Watch Out for Girdled Trees!

Quite regularly I encounter trees that are being girdled by some sort of material, mostly guy wires or straps installed during planting, and subsequently forgotten. Sometimes there are other things that catch me by surprise. Usually these are things placed by people and never maintained. For this article I will start with the most common girdling issue and then mention some of the other items. 

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Illustration of a tree being girdled by a guy wire. ©Russell Tree Experts

Support Systems  

There are various methods in use for supporting newly planted trees. From nylon webbing straps to wire run through hose, or just plain wire, it seems folks will reach for what is at hand to tie around a tree stem after planting to help support a tree.  For this article I am not going to discuss proper guying methods. The most important thing to remember is that whatever guying system you, or someone else, has installed on your newly planted tree(s), the system should be checked periodically to make sure it is still functional without causing damage to the tree stem. Usually one season is all that is required for a tree support system installed at planting.  Sometimes guying is not needed. This largely depends on whether the new tree is planted bare root or balled and burlapped.

At any rate, several times I have been called to investigate a strange phenomenon: A tree looks healthy in the lower part of the canopy, but the upper part is turning yellow and dying. On closer inspection, I will find the remains of a guy wire (or two, or three) buried into the tree stem, clearly marking the boundary between healthy tree below and strangled tree above. If I can remove the material the recovery of the tree is quite dramatic.  If the material is too buried to be reached, tree survival is a question of whether the tree is able to bridge over the girdling with new stem growth or not. In rarer cases I have seen trees snap off at the place where a guy wire was buried in the stem causing a structural weakness. 

I see this type of injury far more often than I would like, and far too often considering how easy it is to loosen a guy wire that is still needed or remove it if it has fulfilled its function. For support systems that need to be permanent, bolts drilled into the tree are a preferable option since the tree can easily grow around the bolt indefinitely.

Other Stem Girdling Culprits

The following list is made up of other things I have seen noticeably girdling tree trunks or branches, sometimes with negative effects on tree health:

1. Bird feeder hooks

2. Swings attached with rope, wire, or chain

3. Nylon twine on a root ball left in place after planting

4. Zip lines

5. Christmas lights installed and never removed

6. Ribbon

7. Tree identification tags attached at the nursery

Some of these might come as a surprise since one would think that the material would degrade quickly and not cause a girdling problem.  With ribbon in particular, I have seen ribbon so old the color has faded away, yet there is a noticeable groove in the trunk where the tree is beginning to be girdled.  When I cut the ribbon with my knife it gives way with an audible tearing or snapping sound, showing there is still a lot of strength left in it.  Granted, the ribbon might actually decompose before the tree begins to suffer irreparable damage, but I left it on my list simply to illustrate that anything attached to a tree should be maintained or removed if its purpose is fulfilled.

Trees lend themselves for usefulness, decoration, and personal expression. Sometimes trees need to be supported for a time, or indefinitely.  Take a walk outside and look at your trees.  Is there any girdling going on? Is it time to replace or remove a guy wire? Should you use a larger hook for your bird feeder? Is there burlap or twine strangling the base of the tree? Make the adjustments!  Believe me, every little thing you can do in favor of the tree counts.

Thanks for caring about your trees!

PS - Read Chris’ great article about girdling roots by clicking here!

José Fernández | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

José became an ISA Certified Arborist® in 2004, and a Board-Certified Master Arborist® in 2015. Currently he is enrolled at The Ohio State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Plant Health Management. José likes working around trees because he is still filled with wonder every time he walks in the woods. José has worked at Russell Tree Experts since 2012.

New Research: Boxwood Blight Update

If you have boxwood plants, please read the following!

Last week I read an article about a new research project that tested the hypothesis that use of mulch may reduce the incidence of boxwood blight at previously infected sites.

If you read my first installment on this relatively new disease, you will know the major difficulty of this pathogen (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) is that it infects otherwise healthy plants, and once it is at a site, removal and destruction of the infected plants is recommended, with no plant replacement for 3-5 years.  This is because the spores remain in and on the soil to infect new plants.  Existing asymptomatic plants were to be sprayed with fungicides to help prevent infection.

In this new study, two sites (field planting site and existing residential landscape site) were used to test the mulching hypothesis. The results at the residential site were particularly encouraging. At this site, infected plants were cut down, leaving stumps at around 15 cm in height (5.9 inches), similar to a rejuvenation or coppicing pruning.  The pruned material was destroyed, but the stumps were freshly mulched to a depth of 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) in an area 2 x 2 m around the stump.  Result?  Complete protection (no infection) was observed the first season, and “excellent” protection the following season (low infection rate).

The authors of the study stated that the pathogen “primarily attacks leaves and stems”, and “there is no evidence to date of natural infection of boxwood roots” by this pathogen in the soil.  Based on this information, recommendations for managing this disease will be summarized by the following steps, representing an integrated approach:

1. Above all else, do not allow new boxwood plants onto your property that are not guaranteed to be free of this pathogen by the supplier.

2. Any person/company working on your boxwoods must be able to guarantee that all equipment being used on the property has been cleaned and disinfected prior to entering your property to do work. Under no circumstances should debris from other properties be allowed to enter your property.

3. If a plant is deemed to have boxwood blight, remove the plant (bagged and dumped in trash or burned), clean away surface mulch and leaf litter, and add new mulch around the stump, periodically checking to maintain at about 3” in depth.

4. Remaining healthy plants should be put onto a fungicide spray program to provide topical protection for the next several seasons. Hopefully the coppiced plants will sprout vigorously and remain uninfected.

5. Surface irrigation (sprinklers) should be avoided near boxwood, since water splashing is one of the primary ways the spores are spread. Also, there is a positive correlation between inoculation rates and length of time foliage remains wet.

Exclusion of the pathogen will be the most important step in this program, and the more people become aware of this, the less the disease will be able to spread. Exclusion is maintained by the first two steps shown above. The mulching depth is rather more than normally recommended for plant health, but in this case the idea is to keep fungal spores from landing on stems and leaves.

Please pass this information along to anyone you know that has boxwood plants. The more people we have following exclusion principles, the less this disease will be able to spread.

Reference: Likins, T. M., Kong, P., Avenot, H. F., Marine, S. C., Baudoin, A., and Hong, C. X. 2018. Preventing soil inoculum of Calonectria pseudonaviculata  from splashing onto healthy boxwood foliage by mulching. Plant Dis. 103: 357-363.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist,

José Fernández | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

José became an ISA Certified Arborist® in 2004, and a Board-Certified Master Arborist® in 2015. Currently he is enrolled at The Ohio State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Plant Health Management. José likes working around trees because he is still filled with wonder every time he walks in the woods. José has worked at Russell Tree Experts since 2012.

Trees: Links to the Past and Messages into the Future

Please note: This article was originally published on 1/22/2019 and was republished on 1/28/2020.

Last year my wife and I spent a week or so vacationing with family, visiting Civil War Battlefields. The time was well spent, although sobering to be on the actual soil where so many people died, not that long ago.

This article is not about the Civil War, but about two things I found there that came back to me early this year and reminded me a little bit of why I do what I do. I would like to share a bit with you. I know you are busy… Will you stop and sit with me for a moment?

