Summer tree care: How to help your new tree through the warm months

(originally published July 7, 2011)

That nice little tree you planted last year is going to need special care now that summer is here. There’s an 18 percent mortality rate for newly planted trees, which points out the need to keep paying attention to your investment.

Here are some dos and don’ts for summer care:

• Avoid under-watering. Supply extra water to a tree for the first three years after transplanting. Soak the soil with a slow trickle of water to the depth of the roots – from 1 to 3 feet – at least once a week; more often in hot, dry weather. This equals a minimum of about 5 gallons per inch of tree trunk diameter.
• Don’t over-water. Tree roots need oxygen. If they are standing in water, they can actually “drown” for lack of oxygen.
• Watch weed whips and lawn mowers: The thin bark of young trees can be easily damaged. This damage hurts the tree’s ability to get the nutrients it needs to grow.
• Prune carefully: Over-pruning reduces a tree’s ability to get energy, and can encourage insect or disease problems.
• Don’t pile mulch against the trunk — it causes rot. Keep mulch at least 6” away from the trunk.
• Don’t stake too tightly — it can strangle your tree.
• Be careful with herbicides. Avoid ’weed & feed’ formulations around trees because they can slow growth.

Take a look at our video “Top Tree Killers to Avoid,” for tips on nurturing and protecting the trees on your property.

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Got a great photo? US Forest Service contest seeks your coolest photos of city forests

The sun breaks through morning mist and autumn leaves on a chilly November morning near the Washington State Capitol in Olympia. Photo: Bob Redling.

If you count up all the trees lining our streets, shading our homes and parks, and bursting with greenery, this urban forest comes to about 100 million acres nationwide. And this forest offers more than good looks. Urban and community trees clean our air and help prevent flooding.

The US Forest Service is celebrating these ‘hardest working trees in America’ with a national photo contest. But hurry, the contest deadline is this Sunday (July 22). Take a picture of your neighborhood forest, send it in, and you might just win some cool prizes from the National Forest Foundation.

See complete rules (and there are several) and other details (and there are several) about entering the My Neighborhood Forest Photo Contest sponsored by the National Forest Foundation and the US Forest Service.

Urban and community forests include urban parks, street trees, landscaped boulevards, public gardens, river and coastal promenades, greenways, river corridors, wetlands, nature preserves, natural areas, and shelter belts of trees. The deadline for submission is 2 pm (PDT), July 22

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It’s official: Renton is a ‘Tree City USA’

State Forester Aaron Everett (left) presents Tree City USA honors to the City of Renton for its healthy urban forests. Accepting on behalf of the City are Terry Flatley (City Forester), and Mayor Denis Law (right). Photo: City of Renton.

On Saturday, April 28, Washington State Forester Aaron Everett presented the City of Renton with its fourth Tree City USA Award. Mayor Denis Law received the award at the city’s seventh annual Arbor Day-Earth Day Celebration.

Following the awards ceremony, 127 volunteers planted 66 trees (including 62 street trees) at 55 houses in Renton. Residents of North Renton Neighborhood who opted to have to one of the trees planted were able to select from a list of 14 tree species. The process means that instead of a monoculture of one species, there can be greater diversity in the city’s urban forest. 

With so many volunteers coming out to help, the plantings took about 90 minutes. If you’re in the North Renton area, take a look around for newly planted trees. The benefits from these trees will keep on giving to the City of Renton.

The project was made possible by a Community Forestry Assistance Grant from the U. S. Forest Service. This grant program is administered by DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program.

Find out if your city is a Tree City USA.

Commissioner Goldmark presents tree care honors to Avista Utilities at Spokane Arbor Day celebration

Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark at an Arbor Day event in Spokane today (Friday, April 27) with representatives of Avista Utilities, which became the 10th utility in Washington State recognized in the Tree Line USA Program for best practices in tree care. Photo: Bryan Flint/DNR.

DNR recognizes utility companies as Tree Line USA utilities when they commit to healthy tree care and maintenance, tree worker training programs, and community tree planting.  In other words, we like trees and we like people and companies who like trees, too.

Trees and utility lines can come into conflict, but with careful planning of where new trees are planted and more attention to proper tree care, there’s no reason they cannot co-exist. See a list of the 10 utility companies in Washington State already recognized for their commitment for healthy trees.

