Washington’s cherry trees are on the verge of peak bloom several days earlier than normal, while blossoms are appearing earlier than ever seen in Tokyo. It’s the result of mild winter temperatures sending a signal that it’s safe for the trees to wake from hibernation. But is it? As fast-warming winters encourage early blooms, they also risk exposing the trees to damage from cold snaps that remain common into March at the mid-latitudes where the ornamental cherry trees have long thrived. A close call is in the forecast this weekend, with temperatures possibly dropping into the upper 20s in Washington. It isn’t the only threat climate change presents: Come summer, hot and muggy nights make it hard for the trees to repair themselves. All year round, floods inundate their roots with salty water. Here is a look at how climate change is affecting the beloved blooms…
Albuquerque, New Mexico, KOB-TV, March 17, 2023: Landscaping this spring? Where you cut your tree can impact the rest of its life
It might not feel like spring just yet, but that doesn’t mean spring isn’t on its way. Monday is the official first day of spring. It’s this time of year, right before everything blossoms, when you should be thinking about landscaping your trees. “This is a good time of year because they haven’t broken dormancy quite,” said Aiessa Thomas, a certified Arborist with the ISA. Thomas said there are different methods to groom your tree, but some are more harmful. “Tree topping is something that is not optimal for a tree’s longevity or health,” Thomas said. That’s when you take off over 30% of the tree by making large cuts to central branches. “The tree doesn’t have the ability to heal itself- there are special cells right here in the collar that are especially designed to wrap around the wound,” Thomas said. “The longer that wound stays open it’s more suspectable to pests, disease, getting in there and harming the tree. Also, when you’re making large cuts you’re kind of taking away the tree’s ability to feed itself.” If too many branches are gone, there won’t be enough leaves for photosynthesis…
The Spruce, March 19, 2023: What Are Tree Burls and How Do They Happen?
A tree burl (or “wood burl”) is a bulbous, woody growth that you may spot on a trunk or branch. A burl forms as the result of stress that its tree has undergone. Though burls can raise concerns for new tree owners because of their strange appearance, they’re quite harmless: the presence of a burl doesn’t signal any problem in tree health you need to address. Some people feel burls mar the appearance of a tree, but artisans value them as raw materials for making high-end furniture, vases, and more. Learn what tree burls are, how they happen, why creative types are fascinated by burls, and how to harvest one if your own creative side finds inspiration. Tree burls can even form below ground level, but, since they go unnoticed, we are usually only aware of the burls that form on a tree’s trunk and/or branches. The size of burls varies greatly, with the larger ones being of greater interest to woodworkers (some, for example, are large enough to be crafted into table tops). The shape is irregular but generally rounded…
Chicago, Illinois, Tribune, March 19, 2023: You can protect your ash trees from emerald ash borer with the right treatment plan
Q: We have been on a two-year treatment schedule to protect our ash trees from emerald ash borer and have been fortunate to keep nearly all the trees growing and healthy. Recently we heard that it was possible to extend to a three-year treatment schedule and was wondering if this would be OK for our ash trees to save on costs?
A: Your contractor is most likely using a trunk injection of TREE-äge™ (emamectin benzoate) to treat your ash trees for control of emerald ash borer. You would lose your ash trees to this insect without these regular treatments. This is an insect pest that requires regular insecticide applications for control. Recent studies have shown that you can extend to a three-year treatment schedule even though the label recommends two. This will reduce your costs while adequately protecting your trees. There are some things to consider before making the change. There are not many ash trees left in the Chicago area landscape, so there is probably low emerald ash borer activity in the vicinity of your garden. If there was high pressure from emerald ash borer locally, it would be safer to stay with a two-year treatment schedule. If any of your remaining ash trees are of particularly high value to you or are under stress from other factors such as drought, keeping the two-year treatment plan is a good idea…
The world’s first Arbor Day was declared April 10, 1872. J. Sterling Morton, the Secretary of the Territory of Nebraska, established the day to promote the idea of planting trees for conservation, wildlife habitat and human use. By 1920, more than 45 other states had adopted Morton’s idea and declared their own Arbor Day. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote a declaration in support of Arbor Day, praising trees for “what they yield in adornment, comfort and useful products.” In 1967, North Carolina joined in, designating their Arbor Day as the first Friday following March 15… Unfortunately, over the years, some of our past Arbor Day trees have brought more problems than benefits. Among the trees that North Carolinians brought to our state, few have brought on as many headaches as the Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana). Native to eastern Asia, the first Bradford pear trees were brought to the U.S. by Frank N. Meyer, a plant explorer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the following years, Bradford pears were widely cultivated as ornamental trees. Their round shape, white flowers and bright fall colors made them attractive for suburban lawn plantings. Their high tolerance of pollution, compacted soils and dry conditions kept them healthy where other trees wouldn’t thrive…