The first is an object I saw in a glass case at a museum at Gettysburg. It was a portion of a tree five or six feet tall that forked into two limbs. Buried in the tree at regular intervals, all along its surface, were round cannon shot, pieces of metal shrapnel, and musket shot. It was an actual piece of a tree preserved from the battle site. I had already seen some split rail fence sections with musket balls buried in the wood, but for some reason seeing the tree riddled with metal, so much metal, hurled through the air so randomly, and with such force, made the reality of the battle crystallize in my mind. How would it have been possible for anything living to survive under such conditions? The glass case was in the middle of a walkway between two galleries, and people streamed past me, some going one way, some going the other way. I stood, transfixed by this portion of tree so full of metal. It meant something to me, many things perhaps, but thinking this through would have to happen later.

A couple of days later I found myself in one of my favorite places to be: an old house that had been repurposed into a book store. Used books upstairs, new books downstairs. I did what must be done in such a place and began to meander. Eventually I found myself looking at two books very near to each other on the same shelf: Thoreau and the Language of Trees, by Richard Higgins, and The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wollheben. I flipped through the two of them. I only wanted to spend money on one, and they both beckoned to be read. Finally a page from the first book turned open and my eye channeled down to a sentence. I read it, backed up for a bit of context, and stood, transfixed once more, but in a different way than before. I am amazed that the written word can travel forward through time and show that people have always been people, and some will see what others do not while those others also see what someone else has missed.  How will the world be known unless we are willing to receive from one another that which only another can give? We all live in the same world, yet we each have a truly unique and precious perspective.

Here is one such perspective, quoted from page 103, a section titled “I Recover My Spirits”:

Ah, if I could so live that there should be no desultory moment in all my life! That in the trivial season, when small fruits are ripe, my fruits might be ripe also. That I could match nature always with my moods!  That in each season when some part of nature especially flourishes, then a corresponding part of me may not fail to flourish. Ah, I would walk, I would sit and sleep, with natural piety.  What if I could pray aloud or to myself as I went along by the brooksides a cheerful prayer like the birds! For joy I could embrace the earth; I shall delight to be buried in it…  I thank you God.  I do not deserve anything.  I am unworthy of the least regard, and yet I am made to rejoice.  I am impure and worthless, and yet the world is gilded for my delight, holidays are prepared for me, and my path is strewn with flowers.

                                                                                                            Journal, AUGUST 17, 1851

According to the author, it was “the sound of wind in the trees one summer day” that led Thoreau to this exalted state of mind/spirit.

On the one hand, a tree preserved in a glass case spoke to me out of the past to powerfully illustrate the (to me) previously unimaginable conditions of the battle of Gettysburg. On the other hand, a breeze blowing through a forest canopy caused Thoreau’s mind to be  filled with the undeserved beauty of life on this earth and to write words that echoed within me in a hopeful way. Perhaps part of what I am trying to express for you today is that as I visit your properties looking at your trees, every now and then I come across a specimen of magnificence that has passed through several of my lifetimes and more, and yet is still there, alive, breathing, eating, drinking. In a way, living in hope that the world will remain as it has been since the tree was a seedling. As an arborist I can see how it has been battered by ice, wind, and possible disease, but it is still standing despite the scar tissue. I also know there is a very good chance it will be there long after we are gone.

In the same way, a newly planted tree stretching out eagerly to get closer to the sun has the potential to be there 200 years from now, and maybe some other person will hear the breeze moving above, catch the shifting sunlight from below, and wonder about life, and purpose; joy, peace.

Even when a tree is removed the wood is repurposed by people to make useful or beautiful things, some of which can last for centuries.  Either way, whether in natural settings or not, trees live and die, taking and giving, eventually giving back all without complaint, having made the world better for their being in it.

This is why I do what I do.

We all have deadlines, and sometimes mistakes are made. We deal with the negatives with as much grace as we know to give. But sometimes as we trudge along we come to a clearing along the way, and something urges us to stop, to rest, to look about us. Conflicting thoughts appear: “this was not on the schedule”, “I have to…”.

I hope you are able to find an old tree somewhere to stop under. Breathe. Fill your lungs with life, hang onto it for a moment, and be thankful. Then smile at the next few people you run into. 

Wishing you the best for 2019.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist,

José Fernández | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

José became an ISA Certified Arborist® in 2004, and a Board-Certified Master Arborist® in 2015. Currently he is enrolled at The Ohio State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Plant Health Management. José likes working around trees because he is still filled with wonder every time he walks in the woods. José has worked at Russell Tree Experts since 2012.

That "Stuff" Growing on Bark

That “stuff” growing on bark

by ISA Certified Arborist® Chris Gill

As Central Ohio moves further into winter, and the majority of deciduous trees have dropped their leaves, bark becomes increasingly visible. Bark is an interesting and important characteristic for trees and tree identification. It doesn’t take long for a novice naturalist to distinguish certain tree species based almost entirely on the bark of a specimen (Beech, Hackberry, River Birch, etc.). Upon further inspection of a tree’s bark an observer might notice organisms growing on the trees bark. A large variety of fungi can be seen on the bark of deadwood in trees and is usually associated with poor health of that particular branch or the entire tree. However, fungi are not the only organisms to inhabit the bark of trees.

Lichen (pronounced “Like-N”) is frequently seen on trees in Central Ohio and is often mistaken as a sign of a tree’s poor health. Lichen is the result of at least two different organisms living in a symbiotic relationship on the exterior of a tree’s bark. This symbiotic relationship usually consists of a fungus and green alga and/or a cyanobacterium with the filaments of the fungus making up the majority of the lichen. Lichen do not have the typical plant parts (roots, stems, leaves, cuticle, etc..) but instead attach themselves to the outer layer of a trees bark with rhizines. The rhizines are tiny hair like structures that do not penetrate into the inner bark and are harmless to the tree. The Lichen is able to photosynthesize its own food and gather moisture from the air, fog, dew drip or rain. In the vast majority of cases the lichen and tree relationship is viewed as being one of “commensalism,” where the Lichen benefit from the tree with the tree neither benefiting nor being adversely impacted by the Lichen. Lichen benefit from attaching itself to the bark of trees due to the increased availability of sunlight and it is this need for sunlight that makes Lichen really thrive on dead trees (no leaves, more light). The casual observer might infer that the cause of death was due to the Lichen; however, it’s just lichen taking advantage of the sunlight provided by the dead tree.

Lichen are an interesting organism and can grow even in the most extreme conditions. Next time you find yourself looking at a tree, keep your eye out for lichen!

Chris Gill | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6416A // Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) // ODA COMM. PESTICIDE LIC. #104040 // Russell Tree Experts Arborist Since 2015

A Boxwood Bummer

I wanted to dedicate this installment to Boxwood Blight, since this is a disease which has the potential to disrupt formal landscapes all across the state. The disease is fungal, and affects boxwood, especially the cultivated varieties ‘American’ and ‘Suffruticosa’. It is relatively recent in the United States, and was found in Ohio nurseries in 2011. The Ohio State University has been expecting this disease to crop up in residential landscapes, and now is beginning to see this happen. The disease is a new one for me, and I have not personally found it in any of my landscape inspections. To date, Russell Tree Experts has not applied any fungicide preventively for this issue, but we will have a plan in place for the 2019 season. My main goal in writing this article is to begin to raise awareness about this serious disease, and that it is out there.

