THE ARBOR DOCTOR

Anthracnose is a common disease of sycamores in spring.  Variations of the fungus affect many other trees, including ash, maple, and dogwood.  Read more here.

Technical report from consulting arborist Russ Carson on the hemlock woolly adelgid which has now spread to Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky.  Click here.

Growing grapes is a specialty in itself.  For a fact sheet on this horticultural pursuit, click here.

The Palmer Drought index moved southwest Ohio into the moderate drought category this week, although this is an area-wide average and most of the Cincinnati metro area had good rainfall in the last week.  In fact, Anderson Township has had in excess of 6 inches this month and my Cheviot 0.9 SSE location has had 4.17 inches.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/palmer.gif

A heat wave is underway in North America, centered in the great plains of the U.S..  Cincinnati is on the eastern edge of this heat wave.  While extreme heat and worsening drought are affecting Texas, with very hot air into Missouri, this pattern will lead to very warm and relatively dry weather in the Ohio valley.  Most of the Ohio valley had decent rains last week.  Only scattered showers are possible this week along with summertime heat, so things may dry out as the week goes on.  Watch plants and new trees for signs of needing water.

http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats/threats.gif

As I left church on Sunday, I noted that adult Japanese Beetles were crawling around on the lacebark pine tree.  While they don’t eat pines, it should be noted that they have emerged.  Japanese beetles feed, lay eggs, and become the lawn grub worms in a month or so.

I am constantly amused at how various companies stretch to convince us that doing business with them is somehow greener.

Maybe this is self serving, but it seems to me that while buying and selling carbon credits and using a green insurance company may be helpful in some nebulous way, planting and taking care of your trees and shrubs would make sense as the FIRST step for those interested in being green. If you are buying and selling carbon credits while your trees are dying, are you really helping the environment?

The environmental benefits of just one tree can be calculated here:

http://www.treebenefits.com/calculator/

If you are interested in green building, are you thinking about the trees on your site? If your development kills all the trees, you aren’t helping the environment much no matter how many green materials you use. The time to begin saving your trees is in the planning process. I have run into a lot of builders and landscapers who say they will save your trees. That is like having an LPN do your heart surgery. Tree preservation requires a knowledgeable consulting arborist.

http://www.asca-consultants.org/why.html

http://www.arbordoctor.com/services/consult.html

Going green? Are you serious? Really?

EAB has been found in Springfield and Clark County is now quarantined.  If you do not have an EAB Management Plan, now is the time to create and implement it. 

http://www.agri.ohio.gov/public_docs/news/2009/06-18-09%20EAB%20Clark%20County.pdf

A very warm, humid and unstable airmass across the Ohio Valley is setting the stage for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and later tonight. A few thunderstorms may develop later this afternoon, mainly near an outflow boundary which stretches from eastern Indiana into south central Ohio. Any storms which develop this afternoon may become severe with large hail and damaging winds.

A more organized complex of thunderstorms is expected to develop across the mid-Mississippi Valley and lower Great Lakes this evening, and roll into parts of the Ohio Valley late this evening and overnight. The potential exists for a widespread damaging wind event across parts of Indiana, Ohio and far northern Kentucky tonight, with significant damaging winds in excess of 70 mph possible. Large hail and isolated tornadoes are also possible. In addition, these storms may contain very heavy rainfall which may lead to areas of flooding.

Stay tuned to NOAA weather radio or your local media outlet for more information on this potentially dangerous situation.

Thursday and Thursday night:

…OH VALLEY THROUGH TN VALLEY AREA…
   
   DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE
   PRIMARY THREATS WITH  SCATTERED TO ISOLATED ACTIVITY IN THE CINCINNATI AREA.

Click here

Friday and Friday night:

A POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENT COULD EVOLVE DURING
   THE DAY2 PERIOD FROM PORTIONS OF THE MID MS VALLEY ACROSS THE OH
   VALLEY REGION AS STRENGTHENING FLOW ALOFT SPREADS ATOP A VERY
   UNSTABLE AIRMASS.  A POTPOURRI OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED
   WITH LARGE HAIL…DAMAGING WINDS AND PERHAPS TORNADOES.

Click here