MENUThe calendar said April and that should have been the first full month of spring. Here in Western New York, though, it seems that Ole Man Winter didn’t look at the calendar. We had cold days and enough snow that Rochester rose to the top of the Upstate New York cities that vie for the dubious snowfall championship. Well, it’s a new month and we can expect it to be spring like. As you venture outside to begin gardening or landscape maintenance, may I suggest that you begin with spring clean-up?
I doubt if you could get away without doing spring cleaning inside, so why not clean the outside, too? After all, more people see the outside of your home than the inside. To make the job easier, here’s a checklist to help you get started:
• Pick Up Litter. Begin your clean up by walking your property, picking up debris that has accumulated. You’re sure
to find twigs, paper and other trash that blew into your yard. It may be on the ground, under shrubs or even caught on branches. While doing this, note other items that need your attention.
• Rake Up Leaves. If you missed any leaves last fall or if they blew into your yard during the winter, they should be raked up and thrown on the compost heap. This is especially important if the leaves are matted on the lawn. They could be trapping moisture and drowning the grass.
• Mulch. When there’s no more chance of a hard frost, rake the mulch to the edge of your beds and let the soil dry. If you added mulch for the winter, it’s time to remove it for the summer. If you lost a lot to decomposition, add enough to bring it up to 3 inches.
• Trim. Pull out dead annuals, trim back dead branches on perennials and cut ornamental grasses back to a level just above the ground so they can grow new grass.
• Repair. If your hardscape suffered winter damage, now’s a good time to repair it. This includes walks and patios, fences and furniture. At least, hose them off to get rid of winter grime.
• Repair or replace damaged plants. Try re-standing any small, toppled trees. If that doesn’t work, replant them. If all else fails, consider replacing them. This doesn’t include large trees. Leave them to our professional arborists.
This checklist is just a starting point. As you get into the project you will, no doubt, find more things that have to be done. Add them to the list. But if you want a nice clean yard without lifting a finger, we have well trained, experienced landscape technicians who would be happy to do the job for you at a reasonable price.
Any experienced farmer or gardener in western or central New York knows that Memorial Day is the time to plant. I’m sure that’s why the folks in Waterloo, who began the tradition that turned into the holiday, picked the end of May to put flowers on the graves of Civil War veterans.
We can plant early some years and get away with it but I hope you didn’t try it this year. The last hard frost was less than a week ago. Meteorologists are assuring us that those were the last of the season, so planting on Memorial Day this Monday should pose no problem.
This Memorial Day will be like no other. Most of the parades and other public ceremonies have been canceled. So a day of beautifying your yard would be an appropriate family activity before topping the three day weekend off with a cook-out.
Garden stores are among the businesses that are now open so you can shop for plants. Just remember to wear a mask and practice social distancing. If you still aren’t ready to go to stores yet, check with your favorite garden centers to see if you can order by phone or online for curbside pick-up.
You can get a lot planted in the three day weekend if you work together, even while observing social distancing. One person can plant flowers while another plants veggies. You can do this in the same bed and still maintain the proper social distance.
Mark out your bed on paper before you go to the garden center. You’ll then know how many of each plant to buy and exactly where they’ll go in the garden. Make one planter responsible for flowers and the other for veggies. Each starts at opposite ends and works toward the center. As you close the gap at the center, one of you can take a water break until the other is finished. Then switch and finish the bed.
I mention mixing flowers and edibles in the same bed because it’s a new movement. As long as we’re all doing things differently these days, why not give it a try? And what are the kids doing while you are planting beds? Buy extra plants and they can plant them in containers. Maybe you could hold a friendly competition to see who can design and plant the most creative container garden.
All in all, that sounds like a great way to spend quality family time in this year of challenges and restrictions. As for the results – the holiday was originally called Decoration Day. This year you can use the occasion to decorate your yard.
Spring is the best time to protect your valuable, majestic ash trees from the insidious emerald ash borer (EAB). It’s this invasive pest that’s to blame for all the dead and dying ash trees that we see around town. If you have an ash tree, it’s a sure bet that it will become a target for the EAB sooner or later.