Boxwood is a plant that many would consider to be overused in landscape design, but perhaps this is because few plants offer the characteristics that Boxwood does. It is evergreen, takes shearing well, and comes in many sizes and forms. Therefore this plant is an exceptional choice for hedges, both formal and informal, for screening or for outlining borders in a garden or landscape. The difficulty with hedges, or with mass plantings of any size, is that the loss of one plant is much more significant than in an informal grouping of trees or plants of varying species where the loss of 1-2 single plants goes unnoticed.

Years ago I helped take care of the landscape at a large private residence that had many formal plantings incorporated into its design, along with less formal groupings of trees. My stress levels were much higher when one of the formal tree arrangements was threatened by the loss of a single tree. Imagine a formal circle of mature shade trees missing one of its members due to disease or storm damage. The effect is similar to missing one tooth out of an otherwise healthy smile. Somehow the overall result of a missing tooth is not helped by the fact that there are 31 other teeth still remaining. And replacing a mature tree to fill in the gap is arguably much more difficult than replacing a missing tooth.

This is the effect Boxwood Blight could have on many, many landscapes we serve. I imagine that 8 out of 10 readers have at least one row of boxwoods somewhere in their landscape.  Some of you have massive formal plantings of hundreds of boxwoods. What makes this disease different than others that have been affecting boxwood for years?

In September of this year I attended the 2018 Urban Landscape Pest Management Workshop at The Ohio State University. There, Dr. Francesca Peduto Hand introduced me to this disease with several main points that raised concern:

1. The disease can infect otherwise healthy plants.

2. When climate conditions are favorable, the disease can progress very quickly.

3. Infected plants must be removed and destroyed, and it is not recommended that boxwood be replanted for 3-5 years from the time the last infected plant was removed.

This is like saying you have to pull the infected tooth, and you can’t get a new tooth implanted for 3-5 years. The best defense is knowing what the symptoms are:

1. First there are dark spots on leaf surface and white sporulation (fungal spores) on the underside of the leaf.

2. These spots spread on the leaf, eventually causing defoliation.

3. Black, elongated cankers are evident on defoliated stems.

Unfortunately, once symptoms are found, the plant must be destroyed.  The best preventive measure is to make sure any new plants coming into the landscape from the nursery are carefully inspected and approved as symptom free.

Another preventive defense is a regimen of fungicide applications. These can be costly depending on the size of the hedge and the frequency of applications. Also consider that since the applications are preventive, they need to be repeated on a seasonal basis and would have to become part of a permanent landscape budget.

A pdf with good photos and symptom descriptions authored by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station can be found here:

I leave you, dear reader, with the heartfelt wish that your landscape may remain disease free! May you draw nothing but pleasure and peace from the plants which surround you. Be wary of what may be hitching a ride into your landscape on new plants.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist,

José Fernández | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

José became an ISA Certified Arborist® in 2004, and a Board-Certified Master Arborist® in 2015. Currently he is enrolled at The Ohio State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Plant Health Management. José likes working around trees because he is still filled with wonder every time he walks in the woods. José has worked at Russell Tree Experts since 2012.

Blooming in the fall?!

Blooming in the fall?!

An Often Overlooked Fall Color

One of my favorite things about the fall season are the flowers of our native Witchhazel.  If you look carefully you may still be fortunate enough to see them. On the cold grey days of fall, when other plants have lost their color, our native Witchhazel bursts into a show of yellow flowers brightening up the landscape around them.

Common Witchhazel, Hamamelis virginiana, is a native small wide spreading tree (or large shrub) native to central Ohio and much of the midwest and eastern United States. It grows naturally on dry woodland slopes, in moist woods and along the banks of streams. It has a high tolerance to shade and clay soils making it a useful plant for the urban landscape. Witchhazel can be used as a focal point, shrub border, or for the wildlife garden as it provides food for birds, honeybees and the spring azure butterfly (the juvenile form feeds on the foliage).

Witchhazel will often go unnoticed by most folks until mid October when it produces its fragrant yellow strap like flowers. The flowers will normally last 4 - 6 weeks fading by December. This week,  I’ve observed Witchhazel still in peak flower in client’s yards and in parks and woods around central Ohio. There is nice stand at Jeffrey Park in Bexley just North of the tennis courts I recommend checking out.   

If you’ve been looking for a small tree to add to your property - consider the Common Witchhazel. 

©Russell Tree Experts

©Russell Tree Experts

©Russell Tree Experts

©Russell Tree Experts

Side note:  Vernal Witchhazel, Hamamelis vernalis is a native Witch Hazel of Southern Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana that flowers late winter/early spring. The nursery industry has made this plant commercially available as well as two Asian species, Hamamelis japonica and Hamamelis mollis. There are also dozens of cultivated varieties and hybrids of these species so you or someone you know may have Witchhazel that flowers at a different time or in a different color.

TJ Nagel | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6298A // Graduated from The Ohio State University in 2012, Earned B.S. in Agriculture with a major in Landscape Horticulture and minor in Entomology // Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) // Russell Tree Experts Arborist Since 2010

Don’t Get Fooled by the Fall Color of Conifers!

By TJ Nagel
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist® OH-6298B
November 13, 2025

Every fall I get calls from folks concerned about yellow needles on their evergreen trees. Often times I’m told that the trees are sick or that they appear to be dying from the inside out. There are some disease and insect problems that can cause yellowing and premature loss of needles in conifers but most often what people are reporting is just normal fall color.

Yellowing and the loss of old needles in the fall is normal for pine, spruce, arborvitae, hemlock and most evergreen conifers in the midwest. Most conifers shed their needles each year starting in late August and continue through November. Older interior needles will turn yellow while needles further out in the canopy and at the tips of branches will stay green. The yellow needles eventually drop off starting at the top of the tree and working their way to the bottom in a uniform fashion. Taxus (also called Yew) is the exception showing it’s “fall color” in mid to late spring.

Most folks understand and look forward to the fall color change in our maples, oaks, hickories and other hardwood trees — fall needle drop in conifers is as normal as leaf drop in deciduous trees.

The change in color and eventual drop of foliage is simply a physiological response to the shorter days and cooler temperatures as trees (both evergreen and deciduous) prepare themselves for the winter.

Pictured below are some of my favorite conifers showing fall color:

Arborvitae

©Russell Tree Experts

Chaemacyparis

©Russell Tree Experts

Dawn Redwood

©Russell Tree Experts

Dwarf White Pine

©Russell Tree Experts

Hemlock

©Russell Tree Experts

Japanese White Pine

©Russell Tree Experts

Scrub Pine

©Russell Tree Experts

Serbian Spruce

©Russell Tree Experts

White Pine

©Russell Tree Experts

Please note: This article was revised on 11/12/25 and originally published on 11/28/18.

ADDITIONAL ARBOR ED™ ARTICLES!

TJ Nagel I Scheduling Production Manager, Russell Tree Experts

TJ joined Russell Tree Experts in 2012 and loves trees. He is an avid gardener and plant collector. TJ graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Agriculture with a major in Landscape Horticulture and minor in Entomology. TJ is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist® and well versed in plant pathology and tree ID.

Test Before Treatment: Soil & Tissue Testing

©Russell Tree Experts

Test Before Treatment

I find it interesting that test procedures recommended in the medical field for human health have become part of the expected methodology, but not so much in arboriculture, for tree health. As arborists, we are trained that a soil test should be done prior to recommending fertilization, for example, but I don’t know of many outfits that make soil sampling a part of their modus operandi. On the other side of the equation, many clients will choose not to do a soil or tissue sample when presented with the option, perhaps because of budgetary reasons. I think it is time this started to change, because knowledge of a problem is the first step toward the solution. Given an unhealthy tree, I might suspect what the problem is, but unless it is one that is readily identifiable in the field, I would rather start with the sampling than attempt a treatment.

