Charlotte, North Carolina, Axios, November 12, 2026: 40 Charlotte-area sites have permits for tree removal near billboardsOf 154 permits issued statewide for tree-clearing near billboards, 40 are in Mecklenburg County, Sustain Charlotte founder Shannon Binns tells Axios. Residents, business owners and local leaders are concerned this could lead to more tree removal throughout the county after a stretch in Plaza Midwood was removed in October for an Adams Outdoor Advertising billboard. Sustain Charlotte and North Carolina State Sen. Caleb Theodros (D-District 41 Mecklenburg County) shared the list of 40 Mecklenburg County locations at a press conference Thursday in Plaza Midwood along with local leaders and business owners. Permit data was obtained from the North Carolina Department of Transportation Roadside Environmental staff, per NCDOT…
Christmas tree farmers are saying “bah humbug” to the forecast as their growing season finishes in an extreme drought. For people shopping for trees, the impacts this year will be minimal. Some trees might be slightly duller in color, but with proper care, they should last just as long as trees from other years. The real impacts will come when younger saplings are ready to be harvested in a couple of years. John Weston is a seventh-generation farmer and current owner of Weston’s Farm. He said that young trees need moist soil to develop a robust root system. “When the ground is saturated and wet all around the tree, it’s going to be much better. You’ll have a more nutrient uptake. You’ll just have a better-looking overall tree,” Weston said. Farmers can add water to the soil through drip irrigation or overhead watering, but it doesn’t soak all of the soil, which is what encourages root development. It also costs money and labor…
Early in 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa carried hundreds of tree seeds around the Moon, tucked into his personal flight kit. Back on Earth, foresters germinated the seeds and planted the young saplings across the United States for the nation’s bicentennial. Half a century later, mature trees grown from spaceborne stock still shade parks, public squares, and state capitol grounds. Roosa worked as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service before joining NASA, prompting the agency to partner on the experiment. While crewmates Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the lunar surface, Roosa circled above in the command module Kitty Hawk with a mixed collection of loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir seeds…
Martha Stewart, November 12, 2026: How to Keep Deer From Damaging Your Trees and Shrubs This Winter
When winter weather arrives, the landscape turns into a picturesque wonderland of snow and ice, but that frigid weather also means local deer will soon look for alternative food sources. Unfortunately, our beautiful trees and shrubs are often at the top of the list, becoming the focus of their winter browsing. Ahead, gardening experts explain the best ways to protect your trees and shrubs from hungry deer this season. It may not seem immediately obvious why a deer would want to chew on tough bark and thick stems, but these animals have substantially different digestive systems than humans. Deer have the digestive microbes needed to break down and release energy from the living parts of bark and woody stems…
A federal judge on Monday night refused to pause an order barring the Trump administration from cutting down more trees at East Potomac Golf Links, saying the government’s own planning documents confirmed that the tree removals were part of the president’s plan to replace the historic public course with a newly designed championship layout. The administration had requested U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes stay her preliminary injunction while it appeals her ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, arguing that the tree removals were routine maintenance. Reyes said the record showed Interior had been planning “not to manage, but to destroy the historic East Potomac Golf Course,” replacing it with a new 18-hole track designed by Tom Fazio. Reyes wrote that the Interior Department’s recent proposal to the National Capital Planning Commission “confirmed” her finding that the tree cutting was tied to a plan to create a new course. She said the timing of the work “evidences bad faith” and “strongly suggests that the agency patterned its behavior to avoid judicial review.”The ruling leaves in place an injunction barring the government from cutting trees at East Potomac, except to address an imminent public-safety threat; the government must notify the court within 24 hours of taking such action…