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Here is an example of the damage caused by the Emerald Ash Borer.[/caption]
In May, the adult borers emerge from pupation inside the tree and begin eating the leaves while looking for a mate. With the courtship successful by the end of the month, females will deposit their eggs in indentations they make in the bark. As soon as the larvae hatch, they start boring their way into the interior of the tree, where they carry out their destructive task for nearly a year.
We are starting our spring treatment with a very effective product called TreeAge. The application requires special training and equipment to place the product
into the tree trunk. Consequently, it can only be applied by a state licensed/certified pesticide applicator. TreeAge is placed directly into the tree’s vascular system where it can be carried to where the EAB larvae are feeding. The borers are small, weak and more vulnerable in spring. So, spring treatments are more effective.
Trees that have not been attacked yet need to be treated only every two years. Those that have been attacked need to be treated every year. Not all attacked trees can be effectively treated, however. Those in which the EAB has killed more than a third of the tree are not good candidates for treatment.
When advising tree owners on whether or not to treat, we look at the aesthetics as well as the percentage of the tree that’s still alive. EAB destroys trees from the top down so we determine if we can prune the tree so it still has the distinctive ash tree shape or whether it will look like a topped tree no matter what we do. For trees that are completely dead or have more than a third of their crown destroyed by the EAB, we will provide an estimate for our trained, experienced, fully insured arborists to safely remove it.
With eight NYS Certified Pesticide Applicators and 13 Certified Arborists on staff, we can respond in a very timely fashion.
As the 2020 landscaping/gardening season gets into full swing, I want to remind you that Birchcrest had been deemed an essential business throughout this pandemic and remains open for business. All services are being performed and our service personnel are in full compliance with CDC guidelines as well as state and local regulations.
Because our maintenance departments were deemed essential, the tree, Plant Health Care (PHC) and lawn care departments never closed. Our designers continued to work at home and now our landscape construction department is back to work.
All of our employees are wearing masks and practicing social distancing when they are with other people. Wearing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is second nature to our maintenance staff. Our tree and PHC professionals wear special PPE to protect them when working in trees or applying material to protect plants.
If you’re planning a “staycation” this year, you may want to update your landscape with a new or expanded patio, deck and fresh plantings. Our landscape designers can meet with you, in person, or meet with you virtually for input, and to present their designs before we begin construction.
We’re all staying home more these days, and staying home is more pleasant in a new, fresh environment.
In the midst of today’s scary health crisis, there is gardening and landscaping, which reconnect people with the Earth and provide a wide range of benefits, both physical and mental/emotional. The emotional or mental aspect benefits involve relaxation, communing with nature, working off stress and focusing on creating beauty. The physical work of gardening builds strength and fitness, and burns off or reduces stress as well.
Giving your landscaping or gardening tools a good checking, cleaning, sharpening and lubricating will get you in the “spirit of the season” and ready to spring into action as soon as the weather lives up to the calendar.
We hope all of our readers, suppliers and customers are safe and healthy, and offer these tips for getting your gardening tools ready for spring so we can all enjoy the benefits of a beautiful home or business environment.
Sharpen
A dull blade is a bad blade. Not only will it do a lousy job of cutting back plants and branches, but it could cause injury. It might not cut you as deeply and dangerously as a sharper blade, but the extra amount of pressure you would need to exert could cause muscle strain and even a dull blade can still cause wounds to hands and limbs.
Take a good (but careful — we don’t want any injuries) look at any of your tools with blades, from pruning knives to lawnmowers. If their edges aren’t as sharp as possible, prepare them for spring use by sharpening them. Replace any removable blades, or entire tools, that are too far gone to be sharpened safely or effectively.
Lubricate
Many landscaping tools require lubrication to work their best and prevent injury to the user or the garden. This is the time to give everything a good dose of elbow grease and real grease or oil, so every tool runs or moves smoothly and functions at its best.
Check with our landscape professional or a garden center for the best product to use on various tools. WD-40 is the go-to lubricant for many of us, and it’s often already in your toolshed, but other products might be better for different items.