Click here to see the 9-step soil testing process!

Fertilization is one instance where a soil sample, at minimum, should be taken. For fertilization, a tissue sample would also be good, for reasons I will get into shortly. Another instance when plant samples are usually taken is when a problem is not readily identifiable in the field, and the problem is not so developed that treatment is still a viable option. A third instance where sampling is necessary is to rule out the possibility of a disease which could spread to neighboring healthy trees. In this case even dead plants may be sampled to detect the presence of one of these pathogens if possible, and to know how to dispose of the dead plants properly.

Fertilization

In general, “tame” trees and shrubs in finished landscapes benefit from fertilization because they are growing in conditions that do not resemble where they would be growing if they were “wild”. I may not need to sample the soil in an urban landscape to know that usually the addition of organic matter is going to benefit the trees, along with the nitrogen that composted organic matter provides for growth. Also, I know that most of the soil we find in the Columbus area is a limestone based, heavy clay soil. This particular bit of knowledge has led to some confusion in particular tree treatments I am about to discuss. (If you have Pin Oak, River Birch, Maple, Sweetgum, or Sweetbay Magnolia on your property, read this section if nothing else!!)  Arborists have traditionally been taught that chlorosis (yellowing foliage) in these trees is due to either a deficiency of iron or manganese in our heavy clay soils. If the tree is a Pin, Red, Shingle, or Sawtooth Oak, you treat it with iron. If the tree is a Maple or a Sweetgum, treat it with manganese. At this point in my life I don’t recall what the recommendation was for the other trees. Why not?

Chlorosis in a Red Maple
©Russell Tree Experts

Chlorosis in a River Birch
©Russell Tree Experts

After years of treating trees this way with very mixed results, I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Darrah at CLC LABS. His findings over the years for our Columbus soils, related to chlorosis in these trees, have been that the problem is nearly always a manganese deficiency. To make matters even worse, giving iron to a tree that has a manganese deficiency appears to make the manganese deficiency even more pronounced. To this day I continue to be filled with satisfaction when I drive past a tree that was not responding to year after year of iron treatments, in the soil and with trunk injections and implants, to no avail, by someone else. Then, after sending soil and tissue samples to the lab, we found a surplus of iron and a dearth of manganese. The remedy? Treat aggressively with manganese. Sometimes the result is immediate, most times we see a turnaround after 2-3 seasons of treating appropriately. But what a satisfying feeling to know that we have figured out what the problem was, and now the symptoms are being reversed! To be clear, the satisfaction does not come from knowing we were right and someone else was wrong!  It comes from seeing a tree that was in decline start to come back to life.

Click here to see Dr. Darrah at CLC LABS perform soil testing!

When I encounter chlorotic foliage in trees now, my top suspect for nutrient deficiency  is manganese. If a tree is only beginning to show symptoms, I may recommend manganese to see if it turns around. If it does not turn around, we can sample to see what the issue is. Why take this backward approach? Maybe because I have a subconscious fear that a client may feel that I am just trying to sell additional services that are not needed. Especially if the other two arborists (from other companies) she spoke to “never recommended sampling”. And in her mind she may be thinking “Why does this arborist need to take samples? Can’t he tell what the problem is? And anyway, the other arborists said the issue was iron, not manganese.”  So, since I know there is a very high chance the problem is manganese, that’s what I will recommend. 

BUT, there have been a very small number of samples that came back showing some other micronutrient deficiency (or surplus), that was critical for knowing what the best treatment approach was. And this is why sampling should always take place first. I pledge to offer that as the first step in a treatment plan to each client with a sickly tree. At least then I will have done my due diligence.

As a final note for fertilization, if the time of year is right, a tissue sample is great for getting a more complete picture of what is happening in the tree.  By comparing soil to tissue, we can see what is available to the tree and what is actually inside the tree.  This helps with diagnosing the cause for symptoms. 

Sampling for disease diagnosis, live or dying trees

There are many diseases arborists can positively identify in the field if properly trained, and they should be able and willing to show the client what they are seeing, and why it needs to be treated (or not). I still find insects that pop up sporadically that I have never seen before. Usually I can pull out the reference books back at the office and find the pest or pathogen, but if I fail at that, it is time to take a sample to the clinic. Even if an arborist had exhaustive knowledge for field identification of diseases (which is a tall order), there are certain diseases that require a specialized lab for a positive identification. In the case of live trees, one may decide that sampling is not needed due to how advanced the symptoms are. If the tree is not salvageable, perhaps sampling is not the best use of funds. But if the symptoms are those that could be of an infectious nature, threatening other live trees, sampling is paramount, and should be done promptly.  Let’s look at Oak Wilt, for example. 

Several years ago, Russell Tree Experts submitted the first positively identifiable sample of this disease taken from a tree in Franklin County. The year prior, a consulting arborist had turned in a positive sample from a tree in Delaware County. Oak Wilt is a disease that was known in the northeastern counties, and we were sad to see it moving into our neighborhood. However, had we not taken the samples, we would not have known the steps to take to properly dispose of the dead trees, inoculate the surrounding live trees at high risk of infection, and try to get the word out to the local arborist community. That was several years ago. Since then, more and more arborists have had positive samples, but to my chagrin, I still run into trees that I am fairly certain died of Oak Wilt but were removed willy nilly by “arborists” who maybe never even thought why the Red Oak went from live to dead in a matter of days. It takes time for word to get around, and it takes tree owners who are concerned about their trees.  

I am happy to say there are several reputable, trustworthy tree care companies in the Columbus area whom I am proud to count as colleagues (and I hope they feel the same way about us!).  This provides discerning clientele with plenty of good options to choose from. I am also very happy that more and more people are realizing how important the care of trees and plants is – not just for the love of their own back yard, but for the good of their neighbors.  How do I know you are out there? Because you take the time to read these thoughts that flow out of my fingers into the keyboard. As I write this, early evening is coming on. I am looking out my window across a field divided by a small stream. Green grass in the foreground flows to the border of the stream, outlined in buckthorn turning yellowish green, brilliant yellow Maple on the left, defoliated Cottonwoods against the sky. Anchoring the scene on the right is a large Pin Oak turning an orange bronze. When the sun shines it lights up like fire. Across the stream a recently harvested soybean field, the color of straw. In the background, all across the window frame, stretches a native woods made up of what appears to be mostly Oak and Hickory: rusty, ruddy, yellow, gold.  Above the green grass, tan straw, and tree line made of fire a sheet of sky in light gray is spread, with a hint of pink peeking through here and there. 

Stop for a moment.  Look around.  Let peace find you, and give thanks for it. The more we notice it, the less we can take it for granted.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist, 
José Fernández

José Fernández | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

José became an ISA Certified Arborist® in 2004, and a Board-Certified Master Arborist® in 2015. Currently he is enrolled at The Ohio State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Plant Health Management. José likes working around trees because he is still filled with wonder every time he walks in the woods.

