Fire Blight in Your Landscape
Fire blight creates different types of symptoms, depending on the plant part that is attacked and when the plant is attacked. Blossom blight: Shoot blight: Photo: Patrick Anderson, Rainbow Ecoscience Trees At Risk Plants in the rosaceous family including Biology Information taken from TreeCareScience.com If you suspect your trees have Fire Blight, Contact Us today to schedule your evaluation. Treatments start in early Spring. References University of Georgia Extensionhttps://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C871&title=Fireblight:%20Symptoms,%20Causes,%20and%20Treatment Fire Blight of Apple and Pear
Treat Your Trees Now for Eastern Tent Caterpillar
Eastern Tent Caterpillars have a significant impact on the trees they infest.
10 Ways to Show Your Trees Love
10 Ways to Show Your Trees Love- A Valentine’s Day Tribute Valentine’s Day is always a wonderful day to think of loved ones (of course, every day is a good day for that!) But how about thinking about what else brings us joy and comfort around our homes? In particular, how about showing our trees some love today? After all, they do add value to our homes- they add an aesthetic beauty to our surroundings, they clean the air around our homes and our earth, they provide homes for wildlife, they provide shade during hot days, and they are sometimes a wind break during cold winters. So, WHAT, you’re thinking, […]
Effects of Drought on Your Trees
Here in Northern Illinois, we have been experiencing crazy weather over the last decade. Between having little rain one year to an abundance the next year, then having extreme winters of heavy snow or subfreezing temperatures, it is a wonder our trees are still standing! The reason for speaking about the topic of drought is because we are seeing a lot of tell tale signs of the impact of drought in our area, and want to share it with our customers. Our customers usually notice their tree is lacking water when the leaves start to wilt, dry out, or fall off. Most people are under the assumption that trees have deep […]
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 […]
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 […]
Why do I need Plant Health Care?
Why do I need Plant Health Care? Most homeowners don’t think about their trees until it’s too late. At this time, they call us out to give them an estimate on removing their tree. This could have been avoided if action was taken prior to the tree dying or becoming so hazardous that it needs to come down. A Plant Health Care program is for trees similar to a Health Care Program for people. It is a program that is set up between you and your Arborist to help keep your trees healthy or treating them for a particular problem. The goal is to enhance their functionality and beauty in […]