Look for signs of rust, which can often be polished away while leaving some tools still usable.
Don’t forget to check four-cycle tools or equipment like lawn mowers, which are likely to need oil changes before you crank them up and put them to work in your spring landscape.
Be sure to do this work in an open or well-ventilated space, especially if you use any spray products. Especially at this time, with an international health crisis underway, a respiratory condition or attack caused by inhaling a lubricant is the last thing any of us needs.
Trade old for new
Ergonomic tools are relatively new to the world of landscaping and gardening, but there are a lot of them and they are well worth investing in. Your old tools might be in great condition and still usable, but they might be contributing to backaches, muscle pain, poor posture and related reactions to using things that were designed for productivity or specific functions, but not for health and fitness.
Many of today’s gardening tools have been “retooled” to be easier and safer to use for your wrists, shoulders, back, knees and legs. Older gardeners are especially prone to such problems, and experiencing them could make you avoid the landscaping work you’ve always loved doing.
You can find pruners with rotating handles, weeders with grips made of natural materials, padded kneelers, long-lasting “bionic” gloves, handle extenders, shovels designed specifically for women, wheeled garden caddies, extended and telescoping tools, lightweight bulb planters … the options appear endless. Your landscape contractor, garden center or favorite gardening magazines can provide product names and sources, as well as tips for doing gardening chores in ways that are ergonomically correct.
Welcome to spring, and our hopes for a safe and successful season.
We are living in scary times, and landscapers are affected, even if not as deeply as some other industries or individuals. Nature is oblivious to the current medical crisis affecting daily life all around the country — spring has sprung and your landscape or garden has needs that won’t wait until the coronavirus is contained and life goes back to normal.
Like many businesses, some landscapers will have to reduce their workforces or even close their doors while efforts are made to control the coronavirus. In response, members of our industry are petitioning state governments to be designated as essential so our employees can continue to work and provide services to our customers. Colleagues who are sole owners/operators of landscape businesses are exempt and may stay open, at least for now. While landscaping might not be quite as vital as medicine, safety and security, the media, and a few other services, we do feel we are important to the health and daily life of both our customers and your landscapes.
Some states and smaller jurisdictions have already included landscaping as an essential service so such businesses can keep going despite stay-at-home orders and similar restrictions. New York State guidelines for businesses can be found here: https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026
Birchcrest Tree and Landscape will stay open and continue serving our customers as long and as much as possible. One way that landscaping businesses are staying in business is by offering curbside pickup of plants and supplies, along with online sales and local deliveries. We are still performing tree work and landscape care while following CDC protocols. Please be assured that our employees are taking every precaution to stay healthy and protect the health of our customers. Check back here to see how we can keep your garden going and growing despite this scary time.
In the meantime, we encourage you to continue taking physical, mental and emotional comfort in tending your garden or landscape. Some things never change, and the value of interacting with the Earth and its bounty is one of them. Working in the garden is great exercise for both body and soul. If you have to tackle some landscaping tasks on your own, so be it; we should be able to help in case you need to redo or undo anything that happens now.
We wish everyone the best of luck and health as we all learn to cope with the challenges of the coronavirus and its impact on our daily lives — and livelihoods.
As we approach the halfway point of winter and encounter some warmer-than-usual weather, you might start thinking about getting back out in the yard. But I warn you, the ground is most likely still a bit too soft to walk on, much less work on, not to mention that the return of snow is inevitable, which suggests holding off for a little longer. However, now might be a good time to take inventory. By this, I mean taking a look around your landscape to see if it’s still “doing it” for you. Do you feel the same excitement you did when you first saw it? If not, a good use of this time and your desire to work in the yard is to start putting a plan together for when spring finally arrives for good.
If you’re looking for a source of ideas, we have a great one for you — in fact, it looks like it has you in mind: “Passport to Spring,” this year’s GardenScape, right around the corner from March 12–15 at the Dome Center in Rochester (check it out at https://rochesterflowershow.com/). Several hundred exhibitors will present new products, creative treatments, expert advice, seminars and much more at this event. It’s a great opportunity to find ways to express yourself through your landscape.