There’s no excuse for private landowners who use protected New Jersey wetlands improperly or illegally, but alleged violators of state Department of Environmental Protection regulations now may be able to cite their own “What about …?” defense. The DEP itself, or, more specifically, one of its divisions, stands accused of destroying wooded acreage in a Gloucester County wildlife preserve that the state owns. “Whataboutism,” as it’s come to be known in political circles, attempts to refute criticism by claiming that the accuser or their supporters have engaged in exactly the same kind of behavior. It’s safe to say that the what-about card has been played very effectively in the last few years of national discourse…
Rhode Island is mobilizing a small army of “tiny but mighty” bugs to help save its majestic hemlock trees. Brought into the Ocean State from Virginia, the predator beetles named Laricobius nigrinus were released in the Richmond woods earlier this month, so they can eat a tiny, invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid, which attacks hemlock trees. The beetles are “pretty hungry predators,” said Alana Russell, a research assistant with the University of Rhode Island Biocontrol Laboratory. “They’re tiny but mighty.” Only about one-tenth of an inch in size, the beetles have been brought to Rhode Island to protect trees that can grow to 100 feet tall and live 800 years…
Fallen trees damaged cars, fences, homes and other property when strong winds ripped through the rain-soaked Modesto area on Tuesday. If you were fortunate enough to escape harm, here’s some information to keep it that way: A combination of saturated soil and strong winds can cause trees to uproot because trees’ movement in a storm can turn soil into “gravy-like consistency,” according to Auburn University’s Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Auburn University’s tree science specialists also noted factors of tree failure to consider of before heavy winds and rain have the chance to take out a tree, including: the mismanagement of landscaped trees, root decay, trees in compacted soil and tight spaces. North Carolina-based Integrity Tree Care company details even more noticeable signs of unhealthy or dying trees. It states ignoring these signs can cause trees to fall and potentially cause injury or property damage. In California, the stress put on trees – especially old ones – by drought and heat can weaken their immune systems, making them more vulnerable to insect infestation, disease and parasites such as mistletoe, a Modesto arborist told The Bee several years back…
Seven people were injured, one seriously, when a large part of a tree broke off and fell on some occupied benches at the San Antonio Zoo on Wednesday, authorities and a witness reported. The branch “unexpectedly” fell at around noon, the zoo said. According to the fire department, one of the injured guests was seen as “level 1 priority care,” while the other injured guests were sent to the hospital out of precaution. The zoo’s security and emergency services staff responded quickly and began treating the injured guests, according to the zoo. San Antonio Police and fire officials responded to the scene within minutes, zoo officials said. The conditions of the injured guests are unknown at this time…
Phys.org, March 15, 2023: A non-native tree species reclaims its prominence after extreme weather
The long-term effects on forests of more extreme climate events, plus other drivers of forest change, are highly uncertain. A new study of the tropical forests across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), spanning 19 years, found that after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the total biomass of a fast-growing non-native species, the African tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata), may again be overtaking that of the most common group of native tree species, even though, at least for young and small trees, non-natives die at twice the rate of native ones. The work is published in the journal PLOS ONE. Extreme climate events are becoming more common in much of the globe. Record-breaking rainfall events have increased worldwide in recent decades. Hurricane Maria was the most intense precipitation event for Puerto Rico since 1956 and has been linked to climate change. The most severe drought event in the Caribbean since 1950 also occurred recently, from 2013-2016…
Apple growers in New York are keeping an eye on this mild, rollercoaster winter and the impact it could have on the region’s crop. NCPR caught Jason Londo, a crop physiologist at Cornell University, to find out how apple trees and growers are fairing. Londo says mild winters make it harder for trees to withstand the erratic changes in temperature we’ve been having. JASON LONDO: So far this winter, we look like we’re safe. My research program tracks the cold hardiness status of apple trees and grape vines through the whole winter so that we can send out alerts, if we get an event that looks like it’s going to cause damage. The vast majority of the varieties that we track have been perfectly safe through the whole winter. The line got very close to being crossed at that February drop; the reason the apples lost their cold hardiness was because of the heat just before that. So, we don’t expect there to be any appreciable damage this year. As for frost damage, that remains to be seen. If we keep our temperatures low, like they are now, all the way through March and into April, I don’t expect there to be too much of a problem. The only hedging we would put there is that if March warms up, then the trees are going to think it’s spring, and they’re gonna go for bud break. And then we are at a much higher risk of frost, particularly given that our last frost can occur as late as May…
Cincinnati, Ohio, WKRC-TV, March 15, 2023: 80-year-old tree torn down despite neighbors’ objections
A handful of people living in the CUF neighborhood went out on a limb to save a beloved sycamore tree, but their efforts failed Wednesday when the tree was brought down by construction workers. The lot the tree occupied, at the corner of the W McMicken Ave. and Straight Street, is being cleared to make way for a student housing complex. It will consist of three buildings, two parking lots, and a retaining wall, but will come at the expense of an estimated 85 trees. France and her neighbors erected signs and staged two protests Wednesday, but around 4:30 p.m., two backhoes arrived and toppled the tree, which France says is “the only sycamore in this part of town.” “You couldn’t move a retaining wall five to 10 feet and lose a few extra parking spaces to save a tree that’s been here for 80 years?” said Debbie Carr. Carr says she once owned some of the land being used for the project, and sold it on the condition that the sycamore tree be left alone…
