Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tree removal = New Opportunities

Despite the bitter cold this week, work in the landscape goes on. Tree work. On this property we had a situation where a dozen Red Pines (Pinus resinosa) had been in decline for years and removed them to contain the spread of the Diplodia tip blight. They had been under an arborists care for several years, trying to manage the disease but we lost this fight, and decided to remove these trees to stop the spread to neighboring Pine species.

The upside to tree removal is new opportunities. First, there is a big gap after removing 12 trees, lots of potential for new plantings! And we have the winter to consider rethink and redesign that area. Second, making adjustments in the landscape. For instance, in one section a Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) had been crowded out, caught between 3 Pines and a couple Rhododendrons, this constrained growing area had started to malform the trees shape (see image below). The tree has not shown signs of Dogwood Anthracnose and is otherwise in great health. I am so excited to see how it responds to its new openness and more sunlight and should start to balance out its shape quickly.

Anyone interested in learning more about Diplodia Tip Blight (Spaeropsis sapinea) or Dogwood Anthracnose (Discula destructive), the Cornel University website has very readable and helpful “Fact Sheets” including photos to help id symptoms and of course suggestions for treatment strategies. Link Here: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb


2 comments:

soccer mom in denial said...

Quite a story. And I just love the quote at the end. That is lovely.

Tree Surgeon said...

This is really a thing to consider, thank you very much regarding writing about this subject. . !


Tree Cutting