Even though your plants are not in bloom yet, you can still assess other aspects of your landscape to determine if it is time to update. For instance, is the edging around the beds cracked, broken or faded? What condition are the walkways and patio in? Is the deck rotting or are screws popping up, and is it still large enough to accommodate the entertaining you do? Do you have enough lighting around your yard to navigate your property safely and illuminate the features you like most about your home and landscaping? Are there any gaps or overgrown areas?
Beyond these aspects, now is a great time to start thinking about new plants to add to your landscape. This might be the year that you bring in new colors and arrangements that enhance your property — and raise your spirits!
If you have questions about what to consider doing for your landscape as spring approaches, let’s talk. Many homeowners around the Rochester area work with our design team to bring a fresh perspective to their gardens and overall landscaping. If you’re ready to “spring into spring,” we recommend contacting us to ask an arborist to inspect your landscape and make suggestions for ways to brighten it up. Our arborists can also let you know which GardenScape ideas will work in your landscape
You probably thought you were done with tests once you finished school, but nooo — lawns, gardens and other landscaping areas need soil tests every so often! Luckily, these are easily managed projects with important benefits for the long-term health, vigor, growth and beauty of your landscape.
The why of it
Soil in any landscape, whether it’s a small flower garden or a huge commercial property, can develop a wide range of issues. Either naturally because of your setting or region, or over time due to changing weather conditions, new plantings, fertilizer use, pesticide use, chemical runoff from neighboring properties, organic matter breaking down, etc., the soil in your landscape can lack nutrients that trees, shrubs and flowers need to thrive and look their best. It takes a professional soil test to know if your plants need more or different types of nutrients.
What to look for
The soil in your landscape or garden has to provide a certain level of nutrients and quality for everything living in it to do well. That means an ideal pH — a balance of acidic and alkaline levels in the soil leading to a neutral environment. If the soil in your landscape has issues, your plants will let you know. You might see browning or dying leaves, stunted growth, wilting, foliage turning yellow, and other symptoms of soil that is too acidic.
How it works
Soil testing is pretty straightforward. Our landscape professional will take samples to measure the pH level in
various locations throughout your landscape — how acidic or alkaline the soil might be.
While garden and home centers do offer a wide range of tools for doing this yourself, the results will depend on how well the soil sample is taken and assessed, so you might want to use a professional for this process. Even if you perform a soil test on your own, it’s smart to turn to the pros for your next steps.
If the soil in your landscape is too acidic or alkaline, don’t despair: Our landscape professionals can help with remediation. We will look for the ideal soil quality for your area and plantings. With that information in hand, it might be suggested that new planting choices that will be happier in your soil environment should be considered. But often we provide advice about ways to improve the soil quality so your existing plants can thrive as well as performing the treatment.
Passing the test
Once the soil testing is done, you can sit back and let your garden grow. Enjoy knowing that your landscape is healthy and ready to carry you through the next few seasons with your mind at peace.
As the weather improves, your green thumb may start getting itchy. The weather may not be good enough to do any planting or bed preparation yet but there are some things you can do that will get you out of the house and into the yard.On a nice day with no snow, may I suggest that you walk your yard looking for weeds, and pull them. Weeds are dormant now but many come back to life and begin growing before your lawn does. This means that the weeds have a head start on the grass and can begin crowding it out.
While the weeds you see have a head start, there are more weed seeds lurking just under the soil surface waiting for the soil to warm up. Unless you applied pre-emergent weed killer last fall, these will germinate as soon as the thermometer reaches the right temperature.Pulling dormant weeds in your lawn and planting beds now will keep you ahead in the annual war on weeds. Instead of being overwhelmed with both the dormant weeds and freshly germinated seeds, you’ll only have to worry about the newly germinated seeds once the busy growing season starts.While checking for weeds, it would be wise to also check the mulch in your planting beds. If it has settled to less than 3 inches, you might want to fluff it up. If it’s doesn’t return to at least 3 inches, getting more mulch and spreading it on a snow-free weekend will protect your plant roots and discourage weed germination. If it fluffs up to 4 inches or more, remember to remove the excess in the spring so you only have 2 or 3 inches.During your walk of the property, take a garbage bag and pick up any trash that has blown into your yard over the winter. You may be shocked to see how much you collect. It’s surprising to see how much stuff is under the snow. Collecting this trash during your winter walk(s) speeds clean up when it’s spring cleaning time.Doing these little tasks as you limber your green thumb during the winter means that you can get right to the good stuff – caring for your lawn and landscape – when spring actually arrives.
