Remember the pre-Christmas freeze? What about the extremely long fall? The Midwest experienced above-average temperatures through most of the winter, but those extremely cold temps in late December made for more than a few pipes to freeze in the southern part of the Midwest. The dichotomy in weather patterns over the last several years has[Read More…]
Resources for landscapes and gardens in the Midwest
Landscape Report
tree care
When transplanting trees, it is important to consider the long-term viability. Since the typical life span of an urban tree is 7-20 years (USDA), proper establishment techniques are very important to decrease this mortality rate. When a tree becomes established, it is much more difficult to correct below ground problems. Root deformations can occur for[Read More…]
We receive a lot of ailing conifers at the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory each year. We received 870 ornamental plant samples in 2020 and 190 (21.8%) of them were conifers. While arborvitaes (Thuja spp.) do not beat out spruce in the number of samples we receive in a given year, they make up 20% of our conifer samples (39 in total[Read More…]
Finally, spring has sprung and summer is on its way. The hot days and warm nights are welcome for us, but summer isn’t always so kind to our trees, especially in our urban forest and landscapes. Trees are dynamic living organisms that respond to external stimuli in very strategic ways and each season presents its[Read More…]
There are many age-old, philosophical questions that people have been arguing over for many years. What is the meaning of life? Nature or nurture? Do aliens exist? Should I remove the wire and burlap from B&B plant material? The last question has been debated for many years, with almost everyone having a different opinion. There[Read More…]
Pruning is an important maintenance practice on trees that is discussed a great deal. An essential part of making the pruning cut properly is the ability to identify the parts of a branch. Identification of the branch bark ridge and branch collar are vital to severing the branch in a place that facilitates fast and[Read More…]
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