Fall Tree Care Tips
As the winter approaches, most people look to the ground to prepare their yards for the winter, but miss out on the trees that are overhead! Preparing your trees for the upcoming winter can reduce the likelihood of problems occurring in winter and the following spring. So here are some things you can do to help prepare your trees for the upcoming season: 1. Make sure you have a good layer (not more than 2″) of mulch or woodchips around the base of the trees to help the rootzone of the trees during the winter. For more info on proper mulching, click here. 2. Examine the canopy of the […]
Choosing Trees for Landscape Value
Choosing Trees to Add Value to Your Landscape. Adding trees to your yard is a surefire way to increase the value of your property. The USDA Forest Service reports that, “Healthy, mature trees add an average of 10 percent to a property’s value.” And, “Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent.” – Management Information Services/ICMA. To make sure you get the best value, you will want to plant trees that are of good quality, that will be appealing to look at, or that will give you the best energy value. So what do you plant to make sure you’re adding value to your home? That will depend on […]
Tree Care Tips for Selling Your Home
Tree Care When Selling Your Home Selling your home can be very stressful. However, with a few tips on making your home more appealing, you can increase your chances for a sale exponentially! While there are many tips being offered to make your house feel more like a home, and dressing up your house for appeal, we will be focusing on what you can do to the trees around your home to make it look more inviting. The trees around your home can play a very big part in your home’s sale. According to the Management Information Services/ICMA, ‘Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent.’ By looking […]
Adding Woodchips to your Landscape
In the tree care industry, companies are left with a very large amount of green waste known as Woodchips. These woodchips are composed of chipped branches from trees that have been pruned or removed. Some loads of woodchips will have leaves in them depending on what time of year the trees have been pruned or removed, or whether the tree was dead or not. Most people opt for a high quality, triple-processed Mulch for most primary and prominant landscape areas of their homes, for aesthetic purposes. This Mulch is much more even colored, has a softer texture, and gives the look of a more manicured appearance in […]
Best Trees and Shrubs for Wildlife
Is there anything more relaxing than sitting outside listening to birds sing, watching butterflies as they float from one flower to the next gathering nectar, or seeing squirrels and chipmunks chase one another through your landscaping? This is one of the joys we experience here at the Nelson abode, and our goal is to incorporate as many pieces of landscaping that attract more wildlife to our yard as we can. We were so excited to actually find Cedar Wax Wings in our Junipers last year, and brought in some Service Berry bushes to feed them in the fall- it worked!! When designing your next landscaping project, why not […]
Early Spring Garden Projects
The snow is finally melting, the days are longer, and the temps are finally warm enough to get out in the yard and begin clean up after what seemed like an eternity of Winter! Woo-Hoo! Before you head out into your yard, be sure to check out EarthEasy.com’s page to get the lowdown on what you can and should be doing for your landscaping in the early Spring. With a little work in your garden now, you will enjoy the benefits all season long. GARDEN PROJECTS FOR EARLY SPRING If you need any help with any of your tree care projects, make sure you give us a call to schedule […]
Firewood Rating Table
The Utah State University extension has listed a table online with firewood ratings and wood quality that is helpful in determining the value of wood that you burn. Below is the table from their website: Species Weight (lbs./Cord) Heat per Cord (Million BTUs) % of Green Ash Ease of Splitting Smoke Sparks Coals Fragrance Overall Quality Green Dry Apple 4850 3888 27.0 135 Medium Low Few Good Excellent Excellent Ash, Green 4184 2880 20.0 100 Easy Low Few Good Slight Excellent Alder 2540 17.5 Easy Moderate Good Slight Ash, White 3952 3472 24.2 121 Medium Low Few Good Slight Excellent Aspen, Quaking 2160 18.2 Easy Few Good Slight Basswood (Linden) 4404 […]
Proper Use of your Fireplace
While it’s a little late in the season to properly prepare your fireplace before initial use, it’s never too late to learn how to properly care for your fireplace! Properly maintained fireplaces are safer, more efficient, and can add to the beauty of your fire. Click the following link to visit the University of Illinois’ site to learn how to USE YOUR FIREPLACE SAFELY If you need firewood, give us a call at 815-678-4108! For a listing of firewood ratings please visit the following page: http://www.nelsontreecare.com/?p=419
Poison Hemlock
Among Northeastern Illinois’ weed list is a very dangerous plant called ‘Poison Hemlock’ (Conium maculatum) and should be removed very carefully from your landscaping promptly! (Image from www.illinoiswildflowers.org.) On this plant of the carrot family, you will notice that the flowers have 5 petals on each set. The typical cluster is roughly 2-2.5″ across distinguishing it from Queen Anne’s Lace. Also, Queen Anne’s lace has one red floret in the center of its flower cluster, poison hemlock does not (as seen above.) (Image from phytophactor.fieldofscience.com.) You will notice that the leaves of the Poison Hemlock plant look similar to the carrot. The smooth stem is stout, has a ridged appearance and […]
The Things We Encounter!
Today was supposed to be a routine tree removal for us. Unfortunately, during the course of the removal we came upon a raccoon’s nest that had babies in it! YIKES! Can you say Angry Mother Raccoon? So what do we do when we encounter a tree with a Squirrel’s Nest or Raccoon’s Nest in it? We do the ethical thing: we safely remove the nest to a box with the mother in sight so that she knows where the babies are and can transport them to a new nest once the coast is clear. We also call Animal Control promptly so that they are aware of the situation, and if […]