Plants aren’t the only part of a landscape that needs ongoing maintenance. Hardscapes can also suffer wear and tear at the hands of Mother Nature. Since most hardscape items are put away or covered up for the winter, they are out of sight, out of mind until you open them up for the season, only to find that you have to take precious fair weather time to make repairs.Take a tip from the professionals and use winter wisely to do needed maintenance so you can get a running start in spring as soon as the last frost melts. Sure, it’s only the middle of February but that famous rodent didn’t see his shadow, which means spring could come early. If the weather runs true to form, we’ll start seeing more good days than bad. Not enough to go out and buy new flowering plants but enough for you to start preparing your non-growing items.
Removable fabric furniture covers like cushion or pillow coverings should be removed in the fall, regardless of whether you store the furniture inside or outside. These fabrics should be laundered sometime during the winter. After a season outside, they are sure to have picked up dust and dirt, and if they’ve gotten wet, they may have mold or mildew that needs to be taken care of.The best way to begin your hardscape maintenance is to make a plan. Jot down all the hardscape maintenance tasks that await you. Then prioritize them. Which ones can you do in the garage or shed? Which need good weather because they have to be done outside?Jobs that can be done in the garage or shed may include cleaning and servicing the gas grill. Painting, upholstering or repairing furniture may also be done inside. This should be work for rainy or snowy weekends. Save the outside jobs like masonry repairs or fixing the water feature for better weather. By gathering all the material and tools you’ll need before starting any project, you can decide on each weekend’s work at the last minute. If something has to dry or cure, be sure to check the weather forecast for the few days following the weekend to be sure you have enough time.If your patio pavers need leveling, try to hold that off until March or even early April when you’re pretty confident that the frost threat has passed., Heaving caused by frost may be one of the reasons why the patio needs leveling.All during the winter, it’s a good idea to keep your deck or patio free of ice and snow. This can reduce the need for repairs. Minor snowfalls are best removed with a broom, rather than a shovel. For heavier snowfalls in which shoveling is needed, use a plastic, rather than metal, shovel. This will reduce the chance of scratching the deck or patio surface.Avoid chemical deicers like salt that can leave stains and pit the surface. If you really need to melt ice, try cat litter. It’s much less abrasive.
People will place plants anywhere they’ll grow. First containers gained popularity. Then raised beds became all the rage. Today, it’s vertical gardens.Vertical gardens aren’t new. Several decades ago, a local company manufactured modular, plastic vertical gardens that they marketed to grow food in areas like deserts that are difficult to farm. The Longwood Gardens green wall, pictured in my January 1 post, was built in 2010. The vertical garden photo shown here was taken at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in 2012.