Fear no Weevil (With Fall Systemic Insecticide)

As we prepare for another season of Fall Tree Wellness, another important insect to take note of is White Pine Weevil. White Pine Weevil is a damaging pest to a broad range of conifers, including White, Scotch, Red and Austrian pine as well as Colorado blue, Norway, and Serbian spruce. Douglas-fir can also be attacked. White pine Weevil does the bulk of its damage to trees in the later part of the Spring, but I mention it now because we get the most successful management of this pest with a Fall application of systemic insecticide. If you have had damage from White pine weevil in the past - now is the time to take corrective action.

Adult white pine weevil spends the winter underneath dropped needles and debris, generally very close to previously infested trees. On warm days in early Spring, the adults travel to the terminal leaders of host trees and begin feeding on terminal branches. Later in Spring the adult females will mate and deposit eggs into feeding wounds. Dozens to hundreds of eggs can be deposited into one terminal leader. Eggs hatch one to two weeks later with larvae feeding downward on the inner bark of the terminal stems. Feeding continues through mid-July at which point larvae pupate in hollowed out chambers inside the stem. New adults emerge in late July - August and feed intermittently on small twigs throughout the canopy of the tree until they move to the base of the tree for overwintering shelter.  

The most destructive stage of white pine weevil is the larval feeding stage which produces a conspicuous injury to the host tree by causing the new growth of the tree to wilt and die back.   The affected terminal shoots wilt into a “shepherd’s crook” (see below photo) and the needles turn lighter in color before turning brown and eventually falling off. In most cases host trees are not killed. However, feeding injury stunts the growth of the tree and can also cause trees to develop poor structure with multiple new leaders forming beneath damaged areas.

Injury to white pine is generally confined to the previous season’s growth. Damage on Scotch pine and spruce will often extend downward through two or three year’s growth.   

Managing The White Pine Weevil

Host plants are most attractive to White pine weevil between 3’ and 20’ in height. In June - July, look for curled or dead terminal leaders that have the appearance of a “shepherd’s crook.” These infested leaders should be pruned out of the tree and destroyed or removed from the site to attempt to eradicate the pest from the host plant.

If you have had infestations of white pine weevil in the past or have host plants in the preferred size range, a well-timed soil drench with an appropriately labeled systemic insecticide works really well at controlling this pest. This application is recommended in the Fall to allow sufficient time for uptake of the insecticide to the terminal shoots of the tree by Spring when larval feeding resumes.

TJ Nagel | Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts

ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6298A // Graduated from The Ohio State University in 2012, Earned B.S. in Agriculture with a major in Landscape Horticulture and minor in Entomology // Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) // Russell Tree Experts Arborist Since 2010

Stump Restoration Process

If you are interested in a hands-off approach to the stump removal process, consider having a stump restoration completed by Russell Tree Experts. Our crew will remove all of the stump grinding shavings, excess dirt, rocks, etc. and restore the area with fresh topsoil which is ready for grass seed, plants, or even a new tree!

STEP 1

The stump shavings, dirt, rocks, etc. that were churned up during the stump grinding process are removed from the area and deposited in our truck. The material that’s being removed is typically dense and heavy, unlike typical wood chips or mulch.

©Russell Tree Experts

Step 2

Fresh topsoil is applied to the area.

©Russell Tree Experts

Step 3

The topsoil is smoothed and leveled to the natural grade of the landscape. Once complete the area is ready for grass seed!

©Russell Tree Experts

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STOP! DON'T TOP!

As an arborist I have frequently been asked to “top” people’s trees. People want their trees topped for several reasons: safety concerns, vista pruning, aesthetics or height reduction. This request prompts a conversation about the practice of tree topping and the hazards associated with it.

Topping a tree is the practice of removing tree tops or pieces of the canopy while leaving stubs or branches that are too small to assume the role of a terminal leader. Probably the most common place to observe a topped tree would be underneath a utility wire. These trees are topped in order to prevent them from interfering with the electric grid and not necessarily pruned with the overall tree’s health as the primary focus. 

Topping, “hat racking” or “rounding-over” a tree can put a tremendous amount of stress on a tree. The practice can result in the removal of 50-100% of the tree’s leaves. This extreme reduction in a tree’s leaf bearing canopy places tremendous stress on the tree. If the tree doesn’t die it will use a large portion of it’s starch reserves (stored in the roots) to replace the removed canopy. The replacement shoots will grow quickly from buds located in the outer tissue around the removed branches, but will not be anchored the same as a “normal” branch. This poor attachment point and fast growth often results in these “shoots” failing. 

The large wounds left after a tree has been topped expose the tree to more hazards than just fast growing, poorly attached shoots. The wounds are slow to heal (if they heal at all) and the exposed cambium layer is vulnerable to insects, disease, and decay. The remaining portion of the tree can also experience sunburn or “scalding” due to the lack of leaves and sun exposure.

After explaining this to a potential client I am often asked “then what should I do?” Depending on the species, location, health and client desires there are several options. Proper reduction pruning is one solution and involves reducing limbs according to industry standards (Click here to see our pruning guide). If the tree is in poor health or an unfortunate location, removal is also an option. Often times it is better to remove a poor specimen and replace it with a species that is better suited to that particular site. 

As we learn more about the value of trees in our urban forest we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our trees. Witnessing the proverbial “light bulb” turn on after discussing the practice of topping trees is one of the many rewards of being an arborist.

Sincerely,

Chris Gill
Regional Manager, Russell Tree Experts
ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6416A

The Late Season Blues (or Yellows or Browns)

I’m trying, and finding myself unable to, recall something I read from H.D. Thoreau once regarding trees when they first leafed out in the spring. In his usual poetic style, Thoreau was commenting on how clean, fresh, new, and unspoiled each leaf was when it emerged, and how so very soon, it seemed like each tree had its own unique insect that began to feed on it, marring its beauty. I wish I recall the exact wording. If anyone out there is a reader of Thoreau, please refresh my memory and comment below! :) 

Springtime is long gone, even though it only seems like a couple of months ago that we were coming out of winter. Suddenly, here we are, getting ready to enter the fall season, and true to form, during the past several weeks I have been seeing trees go into what TJ (Certified Arborist here at RTE) calls “late season blues”.  During this time we start to see an accumulation of issues on tree leaves that make them look less than pristine, sometimes even tattered and tired.  It is almost as if the plants are tired of fending off all the plagues that they must coexist with each season, and allow their defenses to drop before they go dormant.

Early Signs of “Late Season Blues”

I knew we were into the late season blues when I started to see certain types of flowering cherry exhibiting quite spectacular outbreaks of leaf spot, and clients began to call very concerned about the discolored leaves falling off their trees rather suddenly.  This was around mid-August, and I continued to see it several weeks after.

During the heat of late summer I commonly see the lacy, cutleaf varieties of various species begin to scorch around the leaf margins.  Same for some variegated species like tricolor beech, when planted in full sun.

River Birch and Cottonwood, among others, can go through a period of early defoliation during dry summer heat, causing clients to think that their trees are dying.  Multiple late season foliar issues, which I typically lump under “late season foliar diseases” start cropping up.

No Big Deal?

Why do I sound so nonchalant about these things?  Well, in a nutshell, it has to do with the time of year. If these symptoms only become evident in late summer/early fall, there is usually nothing to worry about concerning long term tree health. Biologically, by late summer/early fall trees have largely made and stored enough sugars and starches to supply their needs for growth and reproduction the following season.  Aesthetically, we are beginning to enter the time of year when some trees are thinking about fall color, and soon all of them will be switching to the seasonal color scheme.  The loss of some green here and there is not as tragic as it would be earlier in the season when we need our trees to show up in their best threads.

