A truly fascinating and audible phenomenon is happening in Ohio gardens right now. The tiny worm-like larvae of the boxwood leaf miner have awoken and are voraciously feeding inside boxwood leaves.
Best Practices for Watering Your Trees
Last Fall I planted a Nikko maple (Acer maximowiczianum) for one of my neighbors. Somewhat uncommon, Nikko maple is a small statured, 20 - 30’ at maturity, trifoliate, hardy tree with nice fall color. It has good urban tolerance and was a good fit for its location with overhead utilities. I have been watering this tree somewhat regularly with a large watering can that I can easily carry across the street and have been pleased with the healthy appearance and good amount of new growth that has emerged this year. As far as I could tell the tree looked great so you can imagine my surprise when I came home recently from a long weekend getaway and discovered that the top half of the tree’s canopy had turned brown.
Are Your Trees Being Suffocated By Their Own Roots?
More and more trees are growing up in confined urban environments that force their root systems to wrap around the base of the tree causing girdling roots. Girdling roots will block vital nutrients to flow to the tree's canopy which can eventually cause the tree to die. The good news: girdling roots can be fixed if caught early!