Vertical gardens and green walls are becoming trendy now because more people are opting for smaller properties, which means they need planting beds with smaller footprints. So, they are doing the same with gardens as develop[ers have done with buildings. When there’s no more ground to build on, they start building upward.Vertical gardens aren’t limited to space-challenged folks. Some are accents in larger landscapes. Others are used instead of hedges or other plants to define spaces within a landscape. Still others are being installed just to be trendy.There are a number of ways that plants can be held in place in vertical gardens. If interested, make mounting systems part of your research when designing a vertical garden. Keep in mind that they are containerized plants so they’ll need the same special attention as traditional containerized plants. Most notably, they’ll likely have to be watered more often than in-ground plants. However, there are a number of self watering systems available. I’ve seen one that waters plants at the top and lets the water drip down, watering the lower plants as it drops. Any water that makes it all the way to the bottom is collected and recycled.Overwintering is another consideration you’ll have to deal with. When buying plants, discuss overwintering with a horticulturist at your garden center. They may recommend perennials that are hardy to a zone or two colder than where you live. Or, you can plant annuals and throw them on the compost pile in the winter. Then replant in the spring.If you are interested in joining the vertical garden evolution, you have a number of ways to do it. You can go to a home store to buy the frame and mounting material and to your local garden center to buy the plants and build your vertical garden from scratch. Garden centers also sell kits so you can go the “some assembly required” route. If you just want to enjoy the beauty of a vertical garden in your landscape, our designers can design one to compliment your current landscape or integrate it into a new or renovated landscape. And our installation professionals can handle all the fabrication details.Vertical gardens aren’t limited to the outside. They are also available for indoor use. Some are mounted on the wall instead of art or photos. Other configurations make nice room dividers. Indoor vertical gardens are also available in kit form.
Shrubs can take a beating in winter. The wind can break branches. Snow piled on top of them can bend branches over, even to the ground. Overly saturated soil can cause the whole shrub to lean while frequent freeze/thaw cycles can cause them to come right out of the ground. Evergreen shrubs may have brown patches from winter burn.The time to make some repairs is as soon after the damage occurs and weather permits. Others should be held off until spring. Here is some of the common winter damage to shrubs and repairs that can be made:• Snow bends shrub branches. Resist the temptation to knock the snow off. This can cause them to spring back
and could result in internal cracking. Wait for the snow to melt. Usually, the branches will gradually return to their normal shape. Just be patient. If spring comes and they haven’t returned to their natural shape, you can try tying them together. If that doesn’t work, the sagging branches will have to be removed.• Branches break. Broken branches need to be pruned or removed. When the weather permits, cut the broken branch just above the first live bud or leaf that’s below the break. If the branch is too badly damaged, remove it at the base. DON’T leave stubs. If in doubt whether a branch is alive, lightly scratch the bark. If the next layer is green, it’s alive. If it’s gray, it’s dead.• Brown patches appear on needled evergreens and leaves wilt on broadleaf evergreens. These indicate winter burn due to desiccation (drying out). The wind blew water given off through the leaves/needles before the shrub could reabsorb it and reuse it in photosynthesis. The first day above 40 degrees, spray your evergreens with antidesiccant to reduce the chance of further winter burn. Broadleaf evergreens will drop their winter burned leaves and may fill in the area with new leaves. If not, prune the dead foliage and wood. Burned needles won’t regenerate, so the brown areas have to be pruned.• Critter browsing. Branches that deer have chewed on can be pruned back to live buds. Branches low on a shrub that are chewed by rodents may recover on their own in the spring, unless they’ve girdled the branch by chewing all the way around it. In that case, the branch should be removed.• Frost heave. This condition is caused by freezing and thawing of the ground. Shallow rooted shrubs can actually be pushed up out of the ground. Those that aren’t completely out of the ground may be able to be pushed back into place when the ground is thawed. Those that are pushed completely out of the ground or that will not go back in should be replanted when the ground thaws.All of the do-it-yourself information above pertains only to shrubs, although much of the same winter damage applies to trees as well. Repairing trees, however, is too dangerous. The only winter damage repair to trees we recommend is contacting us to request an arborist to inspect your trees and make repair recommendations. Our arborists can also repair your shrubs if you’d rather not do it yourself.