In my part of town (Northwest Columbus), late season blues this year have shown up as a higher incidence of foliar fungal diseases, such as late season anthracnose (something I usually see in early spring). Why? Fungi that infect tree leaves prefer cool, moist weather, and this season we have certainly had a lot of that! Everywhere I go, clients tell me the same thing: “I have barely had to water my lawn this summer!” For the same reason, I have noticed many more mushrooms than usual this year, and of several types I have not seen before.

The Moral of the Story

During late summer/early fall, issues affecting the leaves/canopy of trees are generally not as bad as they look, and chances are very good the tree will leaf out normally next spring.  For this reason I may ask a client to send some photos of what they are seeing.  This helps me return a quicker answer during this busy time of year. In the meantime, if your tree looks like it has some sort of fungal issue in the leaves, a good fall raking will help remove the source of inoculant for the following season.

Following are some photos I took yesterday.  I am sharing these because as bad as these leaves look, I was not concerned for the health of these trees at this time. Enjoy the photos. Better yet, get out on one of our plant walks, or on your own plant walk, and enjoy this season! I am looking forward to a colorful fall this year, especially if moisture levels continue the way they have been.

Thank you for reading, thank you for your interest, thank you for your love of trees.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist, 

José Fernández
ISA BCMA® OH-5129B
614-586-5777

Leaf Senescence: The Magic of Fall Color

Please note: This article was originally published on 9/24/2018 and was republished on 10/28/2021.

Autumn is quickly approaching and with it brings a wondrous display of ephemeral beauty. It shows up almost overnight and never overstays its welcome. Fall color, of course, is the long anticipated signal that the dog days of summer have finally ended. Warm sweaters, hot cider, bonfires and football games (GO BUCKS) - we made it.

Around this time each year I get a little giddy. I know it’s coming and I seriously cannot wait. All those reds, purples, oranges and yellows, dancing on the breeze as I drive down the street. It’s spectacular. Recently I was trying to explain the phenomenon of the fall to my children while on the way home from piano practice. My arborist self started using words like: chlorophyll and photosynthesis. “Photosynthe-what?” my youngest repeated. Exactly. I resorted to the simplest explanation: Trees have magic powers. That made total sense to them, of course they do. But seriously, have you ever stopped and wondered why trees change color?

Here’s the simplest arborist’s answer:

During the growing season trees are making food through a process called photosynthesis. Isn’t that incredible - trees make their own food! (Magic.) The magic is due in part to the chlorophyll stored in each leaf, which absorbs energy from the sun to transform carbon dioxide and water into plant food (glucose) and oxygen. During the process of “photosynthe-what”, chlorophyll absorbs red and blue wavelengths of light from the visible light spectrum and reflects green wavelengths of light, which is why leaves are green during the growing season.

Around this time of year the days grow shorter and less sunlight is available to make plant food. Coupled with decreases in daily temperature, chlorophyll begins to break down in each leaf. As the chlorophyll absorbs less light, the green color fades away leaving behind the pigments hiding beneath: those incredible reds, purples, oranges and yellows. Totally magical.

How fortunate to live in a section of the world that offers such spectacular displays of fall color. Living amongst an abundance of deciduous trees we experience the beauty of this chemical reaction whether we know why it happens or not. From all of us at Russell Tree Experts, we wish you a very Happy Fall and remember if anyone ever asks you why trees change color, it’s accurate to answer: Trees have magic powers.

Sincerely,

Shari Russell
Co-Owner, Russell Tree Experts

The Value of Trees in the Urban Landscape

Trees in our landscapes are not only beautiful but they provide countless benefits that can enrich our lives. These benefits extend well beyond backyard aesthetics and go on to include health implications, improved energy efficiency, and community-wide effects. 

Increased Energy Efficiency 

The canopy of properly placed trees surrounding your home can provide much needed shade to ensure the house stays cooler on hot summer days. Additionally, trees around the home can provide an often underestimated windscreen which can help diminish harsh winter winds and keep your home warmer in the winter months. The end result is the same - increased energy efficiency and cost savings on heating and cooling bills.

Environmental/Community Benefits 

There are innumerable environmental and community benefits of trees, however there are two that we chose to focus on at this time. 

Through the years, the community and public have been increasingly aware of the concern for increased CO2 emissions in our atmosphere. Trees are a beautiful way to help combat this as they naturally provide a reduction in carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. In the process of consuming carbon dioxide, trees release more oxygen into the atmosphere as a byproduct. Depending on the age of the tree, they are estimated to absorb anywhere from 12-48lbs of carbon dioxide per year. Amazingly, trees also have the ability to absorb other harmful environmental gases as well, including sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxides, effectively serving as a filter to clean the air we breathe every day. 

Another important quality of trees is their ability to reduce storm water runoff and erosion. Trees are able to do this in three main ways. Firstly, a trees broad leaves and branching limbs help deflect heavy rains over a larger area.  Secondly, a tree’s wide reaching roots act as an anchor to support not only the tree itself but the surrounding soil, which helps prevent erosion. Lastly, trees act as a sponge to absorb surrounding ground water in the environment (a single mature tree can uptake thousands of gallons of water per year!). The end result is reduced storm water runoff and reduced soil erosion. 

Personal Health and Wellness  

Trees also provide the intangible benefit as a place of social gathering for local community members, and can provide a calming environment that reduces stress levels and improve overall health and wellbeing.

Property Value 

There are an abundance of studies showing the benefit of great landscaping on property value. Trees are essential to a well-maintained landscaped property. With proper planning, well placed trees on your property can greatly enhance your property value. 

In Summary

Trees provide countless benefits to individuals and communities as a whole. Trees not only provide improved energy efficiency in the home, they also improve property value, have long lasting environmental effects, and can improve one’s quality of life. After reading this, I hope you can truly appreciate the power of trees to change our lives both for today and for the future to come.

Chris Gill
ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6416A

Magnolia Scale: Take a Look!

"Take a Look!"

“Take a look”, I said to my concerned client, as we stood in the shade of her Magnolia tree. I had just handed her my hand lens, and I showed her how to get it close to her eye as she peered through it. I wanted her to see what was in my hand – a dead adult Magnolia scale insect.  Recently dead, which meant that the crawlers should already have emerged.

When I first looked at this tree, I expected to find crawlers on the stems but was surprised that there weren’t any. "This time of year - they should already be out",  I said to myself as I let my client examine what I had just picked off her tree. My thoughts were interrupted by a low cry of consternation: “José, they’re crawling all over your hand!  You have to wash your  hands right away!”

Ugh. She was right. They were way too small to feel, but I could certainly see small black specs on my fingers, and they were covering ground pretty quickly.  As we moved toward the garden hose, I was thinking: Those eggs had to have hatched out days or weeks ago, but they are only now emerging from under the adult? Why have they waited this long?  Scale insects are the worst and they often throw us these curve balls…

Magnolia Scale: A Summary

Most people don’t realize they are even looking at an insect when they see a scale on a plant. It is an insect that forms a sort of shell, some hard, some soft, over itself. Immobile, it sucks the sap out of a plant, lays eggs, and dies, mostly unnoticed. That is until their numbers grow so large that the plant may decline or parts of the plant may die, sooty mold grows on the honeydew excreted by the scale insect, and flies start buzzing around the honeydew as well. Then folks start wondering what in the world is going on with this plant?

