THE ARBOR DOCTOR

After comments last week by Ron Wilson and Brian Thomas about wet Fridays this month, I went back and looked and found the following rain totals for October at the 7 AM CoCoRaHS observation at my Cheviot 0.9 SSE location:

Sunday: T

Monday:  0

Tuesday:  0

Wednesday:  0.82

Thursday:  0.25

Friday:  2.98

Saturday:  0.83

They were right!  Please note that the rain totals ended at 7 AM, so we have actually had mostly beautiful weather for the weekends.  Have a nice one!

If you are anywhere near Faith Fellowship Church at 6734 Bridgetown Road on Saturday, don’t forget the Fall Family Festival from 10 AM to 2 PM.

The other day, my neighbor called me over to investigate an insect invasion around her front taxus.  The invasion was not a plant harming pest.  A call to my friend, pest control expert Paul Redwine, revelaed that the culprit was Citronella ants.  More information can be found here.

Weather in 2007 and 2008 stressed and killed many trees and landscape plants.  I get a lot of calls inquiring why trees look bad this year.  Studies have shown than tree mortality can continue for 10 years after droughts and other stresses.

It is important to pay attention to the health needs of your trees.  Aeration and vertical mulching of the trees’ critical root zone is the most valuable thing we can do.  Fertilization is also valuable, but it is important to fertilize correctly.  Tree spikes and over the counter materials often are simply high nitrogen fertilizers which can actually increase tree stresses and problems. 

Call us at Arbor Doctor to have your trees and shrubs treated correctly.  Fall is the time for planting, as well as fertilization and vertical mulching.

This is the time of year when a number of insects begin to look for warmth in places such as your house.  One such pest is the box elder bug, yet another problem associated with box elder trees.  For more information on this pest, click here.  

Another common pest is the Asian lady beetle.  While these predators are beneficial in the yard, the are pesty in the house.  Click here for details.

Contrary to popular belief, with the exception of 2.48 inches of rain on October 9-10, it has been a rather dry and cool October in Cincinnati with generally beautiful, cool weekends to enjoy the fall color.  Enjoy today and tomorrow since a wet weather system appears to be on the way for the end of the week.

http://www.cocorahs.org/Admin/MyDataEntry/MonthlyZerosReport.aspx

This comes to me from Wendi Van Buren, the SW Ohio Ohio Department of Natural Resources Urban Forester:

SW Ohio Folks,

 Most of you know that Tree-of-Heaven is one of the “bad guys”.  Tree-of-Heaven or Ailanthus is a highly invasive tree that is spread throughout Ohio and most likely in your community somewhere.  This is the famous tree that grows in Brooklyn and can grow in cracks of cement, several feet per year.  The reason it is a problem is that it can colonize a whole area creating a monoculture.  One more invasive plant that is a problem in our woods and parks.   

The good news is that a new blight is helping control Ailanthus.  See the attached photos and research paper.  Keep an eye out and let’s cross our fingers!  

Update:

Click here

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/d12_wbg.gif

http://www.weather.gov/

One to as much as four inches of rain is possible Friday.  The National Weather Service is monitoring the situation for a possible flood watch.  Watches are already hoisted to our west.

http://www.weather.gov/

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/d12_wbg.gif

http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/98ewbg.gif

I am in reciept of an e-mail being passed around with great Emerald Ash Borer resource information for decision making purposes in ash tree management and treatment options.  The relevant text is as follows:

As the EAB situation heats up and people become pressed into action, it is important to focus on the scientific basis for particular recommendations.  As you know, there is a consensus bulletin from Extension Specialists in Ohio (Herms), Michigan (McCullough and Smitley), Indiana (Sadof), Illinois (Nixon), and Wisconsin (Willliamson) that presents a measured discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of  various pesticide options.    It is available at the regional EAB website and I have it posted on the Indiana webpage in an interactive format or as a pdf at this link <http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/EAB/index.php?page=faq>. It was put together to serve as an unbiased source of information for the region.

 At Purdue, we have developed a free web based cost calculator <http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/treecomputer/index.php>  that helps you use estimates to project costs over a 25 year period under sets of assumptions that you can tailor to your local conditions. This includes the size of your ash forest, and size based estimates for treatment, removal and replacement costs, rates of ash mortality and replacement tree mortality. 

In addition to projecting costs, the calculator also projects the size of the remaining ash forest over time. While this is not a formal cost benefit analysis, it allows you to compare what you will be getting from implementing various scenarios.  The calculator allows you to compare several default management scenarios (treat all, replace all, remove all ash with out replacment; remove large trees, replace large trees, replace big trees) with detailed explanations of the rationale and what each management program entails.   If none of the management scenarios suits you, it even allows you to create your own management scenario.

Best Wishes,
Cliff Sadof
Professor and Extension Entomologist
Purdue University

We see a lot of problems with mulch in landscapes.  Mulch, when applied properly, is very important to landscape plants.  Studies prove that plant vigor and health is much better when mulch is properly maintained over root zones.  However, mulch problems are common.  I have a basic rule of thumb:  If your mulch smells bad, it probably is!  Mulch which is not properly aged decomposes rapidly giving off heat and foul odors.  This effect is enhanced when mulch is not all-bark.  These mulches often become crusty and repel water, further stressing plants.  We recommend 100% bark mulch, pine bark, and pine needles (straw).  For more information, the University of Connecticut has a wonderful mulch fact sheet here.