Alright, I lied. Last time I said I would give you more smaller shade trees. That will have to wait a week. Instead of continuing with my theme from my last post, I am going to talk about spring Mugo pine care tasks to keep it looking nice and staying compact. I am changing subjects, because now is the time to do this in a lot of areas. First step in Mugo pine care The first thing you should do is to assess your mugo pine's current condition. There are three areas your should consider. They … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2013
Four Smaller Shade Trees for your Garden Sanctuary
Last post, I talked about how it may be time to reconsider the use of one large shade tree in our smaller residential yards. Since exotic pests and diseases are threatening our long lived trees, we should consider using multiple smaller shade trees from different plant families to reduce our risk of having a new pest eliminate all the shade in our yards. … [Read more...]
It’s time to rethink the idea of having one big shade tree
There is no denying the joy of getting out of the August sun by escaping to the cool shade of a mature shade tree. Whether it is a maple or oak, there is no denying it's benefit in the summer. Not only does the shade they cast cool us, the trees actually cool the air around them. The air around a large shade tree is 2-9 degrees cooler in the summer than if the tree was not there. This does not even consider that temperatures of surfaces can be 20-45 degrees F cooler than if they are not … [Read more...]
Tree planting mistakes to avoid and save time
"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." - Peter F. Drucker Last time, I gave some suggestions on how to pick out decent trees at the nursery. In that article, I also gave a suggestion or two on how to properly plant those trees. Today, I going to suggest you skip some tree planting mistakes that are sometimes recommended. … [Read more...]