Magnolia scale is very host specific, meaning that it affects Magnolia species almost exclusively.  It is the largest scale insect in our area, sometimes as large as a dime. The adult in its prime is very white, and soft when pressed.  It can be very messy if squished. Be warned. Mechanical pressure is one way to kill this pest, but that pressure usually requires hands and fingers. Not an effort for the faint of heart.

There is one generation per year, which usually indicates the pest can be controlled more easily. As with all scale insects, experience proves control to be a process of perseverance over time. The most vulnerable stage is the newly hatched nymph stage, the mobile stage we call a “crawler”. At this point, the insect has still not formed its waxy covering and will be killed if contacted with the appropriate insecticide.

Nymphs emerging from a recently plucked adult Magnolia Scale

As I write this, eggs have hatched, nymphs have emerged, and some are still emerging.  Ken has captured some great footage of this very process, something I have never seen recorded before.  Thanks for sharing Ken!

(Technical notes gathered from experience, general knowledge, and from Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs, second edition, Johnson and Lyon.)

Your friendly neighborhood arborist, 

José Fernández
ISA BCMA® OH-5129B
614-586-5777

Fall Webworm In Full Effect

Fall Webworm vs. Bagworm

We’ve received a high volume of calls over the last couple of weeks about “bagworms” in client’s trees. In central Ohio, true bagworm feeds predominantly on evergreens - arborvitae, spruce, and junipers although some deciduous trees can be hosts as well. Generally, this feeding occurs late Spring through mid-Summer and by mid-August they have stopped feeding to go pupate and become a moth. So I initially was confused about this late population of “bagworm” that had taken central Ohio by surprise and was making my appointment schedule grow faster than kudzu.

After visiting with a few customers, I realized the real culprit of concern was actually, Fall Webworm - not Bagworm. It’s easy to understand why a lot of folks call this pest (which resembles a bunch of worms in a bag) bagworm. This article should clear this up. (For information on  true bagworm see the postscript at the end of this post).  For those of you reading this article, I hope you can help me to rise up and start a movement to correct this awful error in nomenclature.  😉

The Facts about Fall Webworm

Fall webworm on Bald cypress

Fall webworm is a native pest of shade trees and ornamentals and can appear early summer through early fall. It feeds on over 100 different species of trees commonly attacking hickory, walnut, elm, birch, cherry, and willow. In urban landscapes, I’ve observed it daily on oak, sweetgum, redbud, linden, mulberry, and crabapple.

Fall webworm gets most folks attention by the large unattractive webbed nests it makes at the ends of branches.   In most cases, Fall webworm is most damaging to plants aesthetically, diminishing the beauty of its host plant.   A large nest can contain dozens to hundreds of caterpillars and can measure up to 3 feet across.   Even after caterpillars have left to pupate, empty webbed nests can persist for months containing dried up leaf fragments and lots of caterpillar feces.

A fall webworm feed generally lasts for 5 - 6 weeks before the caterpillar leaves its host plant to pupate in the soil. Fall webworm generally has 2 generations per year.

Fall Webworm Management

Because Fall webworm generally causes little to no harm to the overall health of established healthy trees, I generally do not recommend management for this pest.   Ohio has dozens of natural predators that make a living on Fall webworm including several species of birds, parasitic wasps, and other beneficial insects and they can generally keep populations of Fall webworm in check without the help of human intervention.

Newly planted trees could be at risk of significant defoliation and heavy feeding could impact fruit or nut yield for crop trees. If management of Fall webworm does become necessary, nests can be pruned out and destroyed or insecticides can be sprayed to kill the caterpillars while they are feeding. The beneficial bacteria "Bt" (Bacillus thurngiensis) can also be used on young caterpillars. This is available at most high-end garden centers labeled as Dipel or Thuricide.  

If spraying is your control method of choice, please note that product only needs to be applied directly to the nests (rather than the entire tree) to avoid damage to beneficial insects and other non-target organisms.

If you need assistance managing Fall webworm - we’re here to help.  

And Now, Bagworms

Bagworm is a small caterpillar that uses silk and bits of foliage and bark from its host plant to make a small bag around its body to protect itself. Each bagworm has its own individual bag (which often resembles a small pine cone), rather than large webbed nests that protect entire communities of caterpillars like in the case of Fall webworm.  Bagworms feed aggressively from late May through July and can quickly defoliate entire portions of trees and shrubs if left unchecked.

Bagworms can be removed from plants by hand and disposed of easily on small trees and shrubs.   On larger plants, insecticide applications can be made effectively through June before bagworms have covered their bodies with their bag.

Thanks for reading!

TJ Nagel
ISA CERTFIED ARBORIST® OH-6298A

Preventing Tree & Property Storm Damage

Summer months include long hot sunny days that we can enjoy by the pool or lake, but can also bring thunderstorms and high winds. While trees provide shade in these very hot months, they can also be a source of property damage during these summer storms.  
 

What is "Storm Damage"?

Storm damage occurs when a tree or limbs from the tree fall and damage valued property. This can range from a tree limb falling on your gutter to a large tree falling onto your home. Storm damage results in millions of dollars in property loss every year. 

A Silver Maple fell onto a house following a wind storm. The tight "V" crotch near the base of the tree made this tree a likely victim of the wind storm.
 

Is it Possible to Prevent Storm Damage?

Of course! While it’s difficult to always predict nature, storm damage can often be prevented and sometimes eliminated by mindful homeowners. 
 

3 Tips: How to Identify Storm Damage Risks
(See Photos Below)

The key to reducing potential storm damage is identifying the hazards. The following are a few simple ways to try and identify potential hazards.

1. Identify hazardous dead limbs close to your house or other valued property

2. Identify declining trees on your property - Look for these:
   • A large number of dead limbs in the canopy of the tree
   • The existence of fruiting bodies on the trunk of the tree
   • Overall the tree doesn’t look healthy (missing leaves, loose bark, etc.)
3. Identify Co-dominant stems
   • Tight “V” type crotches
   • Multiple stems originating from one point in the trunk.

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How to Mitigate The Hazards

At Russell Tree Experts we can help to identify the hazards. Once the hazards are identified a full mitigation plan will be put together. The plan may include but not limited to pruning, removal, and cabling to make your property a safer place. 
 

In Summary

A well-maintained tree with regular pruning and care has been shown to result in a stronger more storm-resistant tree. Identifying hazards and putting together a mitigation plan can save you thousands of dollars as well as save you lots of headaches when storms hit!

Sincerely, 

Chris Gill, Russell Tree Experts
ISA Certified Arborist® OH-6416A

Verticillium Wilt

It’s hard to miss this disease once we enter the hot dry months of summer.  Without fail, each July/August I start to see trees turning brown and wilting suddenly, usually in patches within the canopy that can be traced back to entire individual limbs that have died.  More dramatically, an entire tree will just turn brown and wilt. The pattern of wilting is very regular, and the symptoms can carry over into winter because the wilted leaves sometimes stay on the tree well after normal leaf drop in the fall.

Verticillium Wilt (VW) is easily recognizable once you know what to look for, but not easily treated.  To make matters worse, it affects a large number of trees and plants, with varying expression of symptoms from tree to tree.  During my years as an arborist, I have found Norway Maple, Japanese Maple, Yellowwood, Smoke tree, Redbud and Magnolia to be very common hosts of this disease.  And this is a short, short list of the plants that can be affected.  