The University of Alabama has built a reputation as the home of champions in athletics and academics. Now the Tuscaloosa campus could be home to a 70-foot-tall champion. A Southern Magnolia tree behind UA’s Bryant-Jordan Hall has been unofficially declared the largest of its kind in the Alabama. The tree was measured Thursday by the Alabama Forestry Commission as part of Alabama’s Champion Tree program, which aims to discover, recognize and preserve the largest trees of each species in the state. “Unless someone submits a much taller tree, and I don’t see that happening, you all have a Champion Tree,” said Katie Wiswall of the Alabama Forestry Commission. The commission uses a formula developed by American Forests, a nonprofit conservation organization, to determine the points assigned to a tree based on three size measurements: circumference, height and crown spread…
A beleaguered project to improve Brackenridge Park is on hold — again — after San Antonians made a trek to Austin to oppose removing dozens of trees. Some asked that the city’s parks and public works team go back to design and devise a way to repair river walls in the 1920s Lambert Beach area that will retain most of the trees — even if it costs more.“I can make the retaining walls work to preserve the trees. Please give the trees a chance to live,” Moises A. Cruz wrote in a letter submitted to the Texas Historical Commission. Cruz is a San Antonio structural engineer who enjoyed the park as a boy. The commission delayed action on the city’s request for building and archaeological permits for the first phase of a two-part, $7.74 million 2017 bond project at Brackenridge Park…
Many people contact Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke who are angry about trees in neighbors’ yards. They say they’re worried the tree is about to fall onto their houses or cars. A northeast Charlotte homeowner says her neighbor’s tree dumps hundreds of hickory nuts onto her property. It may not seem like a big deal, but she says the nuts fall all onto her driveway, dent her car and creates a slipping hazard. “It’s just gotten worse and worse,” Pearl Williams said. “It is really ridiculous. It honestly is.” Williams said that she has to constantly sweep the fallen nuts off her driveway. “I just feel like something should be done about it,” she said. Williams says she asked the owner to do something about the tree, but nothing has changed. “And I don’t feel like that should be because this is my property,” Williams said. “If the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t think she would accept it like that. She would want me to do something about it.” Williams says she would handle the situation differently if it was her tree imposing on a neighbor’s property. “If it was messing up her property, you bet your life I would,” she said. Williams says her neighbor’s house is a rental property…
Q: I have a flowering plum tree in my backyard next to an Italian plum tree. The last couple years the bugs are destroying my fruit-bearing tree before I get any plums. What type of spray should I spray them with? The picture is of my Italian plum tree leaves. I identified the bugs on the leaves last year and they were ladybugs in the caterpillar stage. They were all over my tree. – Multnomah County
A: The photo unfortunately is a small file size, so I cannot zoom in more, however it looks like the holes may actually be caused by a shot hole disease. Ladybug larvae will not cause holes in your leaves, I am guessing there were some aphids (or other soft insects) on the leaves that the ladybugs were feeding on. Here is some information about this disease. If you are not doing any preventative sprays on your plums, you may want to look at this publication and apply a fungicide in the spring for shot hole (leaf spot). You also may want to consider dormant oil in the winter, which will help with aphids. This article has information that will help. Also, in reference to the lack of fruit, are they blooming and fruit isn’t forming or do they not bloom at all?
Washington, DC, WRC-TV, March 12, 2023: Cherry Blossom Watch: Tidal Basin Cherry Trees Reach Stage 4
The cherry trees at the Tidal Basin have reached peduncle elongation, stage four of their blooming cycle, the National Park Service (NPS) announced Saturday. “Peduncle Elongation! It’s not funny, it’s science. (Ok, it’s kind of funny.) We’re at the 4th of 6 stages on the path to peak bloom,” @NationalMallNPS tweeted. The blossoms reached stage three on March 7 and stage one on Feb. 23. Puffy white is the last stage before the Yoshino Cherry trees reach peak bloom. Peak bloom is defined as when 70% of the blossoms on the Yoshino cherry trees along the Tidal Basin have bloomed, according to the NPS…
An environmental group is suing to stop the U.S. Forest Service from moving forward with a project that would clear-cut 1600 acres in the Wayne National Forest, about two hours southwest of Pittsburgh. The case was heard this week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus. The Sunny Oaks Project, which spans 25,000 acres of the Wayne, was first proposed in 2018 by the Forest Service to create young, brushy forest and grow a new crop of oak trees. The project has a preference for white oak, and aims to contribute to the local economy through commercial timber harvests. In its lawsuit, the nonprofit Ohio Environmental Council claims the project will destroy older oak trees and is unlikely to regrow new oaks, and that it is a violation of the Wayne’s 2006 Forest Plan. Oak trees, especially white oaks, are used for things making furniture, and barrels for bourbon, an important industry in this region. Oaks are considered an ecological powerhouse, producing acorns that many birds, bears, and other species rely on, and hosting hundreds of species of insects…
Tree and Neighbor Law For Homeowners and Professionals 