A Toronto developer is facing new accusations of illegal tree removal at a residential property in the city’s west end. Modcity has faced numerous similar accusations in the past, and as of early September, the city had 10 open investigations related to the company. Now, four more trees have been cut down without permits at a property connected to the company. This time, in the Long Branch neighbourhood of Etobicoke. The affected trees include one that the city and locals previously fought to protect. The white fir towered above a two-bedroom bungalow, and had been the subject of neighbourhood walking tours…
Phys.org, November 9, 2026: Smart use of trees and crops brings best yield
Cultivating crops—such as wheat, barley and rye—alongside rows of trees is a system of agroforestry that is known as “alley-cropping.” It serves many functions: in addition to enhancing ecosystems and biodiversity, it can also counteract the negative effects of growing crops in treeless open land. The advantages of alley-cropping come from the interaction between trees and crops, resulting in improved soil quality, reduced wind erosion, enhanced nutrient cycling, and climate change mitigation through increased carbon capture. However, rows of trees can create competition for resources such as water, sunlight and nutrients, which negatively affects crop yield. A research team led by the University of Göttingen has now shown that, in systems with rows of fast-growing poplar trees, choosing between winter and spring crops based on the age of the trees can cancel out competition, creating opportunities for farmers to optimize their harvests. The results were published in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development…
Is it possible to prevent future power outages? Or at the very least, reduce the number of days with no power? DTE Energy thinks so. The company said contractors completed 56 miles of a planned 80 miles of tree-trimming work in the Grosse Pointe communities and Detroit’s east side, with the remaining work expected by the end of the year. It’s part of a five-year cycle to maintain the utility’s electric system across its service territory. “We know that about half of our outages are caused by trees,” said Bill Hutchinson, DTE Energy’s director of vegetation management. He said trees and branches can fall into power infrastructure, causing outages and creating safety risks. DTE describes vegetation management as one part of a broader grid-reliability plan that also includes infrastructure upgrades, automation and rebuilding poles and wires. Hutchinson said about one-third of DTE’s electric system is underground, but undergrounding can cost more and may require digging up yards or coordinating with road projects. DTE said it trimmed more than 3,000 miles of trees near electrical equipment across its service territory so far this year…
Trees are experiencing an “early spring” because of mild UK temperatures this autumn, with experts warning this could cause long-term harm to pollinators. Last month was warmer than average across all parts of the UK, with October marking the ninth consecutive month with above-average mean temperatures. Chris Nichols, the head of conservation outcomes at the Woodland Trust, said the mild weather this autumn meant horse chestnut trees were flowering and showing signs of next year’s spring growth more than six months early. During the extreme heat this summer, many trees underwent “early autumn”, where they wilted and lost their leaves prematurely. Experts said England’s ancient oak trees were dying as a result of high temperatures and drought, as trees and ecosystems struggle to adapt fast enough to the changing climate. Scientists have said the higher than average temperatures are only possible due to the climate crisis, primarily driven by the burning of fossil fuels…
Brilliant fall colors may be fading, but Colorado’s trees are still hard at work preparing for winter. And there’s a lot more happening beneath the branches than meets the eye. Just ask Elli Morris. Morris has a master’s degree in forestry and shares her knowledge through public education programs and guided tree walks in Southwest Colorado, helping people better understand and appreciate the trees around them. But she prefers a more whimsical title — “tree storyteller.” Morris joined CPR News for a walk along the Animas River Trail in Durango to reveal some of the surprising ways trees adapt to their environment. Trees have a clever trick for surviving freezing temperatures. As winter approaches, trees move some water out of their living cells and into spaces around them. That leaves behind a more concentrated, sugary solution inside the cells, which lowers its freezing point and helps protect them from damage. Morris compares it to the difference between an ice cube and a popsicle…
London, UK, BBC, November 8, 2026: Tree flinging contest a “much-loved” festive event
