Tree Loving Care

Information may not be reliable

Dear Friends and Fellow Tree Lovers
Tree Loving Care appreciates the many blessings that the year has brought. It has been a very busy summer. The abundant rain the last of June and first half of July has been very beneficial to trees, although pecans have such an abundant crop that we are dealing with an unusual amount of limbs breaking under the sheer weight of the crop. The 9-13 inches received during those 3 weeks flushed much of the salts out of the top of the soil profile. Bradford Pears and some of the more commonly chlorotic trees have flourished.
It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. We will be sending decorating proposals out to re-install lights and decorations to our existing clients very soon.
Read the full article in our newsletter [pdf]

Fall is my favorite time of year. Warm days, cool nights and the knowledge that tree are beginning to prepare to go to bed and rest for the winter. And we can sell some of the litter that we spent the spring and summer hauling off back to you. WHAT A DEAL. Actually, we do have a little more firewood to sell this year than normal, but we will sell out before Christmas.

Most damaging insects that we deal with have done most, if not all of the damage that they will do for the year. Controlling most insect problems is more about timing than what chemical or organic technique or product you use. With many insects and diseases, you may have only a very small window of opportunity.

Chinkapin Oak, Quercus muehlenbergii, prefers deep soils and is found in a broad swath of central Texas and in small isolated areas of the Trans-Pecos and in Post Oak Savannahs in Northeast Texas.

The abundant rain earlier in the year was wonderful,but the rain since then has been pretty spotty. If you dont get rain for 3 weeks, you should probably water. New trees that arent yet established should be watered twice per week except for the scheduled watering that does get a half inch or more of rain. That doesnt mean that if you get a 2 inch rain,that you can go another 2 weeks. Remember, that is ONLY if your trees and shrubs that are not yet established.

Tree Loving Care has been very blessed and we want to thank each and every one of you. If you have been pleased with our work, please tell others, if not, please tell us so we can correct it. We had very good moisture early in the year and enough since then to keep everything going. In west Texas, you cant ask for a lot more than that. The early rains have flushed out some of the salts that we tend to accumulate from our irrigation water. In most cases, not enough to completely solve soil problems, but it does help.

James Tuttle and Anthony Rivera went to the Tx Tree Climbing Championship in Plano last month. James was head judge and Anthony was a ground technician on the Aerial Rescue event. It was Anthonys 4th competition and James 18th.

Oak Wilt seems to be attacking more trees than usually this year. Perhaps it has some to do with having a little more rainfall the last couple of years and a resultant increase in root growth. We even have an outbreak of an Oak Wilt center that seems to have been dormant for 15 years.

Southwest White Pine (Pinus strobiformis), which was grouped in with Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) for many years, grows in the Davis Mountains and the Guadalupe Mountains of far SW Texas. It is a tall graceful tree. It is hard to find in nurseries, but well worth is if you can find it. I know that a local entomologist was growing some several years ago at their place in NM. It is quite drought tolerant and should do very well for us in most of the western half of Texas.

The old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure certainly applies to trees and the damage that can be caused by spring and summer thunderstorms. Split trees, broken limbs and lightning strikes can devastate a tree and once it happens, it is difficult to impossible to correct. Narrow crotches need to be cabled and/or braced. Heavy limbs may need to be lightened and lightning rods may need to be installed in high value trees. If you have these potential tree problems, please call the office at 785-TREE to set up an appointment with one of our Certified Arborists to assess the situation and prescribe a solution.

The ice storm in late January was devastating to many trees. Live Oak and Siberian Elm seem to have been the hardest hit. Live Oaks, because of being evergreen and having all that leaf surface to catch ice, and elm, because they are so brittle. Still, most breakage was at defects. Again, it shows the importance of proper training when a tree is small. We appreciate everyones patience. We were crushed by the onslaught of emergency work.

First, something that IS NOT a critter or crud is Live Oak leaves falling. This really began in earnest the second week of March and will continue for a month. This is completely normal. This is fall for Live Oaks.
Elms are just beginning to flower and will be in full leaf within a month. Elm Leaf Beetle has been a huge problem for the last several years. Apply a systemic insecticide now so it has time to translocate throughout the tree in time to control this insect.

Western Soapberry, Sapindus drummondi , is native to most areas of Texas, including just off the caprock in all directions. It is a medium size tree, with very little insect and disease problems and very well adapted to our soils. Once established, it should almost never need supplemental irrigation. This tree isnt widely available, but Toms Tree Place does have some nice ones in their growing grounds.

Many people are saying rain, rain go away but the moisture this winter and spring has been wonderful for your trees and all of the plants in your landscape. Many of our problems in managing the landscape is because of the need for supplemental watering which must be done with ground water. This water has many dissolved minerals, which creates great imbalances in the soil. TLC applies gypsum and other materials to help this problem, but nothing beats Mother Nature. This rain will flush out many of these minerals. The abundant rains will also build a great reserve of deep soil moisture. That doesnt mean you wont need to water at all, just not for a while. Our soils will hold an inch or more of moisture and plants generally need about that.