Arbor Doctor July 2023 client update and latest blog postings
It’s mid-summer already! Can you believe it? Our phones have been ringing off the hook and questions and issues abound in the plant health care realm. Common themes in our area include residual winter damage, particularly on boxwoods, other boxwood problems (they are many), the ubiquitous Needlecast on blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca), and drought damage from fall 2022.
In addition to boxwood winter damage, boxwood leaf miner, boxwood psyllid, Volutella Canker of boxwood, and boxwood blight, we now have the Box Tree Moth, a new invasive pest. This pest has been confirmed in Loveland, OH and can destroy boxwoods. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to control. What a year to add another boxwood pest! Be assured, we will be looking for it and treating accordingly.
I don’t know that we have ever seen a year with aphid activity like we have seen this year. Ohio State Extension’s Joe Boggs has proclaimed this the “Year of the Aphid”. Fortunately, besides being messy, aphids don’t generally cause a lot of damage and go away as the summer gets hot. Heavy rain, which has been scarce this year, will also wash them off plants.
The Year of the Aphid: Is Help on the Way?
Virtually every landscape I visit has trees and shrubs which are buried too deep. The root and trunk flare must be above the surface for your trees to be healthy.
Bare the Flare for Healthy Trees and Shrubs
I often hear people say that the Emerald Ash Borer has moved through and is no longer a threat. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, populations have decreased but it is still here and may be on the increase again. Currently, a 3 year treatment rotation is sufficient for control.
Is Emerald Ash Borer on the Rebound in Ohio?
We are currently finishing early summer treatments, Emerald Ash Borer and Dutch Elm Disease treatments. We are continuing air knife and landscape jobs, bed weed control treatments and landscape installations. We are receiving a high volume of calls and requests and are following up as fast as we can. This is very definitely a busy season.
We often get questions about the timing of our treatments. To a large extent, fungal infection is prevented and not cured so more frequent treatment in spring and early summer is often needed to do this efficiently. If we made frequent visits in the spring it is not because we were trying to add extra treatments but rather because we scheduled it that way for optimal effectiveness.
For any questions or inquiries you may submit a request in our customer portal or contact Director of Operations Camille Rechel at 513-661-2673 or camille@arbordoctor.com.
It’s Dry Out There.
Don’t forget to water when needed!
Please remember to water…correctly!
Water once per week, one inch per week, under the entire branch spread, in the absence of rain, May through November. Either rainfall or your watering should equal the one inch per week. Do not water if the soil is already moist. Put out a sprinkler and a straight sided soup can or rain gauge and measure one inch per week. Measure the rainfall which falls in your yard. Your trees don’t care what fell at the airport!
If burlap was left on new trees, it will repel water and the tree or shrub may die. Be sure burlap and twine are removed from the top of all root balls. If your landscaper disagrees, refer him or her to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) industry standard for installation of landscape plants.
To the extent possible recycle fallen leaves back into the soil around the trees and maintain mulch around the trees to a radius of at least 3-5 feet. Keep mulch off trunks. Use a coarse textured mulch. Avoid triple shredded mulch. Aged arborist wood chips, mulched and composted leaves, pine bark, and pine straw are all good. Very finely ground mulches such as triple ground hardwood mulch are not beneficial and may inhibit moisture and oxygen exchange.
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Our team updates
We spend a great deal of time and resources on training and field visits. We have a great core horticultural team this year of (left to right) Plant Health Care Specialist Ali Randall, Plant Health Care Team Lead Steve Middleton, Office Manager Diane Smith, Principal Owner Ron Rothhaas, Director of Operations Camille Rechel, and Plant Health Care Specialist Noah Riggs.
Updates posted on our blog pages over the past couple months:
Some additional thoughts from Ron
Some might remember Danny Gokey from the American Idol show several years ago. This song says so much about brokenness and redemption. I will leave it right here.
Have a great rest of the summer. If you have any questions or inquiries you may submit a request in our customer portal or contact Director of Operations Camille Rechel at 513-661-2673 or camille@arbordoctor.com.
Sincerely,
Ronald E. Rothhaas