It is not until the New Year that people traditionally throw away their Christmas trees. But one event near Battle, in East Sussex, is trying to change all that by seeing who can fling a festive spruce the furthest before December even starts. Held on Saturday, the contest at Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm has become something of an official winter sport in the area since it originated in 2020, attracting competitors from all across the South East. Farm owner Clive Collins said: “The tree fling has become a much-loved part of our Christmas build-up, and people really do take the competition seriously.” This year’s showdown saw adult contestants tasked with hurling a six-foot (1.8m) Norway spruce, while smaller versions were used in both the under-10 and under-16 categories…
A deadly disease that affects Oak trees was recently found in a Wisconsin county for the first time, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. According to a social media post, a fungus causing oak wilt (Bretziella fagacearum) was discovered in a Mishicot tree in Manitowoc County. The most obvious sign of infection appears in mid-to-late summer, when infected trees prematurely drop branches with wilted leaves. The leaves are commonly partially green and partially bronze. Once a tree is infected, the disease can spread to nearby oaks through underground roots and, over longer distances, through contaminated beetles. The nearest known infection is in Brown County, about 20 miles away…
The Virginia Department of Forestry plans to install forest buffers for landowners near a wide range of water bodies. The program is part of the state’s efforts to reduce pollution and boost water quality. Riparian forest buffers are lines of trees and shrubs planted along waterways to help filter nutrients and sediments that run off the land. “In addition to slowing and filtering runoff, the many trees and other vegetation in riparian zones play an important role in reducing the likelihood of floodwaters reaching downstream areas that may be heavily populated and developed,” the forestry department states on its website. Buffers also improve the soil’s ability to store water and slow floodwaters. Virginia is launching the third year of its Riparian Forests for Landowners program, which partners with nonprofits, including the James River Association. The latest round is funded with $700,000 through the state’s Water Quality Improvement Fund. Private property owners in rural, urban and suburban areas are encouraged to apply, including civic leagues and homeowners associations…
London, UK, Guardian, November 5, 2026: Country diary: The autumn glory of a tulip tree
Beech mast crunches underfoot, and the occasional conker catches the sunlight, tiny beacons leading me to Camp Hill, south Liverpool, with its distant views over the Mersey estuary. Goldfinches erupt from desiccated knapweed, and a flock of pink-footed geese fly overhead. For once, the birds are not my goal, but a tree: the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). Every autumn, the Camp Hill tulip tree flaunts its flamboyant presence: the Lady Gaga of the parkland. Named because its flowers resemble a tulip flower, and its leaves a tulip silhouette, few can resist its tulle lace canopy of butter-gold leaves. The luminescence is enhanced by the sheen of its leaf cuticles, and the fissured trunk adds yet more sensory impact. Yet this year there is a strangeness: instead of the golden monotone you would expect of this moment, there is a messy mix of different shades. Might the summer drought have disrupted the pigment battle between anthocyanins and carotenoids…
The Drive, November 3, 2026: This Strange-Looking Logging Vehicle Cuts Down Trees From 65 Feet Away
I haven’t seen many horror movies, but I have an idea for one: The protagonists are wandering through a forest—at night, obviously—when this monstrosity appears. It’s a four-wheeled logging rig called the HSM Project Outreach, and it has a ridiculously long arm that stretches 65 feet. In true thriller fashion, it even has a saw attached to the end. The entire flick is about them trying to outrun the machine. It is four hours long. Obviously, that’s a joke, but this contraption is not. A German consortium actually developed it for safety, not danger, as the idea is to “replace accident-prone manual work and make fully mechanized timber harvesting possible.” It does so by swapping the feed rollers that typically delimb trees (like this) for a felling unit that cut through several dozen spruce and beech trees up to 17.7 inches in diameter during a test…
A retired Navy SEAL commander from Sunapee pleaded guilty to a trespassing violation and paid a $1,000 fine after Sullivan Superior Court dismissed two felony charges over the removal of a tree and a stump along his lakefront property line. A grand jury indicted Michael Hayes, 55, in late May on two felonies: criminal mischief and timber-harvesting trespass, in connection with the incident, which occurred roughly a year earlier. Both felonies, which carry potential penalties of up to seven years each in prison, were dismissed by the court, with the state’s agreement, on the morning of Oct. 23 at his plea and sentencing hearing…
