Arbor Doctor September 2022 client update and latest blog postings
Can you believe it is now autumn? Actually, meteorological autumn began September 1. Temperatures this week have felt like summer but that is about to change with cooler weather moving in. Overall, more warm weather should return with periods of cooler weather as we get deeper into fall.
With the arrival of meteorological autumn, we are seeing late season leaf diseases and insects. Most of these, such as the white webs of fall webworms, are not important due to the late date. Leaves will be falling soon anyway. This is not to say that we need not worry about any insects. For example, we are seeing a number of scale insects, especially on magnolias and Japanese maples. The key for us as diagnosticians is being able to distinguish between the few insects which are problems from the majority which aren’t.
We are seeing a lot of evidence of lacebug activity. We do treat to suppress this but treatments don’t always work quite as well as we might like. Very often, we need to make changes in how we treat based on the changing nature of insect activity. We are constantly evaluating our treatments and making changes accordingly.
I have come across several instances of severe damage to trees and shrubs from Roundup products. To be clear, plain Roundup with glyphosate is safe to use around your landscape plants but there are several formulations under the Roundup name and some of them kill trees and shrubs, specifically Roundup 365. More here:
Not all Roundup is created equal. Beware Roundup 365 and read the small print!
Inflation, Supply Chain and Postal Service Issues
The supply chain issues and labor shortages which are affecting everyone continue to affect us as well. One of our trucks is down and it could be weeks before it can be fixed. Besides supply chain issues, things have gotten a bit better with the postal service but we are still experiencing delays. This has slowed receipt of payments and other correspondence. If we call you regarding a late payment even though you sent it some time ago, this may be the reason. It is as frustrating for us as it is for you. We apologize for the inconvenience but it is largely out of our control.
Inflation continues at a very high rate. We are looking at our rising costs and will need to make adjustments accordingly as costs continue to rise. We will do our best to be as kind as possible but with some commodities increasing over 200% there is only so much we can do.
Our team updates
We have a great core horticultural team this year of Steve Middleton, Wesley Yauch, Josh Pawlowski, and Noah Riggs. We recently welcomed Ali Randall onto the team.
Noah got married to his new wife Sydney in June. We wish them all the best.
Unfortunately, in August, Sydney’s younger brother Tyler Carter was killed in an auto accident while traveling to a golf outing. He was only 17 years old and a senior at Colerain High School. We offer our sincere condolences to the Carter and Riggs families at this very difficult time.
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. 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!
Make your autumnal chores easier, and your trees happier!
To the extent possible recycle fallen leaves back into the soil around your 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.
Here are updates posted on our blog page over the past couple months:
August 6, 2022, Arbor Doctor Ron Rothhaas joined yardboy Ron Wilson on 55KRC and iHeart Radio
THE CASEBOOK OF DR. D. R. SLATER No. 816: The Four-Legged Oak
The Green Planet: Seasonal Worlds
Burnt Crust or Brittle Cinder Fungus, the silent killer
Planting Acorns: How to Plant an Acorn and Grow a Tree
Wood Decay Fungi Diagnostic Reference
Botanists Are Disappearing—Just When the World Needs Them Most
THE CASEBOOK OF DR. D. R. SLATER No. 822: Barriers to Success
Understanding Lightning & Associated Tree Damage
It Pays to Care for Trees – Part 2 – Plan ahead!
Guy Meilleur on Reduction Pruning
If it seemed excessively humid this year, it was!
July 2022 Weather and Climate Summary: Hot, dry and violent
August 2022 Climate Summary Cheviot OH 3W and Cincinnati tristate
Ryan Hall’s view of winter 2022-2023. Nice overview of factors affecting a winter forecast.
It was really jarring to get the notification from my team member Noah that his 17-year-old brother-in-law, Tyler, had died in a fatal car crash. I have known the Carter family in my church for decades. They are great people and an amazing family. I cannot even imagine the pain they are feeling. My own brother died suddenly over a decade ago and I know what that was for me and my family. The Carters have a deep faith which can only be of help to them in the weeks and years to come.
As I write this, it is the 25th anniversary of the death, in a car crash ironically, of Richard Wayne Mullins. Rich Mullins was a songwriter and musician whose music and lyrics really spoke to me. Rich had rough edges as do all of us but he loved God. I can’t explain why people like Tyler, my brother or Rich Mullins die so suddenly and so young. I can only trust that God in His infinite wisdom loves us and has a plan we cannot understand this side of eternity.
Rich Mullins wrote a song called “Elijah” which is all I need.
The Jordan is waiting for me to cross through
My heart is aging I can tell
So Lord, I’m begging for one last favor from You
Here’s my heart take it where You will
This life has shown me how we’re mended and how we’re torn
How it’s okay to be lonely as long as you’re free
Sometimes my ground was stony
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it’s done
Well if they dressed me like a pauper
Or if they dined me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind
I don’t care
But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It’ll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won’t break my heart to say goodbye
Our time frame to complete fall treatments is now through December. Every year I start getting calls in late October asking if it is getting to be too late. By no means. Most years we have until the end of the year to complete these treatments.
We are finishing up our early fall treatments and getting ready to start our fall fertilizations. Air knife jobs, plantings, late fall trunk injections, and prunings will be scheduled in due time. We have plenty of time to get these done. If you have specific time frames when you need things done, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your schedule.
As always, feel free to call with any questions.
Sincerely,
Ronald E. Rothhaas, Jr.
Principal, Arbor Doctor, LLC.
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist®, OH-5177B
ISA TRAQ, ASCA TPAQ
Member ASCA, ISA, OCISA, IAA, KAA, NALP, ONLA
(513) 661-2673