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Dead Sugar Maple, suspect VW due to suddenness of wilting

The disease is caused by a fungus present within the soil, and there are so many ways it can get into the soil that my approach is usually “if there is soil present, there is probably VW present”.  What do we do? It sounds like a copout, but the best answer for dealing with this issue is the best answer for dealing with most plant pests and diseases: Choose the right plant for the site conditions. This is the best way to cultivate healthy plants that can naturally cope with the more problematic neighbors within an ecosystem. But this doesn’t really help the tree that has already been planted and is making do with what it has.

If the tree has already been planted, the next best option is to do everything possible to manipulate conditions at the planting site to minimize stress factors to the tree. Ensuring proper moisture, adding organic mulch matter, amending soil both chemically (fertilization if needed) and physically (soil aeration/relief of compaction) are all good measures that can be taken.  There are systemic fungicides that can be applied to suppress the development of the disease within the vascular system of the plant as well, but these applications should be secondary to the site work.

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Dead vascular tissue in Sweetbay Magnolia characteristic of VW

The fungus can enter the tree by wounds in roots but can enter roots even when no wounds are present. Once in the tree, the disease tends to progress upward and outward, causing foliar wilting and dieback to varying extent.  I have seen trees coexist with the disease for years and years, seemingly keeping up with the disease, losing a branch here and there, but generally coping with it. On the other hand, I have seen trees decline quickly. I recall one Sugar Maple which barely had any symptoms until it wilted from head to toe and died over the weekend.

In closing, I feel that VW is an example of how trees really die. There are questions that need to be asked, such as “Was it just a super-virulent strain that entered the tree?” or “Was it a weaker strain, but the tree was just weakened by multiple other factors?”. Sure, there may be cases where everything is perfect for the tree, but the disease was like The Terminator -  unstoppable. In my experience though, most trees die because something else has made them vulnerable and weak enough that a relatively low-grade disease is what finishes them off.  In that case, treating the disease is a last-ditch effort that can only really work if the treatment keeps the tree alive long enough to benefit from the effects of cultural changes that should be implemented if possible.

I think there is a life lesson that can be applied here, but I will let the reader sort that out. Have fun out there!  For every wilted leaf, there are 100 other green ones.

Your friendly neighborhood arborist, 
José Fernández
ISA BCMA® OH-5129B

Our Safe & Drug-Free Workplace

From day one, Russell Tree Experts has always held safety to the highest regard. Each week we dedicate time to train, educate and discuss the most efficient production techniques focused first on safety. Managing a business in an industry recognized by the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) as one of the most dangerous occupations in Ohio, our approach is serious. Not only do we focus on hazards relating to occupational safety, we take it one step further by providing training and awareness regarding issues hard to recognize and not always apparent, but certainly gaining much attention in our society.

Dyann McDowell of Training Marbles

Once a year all 31 Russell Tree Experts crew members gather together to focus specifically on drug and alcohol safety. Last week, before the regular day began, we invited an expert in substance abuse to educate all employees and provide supervisor training pertaining to drug prevention and problems associated with use and misuse of drugs and alcohol in the workplace. Dyann McDowell of Training Marbles (associated with the Ohio BWC Drug-Free Safety Program)  led us through real-life scenarios of how to recognize addiction and how to act swiftly to maintain an environment safe for ourselves and the public. She provided in-depth descriptions of common drugs and those just gaining momentum. She explained historical trends in drug use and current data on where specific drugs are prevalent. She went on to explain how an overdose physically occurs in the body and why it is so hard to reverse. She offered many resources dedicated to rehabilitation for those suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. Supervisors broke out into a small group after the main presentation to further discuss the importance of being aware of the warning signs of substance abuse, how to handle rumors of abuse and when and how to take action.

By participating in the Drug-Free Safety Program, facilitated through the BWC, I am confident our company is smarter, stronger and safer because of the deliberate time we choose to make ourselves aware of the dangers associated with drug and alcohol abuse. I am proud that as a team we are watching out for the wellbeing of our fellow coworkers, to stay safe and make certain everyone returns home healthy and well each and every day.

At the end of the program, all 31 of us participated in drug and alcohol testing administered by a third party organization. I am happy to report we all passed and Russell Tree Experts is 100% Drug and Alcohol FREE!!

Shari Russell
Member, Co-Owner
Russell Tree Experts

The Importance of Green Leaves

Chlorosis in a River Birch causing a die-back in the canopy. ©Russell Tree Experts

I have been noticing what I consider to be an unacceptable amount of chlorosis in urban trees around Columbus. In general, chlorosis is the yellowing of plant foliage caused by a lack of chlorophyll. This is a problem because plants depend on chlorophyll to absorb energy from sunlight and to survive.

Several factors can contribute to the development of chlorosis in trees such as nutrient deficiency, drought, poorly drained and compacted soils, girdling roots, graft union incompatibility and mechanical damage to the tree trunk. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on chlorosis caused by nutrient deficiency because I believe it’s the most prevalent and most often mismanaged. Although any nutrient deficiency could lead to chlorosis in trees, manganese and iron deficiency is what we see most.

Chlorosis in a Red Maple. ©Russell Tree Experts

Chlorosis in a Pin Oak. ©Russell Tree Experts

It is important to understand that the availability of nutrients from the soil can vary with soil pH.  For example, even though there may be an adequate amount of manganese for a certain tree in the soil, the soil pH can cause the manganese to be inaccessible by the tree. Most urban soils in central Ohio are alkaline. (A quick review for those of you who fell asleep in biology, the soil’s pH is an indicator of soil acidity or alkalinity. On a scale of 1-14, 7.0 is neutral, below 7.0 the pH is acidic, above 7.0 the pH is alkaline. Nutrients are most available to trees when the soil pH is between 5.0 and 6.5. Because most of our urban soils have a pH of around 7, we find ourselves dealing with chlorosis.

Initially, chlorosis expresses itself in the canopy of trees by the yellowing of foliage with a network of green veins.  As the chlorosis progresses, leaves become a paler yellow and develop brown necrotic lesions. Leaf margins will eventually brown completely and leaves will dry up and fall off.   Over time this results in poor vigor, reduced twig extension, poor density of canopy, dieback and eventual tree death.

The easiest way to manage chlorosis is to prevent it by planting urban tolerant trees that are tolerant of high pH soils. Although most trees species have the potential to develop chlorosis, the most common trees affected by high pH soils in central Ohio are Pin oak, Red maple, River birch, Shingle Oak, Red Oak, Sweetgum, White pine, and Canadian Hemlock. If you notice yellow leaves on your trees (and it is not time for Fall color) it is important to take action for long-term preservation. 

Russell Tree Experts Tree Wellness Technician Collecting a Soil Sample. ©Russell Tree Experts

The first step is to have a soil and plant tissue test performed. This is the only way to know which nutrients are lacking in your trees and soil. Any attempt at correcting chlorosis without the information from these tests is guesswork and treatment without proper diagnosis is malpractice. We can have these tests performed for you,  interpret the results, and determine the best management for your tree(s).

Just another way Russell Tree Experts is keeping Ohio green!

TJ Nagel
ISA CERTFIED ARBORIST® OH-6298A