For more information on proper tree care, contact DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program.

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Trees are nature’s miracle

Street in Snohomish County. Photo: Guy Kramer.

In the spirit of Arbor Day (which is also observed throughout the month of April), take a few minutes to pay special attention to the trees in our world.

In a recent guest editorial in the New York Times, Jim Robbins covers the intricate ins-and-outs of trees and their benefits. The benefits are often not obvious, but, you can learn about many of them in Robbins’ editorial.

He describes photosynthesis in an insightful way. Trees turn sunlight into food for insects, wildlife and people; they supply wood for fuel, furniture and homes; and they provide beauty for all of us. Now is the time to devote attention to the health of our tress that benefits us all.

In Western Washington, since the 1980s, about 17 percent of forests have been converted to development or other uses. As Robbins writes, an old proverb seems appropriate: “When is the best time to plant a tree?” The answer: “Twenty years ago. The second-best time? Today.”

There are surprising benefits from all types of trees. You can learn more about them through the Trees Are Good website. The Washington State Urban and Community Forestry Program is a source for information, including technical, educational and financial assistance sources, for Washington’s cities, town, counties and non-profit organizations.

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Happy Arbor Day! Celebrate trees today and every day

Each year, DNR celebrates Arbor Day (April 11th) throughout the entire month of April.

Trees don’t have feelings like we do, but they can be sensitive to their environment. Today is Arbor Day, and you might want to thank a healthy tree near you. Arbor Day is a celebration of trees, and to thank a tree means to take care of it. If you plant the right tree in the right place, the benefits will keep on giving: clean air, clean water, shade on a hot day, shelter for birds.

We celebrate Arbor Day through a special program called Tree City USA. DNR and the Arbor Day Foundation recognize the Tree Cities in Washington State that go the extra mile to manage and care for healthy urban forests. That extra mile signifies that they have completed steps to plan out the maintenance for vigorous city trees, now and into the future.

Where would we be without trees in our lives? We would probably be in a similar situation as in the recent film, The Lorax. In a city with fake landscaping, a young boy tries to make a big impression on a young girl by bringing back real trees. There’s much more to the story, but the bottom line is we would miss trees if we didn’t have them.

Washington State has experienced ‘interesting’ spring weather, and you may still have many limbs to cut down from the past storms. Now is a great time to properly prune your trees. And be sure to never top a tree to get rid of problem limbs, as this will only cause more maintenance needs each year. When a tree is topped, it grows suckers (weakly attached limbs), and you’ll have a mess on your hands and a hazardous situation. Learn to property prune now to lessen the damage next time storm season hits.

Find out if your city is a Tree City USA.

Be a part of Arbor Day and celebrate healthy trees around us! If your city isn’t part of the Tree City USA Program, contact your city officials to help them plan in taking part in the Arbor Day celebrations next year.

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The gift of trees: A local angle to the National Cherry Blossom Festival

A delegation of Japanese exchange students joined parks and recreation commissioners in Covington, Washington, to plant two Yoshino cherry trees to celebrate the city's 10th year as a Tree City USA and the 100th year of Japan's gift of the cherry trees planted along the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Covington, Washington, celebrated its 10th year as a Tree City USA by planting two large Yoshino cherry trees to coincide with the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., and the 100th anniversary of the gift of more than 3,000 Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the people of the United States.

The sight of the cherry tree blooms along the National Mall each year is a welcome sign of spring. Two the surviving trees are from a planting ceremony held in West Potomac Park on March 27, 1912, by First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador. Thus, proving our point that if you plant the right tree in the right place, and take care of it, the rewards and benefits will blossom each year during the tree’s lifetime.

DNR weekend reading: U.S. urban forests losing ground; oldest fossil forests uncovered; math whiz parrot; and more

Pinecroft Natural Area Preserve, managed by DNR, is a 100-acre site east of Spokane that preserves the largest of the few remaining examples of a ponderosa pine/grassland ecosystem in Washington state. Photo: DNR

Here are some recent articles selected from science journals and other sources for your weekend reading:

Science Daily: U.S. Urban Forests Losing Ground
A U.S. Forest Service study published recently indicates that tree cover in urban areas of the United States is declining at a rate of about 4 million trees per year. Link to the complete article in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening: Tree and impervious cover change in U.S. cities 

Science Daily: Floor of Oldest Fossilized Forest Discovered: 385 Million Years Old
Working in New York state’s Catskill Mountains, an international research team has unearthed and investigated an entire fossilized forest dating back 385 million years. The newly uncovered area was preserved in such a way that scientists could literally walk among the trees, noting what kind they were, where they had stood and how big they had grown.

