tree is pushing out new leaves and extending new growth. If your tree has "just" died, it may be that in order to continue growth, it has used up all of it's available energy.

Some avoidable things that cause stress:

1. Overpruning or malpruning
   
2. Disturbance of root zones
3. Wounding trunk and roots, often by lawn care equipment
   

Trees vs. Turf

In the battle for the American yard, trees have been taking it in the shorts. Trees are viewed as a nuisance, blocking light, causing a mess, and costing money. Here are three things that are true about trees vs. turf.

1. Trees save money - planted within 15 feet of the SW corner of your house, a large tree will cut summertime cooling costs by $20 to $30 per month. In the summer your grass costs you several hours per week of your time besides the increased water bill.
2. Trees capture water and help to hold it in the soil - turf maintenance is largely responsible for the high levels of pesticides and herbicides in our public waterways, as applied chemicals are washed downstream.
3. Trees are gathering places - On a hot summer day, a lawn is viewed from underneath the shade of a patio umbrella. In contrast, the trees pull people in to sit and visit under their cool shade. Lawn says stay off; tree says welcome.

Being green comes natural, just don't fight it.

Right Tree, Right Place - Wrong Message

The right tree in the right place, a popular tag line used by arborists worldwide is creating a new problem for the long term future of trees. Originally meant to solve issues with large trees planted in small or restricted sites, resulting in harsh pruning or heaving sidewalks, this message has the unintended result of reducing the number of large maturing trees currently existing and being planted.
Most of the trees being planted now along our city streets are at best medium sized trees if not smaller. Species like flower pear, cherry and small maples predominate. Nurseries also promote small trees over large, relegating trees like Oak, Elm and Beech as too big for our small yards.
Conversely, these small trees are more invasive in our yards as their canopies occupy the same space that we walk, play and live in.
Rather than the the right tree in the right place, I say simply, Plant More Trees.

The Bigleaf Maple – a Northwest Icon

The bigleaf maple, Acer macrophyllum, is the largest of all of the world’s maples. It has the largest leaf, seed, and trunk of any of the maple species. The largest is in Oregon with a trunk diameter of about twelve feet. This maple produces edible flowers each April through May. Scientists studying the moss mats of forest grown bigleaf maple trees have discovered adventitious root growth occurring in the upper canopy of trees, in order to take advantage of arboreal soils. Planted within twenty feet of a house facing south, this large maturing tree will protect the roof and siding from the blistering effects of summer sun, while allowing for winter solar heating. Periodic pruning will keep large dead material from collecting in the canopy and enhance the natural beauty of one of the northwest’s amazing native trees.

Mulcing 102 - Types of mulch

Mulching does many things including,

• Protects soil from extremes in temperature and moisture,
• Inhibits the growth of weeds
• Protects the trunks of trees from injury
  
• Can add organic matter to the soils

Lots of different materials qualify as mulch, from rocks to recycled rubber, but the most effective mulch in the urban landscape is arborist wood chips. Why?

Coarse woody debris, or wood chips, break down slowly and release their stored energy back into the ground for use by other plants. Interestingly, their slow release rate is less likely to overstimulate plants in the way that a commercial fertilizer or compost would do.

Wood chips also require a fungal relationship to break down. This fungal symbiosis then reacts with roots of plants in a form called mychorizae (see image above), which is neither root or fungus, but a whole new organism benefiting both. Fungal growth also inhabits the niche that weeds like to grow in.

In other words, more fungal activity in soils equals less weeds!

The Douglas-fir tree, a NW favorite

I am often asked, "What is your favorite tree?"

My favorite tree is the Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii.

Like many of us in the Pacific NW, this tree is not easily put into a box. Sometimes called a pioneer species, it may live to well over a thousand years. Often dismissed as too big, the Douglas-fir is a very strong, flexible tree, capable of adapting to the urban environment.

The serious question for arborists in the NW is how do we care for a tree that can grow to 150 feet or more, right next to a house? Many of my fellow arborists have been debating this for years now. If you have one of these amazing trees, stop and admire it from time to time.