Client Update. Christmas 2024
Deciduous holly (Illex decidua 'Winter Red')
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
It's hard to believe that we've come to the end of another year. Where did 2024 go?
As I write this we are wrapping up our early winter dormant oil applications, fall tree planting, and air knife services. Some of this will continue into the winter as conditions allow.
At the beginning of 2025, as we do every year, we will be mailing out letters detailing what services you are scheduled for in 2025. This will include an option to prepay for services. This is an option that some people like to take advantage of but it is not a requirement.
Also during the winter we will be doing site visits where we visit some of your properties, inventory plants, and conduct field training with our team members. This is a free service where we can take a closer look at your plants and learn as a team in preparation for the coming 2025 season. If there are specific things that you would like us to give attention to during this winter period, please let us know.
It was yet another very busy year for us here at Arbor Doctor. We welcomed a number of new clients to our established and growing client base. There is never an end to the variety of new and varied plant health care challenges. New pathogens are always showing up and weather is always changing and varied.
Extreme drought conditions extended into southwest Ohio in September.
In 2024 we saw 30 days where temperatures hit 90° or above. We also saw drought conditions in the early summer and again in the fall. Parts of Northern Kentucky and southern Ohio saw some of the worst drought conditions in years. This has resulted in visible decline in some evergreens such as Norway spruce and western arborvitae. November and December rainfall has alleviated drought conditions in the Cincinnati area but, going forward, we know that increased tree and plant mortality can be seen for up to a decade after a severe drought, including an uptick in plant pathogens.
Box Tree Moth caterpillar devouring boxwood near Loveland, Ohio in April, 2024.
In 2024 we saw an increase in Box Tree Moth activity affecting boxwoods. Needlecast disease continued to plague Colorado spruce trees and Colorado blue spruce. Despite all of this, we are always contending with the number one killer of trees and plants which is people.
Box Tree (Boxwood) Moth: Latest Observations
That may sound strange but the truth is that the various things that people do to trees and plants cause more problems than anything that nature has to offer. This includes improper watering, improper and excessive mulching, the wrong types of mulch, planting too deep, buried root flares, construction damage, trunk damage, poor pruning practices, and the list goes on. A major component of the service Arbor Doctor provides is education because prevention is by far the best cure.
Spicebush symptoms photographed by Ron Rothhaas at Shawnee Lookout Park in the summer of 2023.
A couple years ago I came upon odd symptomology in spicebushes at Shawnee Lookout, a Great Park of Hamilton County. The symptoms resembled a new disease called Laurel Wilt which has been found in parts of Kentucky. I contacted Great Parks arborist Steve Grimm and we took two sets of samples and sent them in to the diagnostic lab in Wooster OH. Both sets of samples came back inconclusive and the diagnosis has remained inconclusive.
Recently, the Buckeye Yard and Garden Line published this update:
Recent blog entries
Still a lot of drought in the US but the Cincinnati area is near normal
Biochar Application - A Practical Guide for Improving and Constructing Soils for Urban Trees
Myths and facts - Africanized honey bees.
Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) Update
Saguaro National Park near Tucson, AZ during the annual conference of the American Society of Consulting Arborists.
I've had a busy year.
I just returned from Tucson AZ where I attended the annual conference of the American Society of Consulting Arborists. While in Tucson we visited the University of Arizona Tree Ring Research Laboratory where scientists are using tree rings from around the world to study climatology and even to date historical events such as the volcanic eruption which formed Crater Lake, Oregon.
Dr. Ed Gillman at the Prescription Tree Pruning workshop in Wooster, Ohio, in October.
In October, I travelled to Wooster, OH for a 2 day workshop with Dr. Ed Gilman, professor emeritus of the University of Florida and one of the top experts in the field on tree structure and pruning.
It is virtually impossible for me to travel to the Wooster, Ohio area without making a stop in the Ohio Amish country of Holmes county and Wayne County. Wooster is on the edge of Amish country. In fact, one evening after the conference I pulled out of the roadway from the Seacrest Arboretum and immediately found myself behind an Amish buggy.
I love that part of Ohio. I have been traveling to that area for most of my adult life. It is my reset area. A reminder that life can be a bit slower and a reminder to devote more of my energy and time to what is important.
My business and all of you are very important to me. I have a passion for arboriculture and I care deeply about you, my clients, and the trees and landscapes that you entrust to me and Arbor Doctor. It is a matter of stewardship. Taking care of the things that God has provided.
The Bible says that Adam was put in charge of tending the garden. That was not a punishment after the fall in the garden of Eden, that came before the fall. Working and tending the garden was a privilege, not a punishment, and it still is. It is a privilege for me to be trusted by you to take care of your trees and your landscapes. I do not take that lightly.
It is a matter of caring for living organisms that in many cases can live longer than any of us and can benefit our entire community and even the world with the environmental benefits that trees provide. What I do as an arborist is more than a job, it is a calling.
At this time of the year, as Christians come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I'm reminded that I am truly blessed to be doing something as a profession that I love and have a passion for and to be providing a service of stewardship to you, my client.
Thank you for blessing me with the opportunity to care for your trees and your landscapes and I wish you a blessed holiday season and New year.
As always, feel free to call our Director of Operations Camille Rechel at 513-661-2673 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