On the Same Topic… Terra Daily: Penn researcher helps discover and characterize a 300-million-year-old forest
Pompeii-like, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China. A new study presents a reconstruction of this fossilized forest, lending insight into the ecology and climate of its time.

Earth Institute (Columbia University): Ocean Acidification Rate May Be Unprecedented, Study Says
The world’s oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.

Nature News Blog: Alex the parrot’s last experiment shows his mathematical genius
Even in death, the world’s most accomplished parrot continues to amaze. Just published, the final experiments involving Alex – a grey parrot (Psittacus eithacus) trained to count objects – show that he could accurately add together Arabic numerals to a sum of eight and three sets of objects, putting his mathematical abilities on par with (and maybe beyond) those of chimpanzees and other non-human primates.

New Scientist: A giant among moths
The largest moth species today, it has a colorful 25-centimeter (9.85-inch) wingspan.

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Trees down? No need to burn outdoors; there are better options

Maybe you don’t have a heavy duty chipper like the one in this photo, but there are many alternatives to burning downed tree limbs and branches..

Does your yard resemble a ‘war zone’ of downed trees and limbs after the recent storms? Other than burning, learn what else you can do with this yard waste.

Outdoor residential burning of all kinds is illegal in most parts of the state and is a leading cause of wildfire ignitions. And please get rid of your burn barrel if you have one – they are illegal in Washington.

Before burning yard waste, think about alternatives to burning, such as chipping and composting. This is an easy, practical approach for disposing of many organic materials.

If you have to burn, know the rules first, and choose the right weather for burning. Generally, cloudy days are favorable because the air tends to be unstable and generates enough wind to disperse the smoke and avoid causing smoke disturbances.

Also, outdoor residential burning is a leading cause of smoke and certain pollutants. This smoke can be unhealthy, because the small particles in smoke are so tiny they can easily get into your lungs. People most at risk are children, patients with respiratory illnesses, and adults over 65 years old.

Air quality burn bans may be in effect. Visit the Department of Ecology’s air quality website to find your local clean air agency for burn ban information.

Do you have an overgrown tree or one that presents problems? Remember to use proper pruning techniques, and whatever you do, please don’t top those trees. Doing so will cause extra maintenance and safety problems in the future.

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Be careful with post-storm tree care and cleanup, DNR advises property owners

Take care when removing or pruning trees after a storm. Hiring the wrong contractor to do the job might prove expensive in the long run. Photo: DNR.

The recent winter storm in western Washington wreaked havoc on many landscape trees, but DNR advises caution in dealing with the aftermath of the storm.

Arborists will be in great demand for the next several weeks as property owners clean up after this storm. With this storm’s high winds and the rain-saturated soils, many healthy trees are affected. It is possible that the storm removed the weakest limbs from your trees and all you need to do now is make a clean pruning cut and clean up the debris.

Tips for dealing with tree service companies

Here are some tips for finding a tree service company to deal with downed or damaged trees from the aftermath of storms:

• Hire a company that is licensed, bonded, insured and employs International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborists. Although Washington requires tree service companies to register with the state, they are not required to follow proper pruning standards. They don’t even have to demonstrate knowledge of tree pruning to obtain a license.
• Look for an arborist whose name and company are familiar to your community, even if that means waiting longer for service.
• Beware of people who go door-to-door offering to prune trees or remove storm damage; their low prices could prove costly. Most reputable companies have business cards, truck signs, and even uniforms that represent a professional level of service.
• Ask for references, and take your time to select a reputable company. Avoid hiring anyone who will ‘top’ a tree.

The Oregon Department of Forestry shares several tips that can help you find out if your trees need first aid or if they can even be saved.

Beware of any contract that wants to top your trees. Topping – removing large branches and tops of trees – creates future hazards. A topped tree is much more likely to break in a storm than a tree that has a normal branch structure, says Sarah Foster, Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager.

Find ISA-certified arborists in your area on the website of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.

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