Sustainability has become the mantra for the new decade. However, everyone seems to have their own definition of sustainability. As with any such thing, there are extremes and most of us fall right in the middle.Here are some things you can do to make your landscape more sustainable this spring. None of these suggestions is extreme. They are all done easily and will likely be an aesthetic as well as environmental improvement for your landscape. Each will contribute to your property’s sustainability and reduce your maintenance needs.Plant native plants. As I’ve written before, the strict definition of native plants is next to impossible to apply since we’ve been hybridizing plants and trading seeds with other countries since colonial times. My definition is a plant with its roots in our area that has been planted successfully here for many years. That includes nativars – cultivars[caption id="attachment_1304" align="alignleft" width="262"]
These two river birches we are pruning are native trees. The arbor vitae behind them are also native. Non Native Asian arbor vitae are available in some areas of the country.[/caption]of native plants. (Cultivars are plants bred by horticulturists for specific characteristics) I also use many introduced plants that have been grown here for many years and behave themselves.Native plants attract pollinators, birds and wildlife. Of course, you may not want to attract wildlife. If you plant their favorite food source, they could leave you with a mess. So, that’s a decision you’ll have to make. Attracting pollinators, however, is important, and takes some planning so you have plants that butterflies and beneficial insects need to survive.Native plants also save water, even though we seldom have to irrigate here in Western New York. They should also need less fertilizer and little or no pesticides. That statement doesn’t take into consideration exotic pests that come to our shores from other countries.Reduce your lawn area. This also contributes to sustainability, as well as reducing the time you spend mowing. And when you spend less time mowing, you are using less gas and you spend less time maintaining your lawn. Convert lawn area to planting beds or meadowland, or add a patio or outdoor living area. Less water, fertilizer and pesticide is also good for the environment.Besides reducing your workload, a meadowland will attract wildlife, support pollinators and clean the air. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), running a gas powered mower for an hour emits as much pollution as taking a 20 mile road trip in your car.Implementing these tips takes planning, which you can do at your leisure during the winter downtime. If you would rather have a professional touch, one of our landscape designers can help you to any extent you want. They also have time over the winter to help you define sustainability from their perspective.
Weather conditions control tree growth. They react to temperature and light, and cold temperatures, short days, as well as winter dormancy provide ideal pruning conditions. You could say, if fall is for planting then winter is for pruning.That doesn’t mean going out with your chainsaw and starting to cut just because it’s winter. It means inspecting your trees to determine if they really need pruning. Pruning shouldn’t be guided only by the calendar. It should be guided by the calendar and the tree(s). Arboricultural best practices direct us to prune with a purpose. First, inspect your tree(s) to determine if they…• Have broken, hanging, crossing or rubbing branches.
• Suffer from an insect or disease attack.• Overhang structures.• Block a vista.• Block traffic visibility.• Need thinning.• Need to be reduced in size.If any of these conditions exist, the tree(s) should be pruned. If none of these conditions exist, you’re lucky and don’t need to worry about pruning. If you are on the fence, one of our professional arborists can inspect your trees and make recommendations.If your trees do need pruning, please get any thoughts of doing it yourself out of your mind quickly. There are good reasons why our arborists use personal protective equipment (PPE). Our work is dangerous, even for professionals. It’s even more dangerous for amateurs.Our arborists always wear eye and ear protection. The reason for that is obvious. They also wear helmets because “struck by” (being struck by a falling or swinging limb) is one of the major causes of injury and death in tree care operations. You’ll never see a professional arborist pruning while standing on a ladder. It’s too easy to slip and fall. They always secure themselves in the tree with ropes or work from an aerial bucket.Winter is a good season to prune because, with no leaves, we can see the tree’s skeletal structure, and the cutting wounds will be well calloused (healed) before insects and diseases become active again in spring. Frozen ground will support our heavy equipment and clean-up is easier when we don’t lose leaves as we drag cuttings to the chipper.All the while we are pruning, you can stay in the nice, warm house and watch. And when we’re finished, you’ll be safe and happy and your trees will be safe and happy.
New trends in gardening emerge every year. You might like to try some while others may not appeal to you. The industry authority on current gardening trends is the garden trends report, published each year by the Green Media Group. Published for the last 20 years, this report reflects the things people are doing with their landscapes nationwide. In recent years, it has focused on how social trends influence landscaping.[caption id="attachment_1290" align="alignleft" width="199"]
This great example of a green wall, completed in 2010, is at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.[/caption]This year is no exception. The report notes that half the population lives in cities. That number is expected to rise to 70% by 2050. While we are seeing a return to city living in Rochester, it doesn’t reach the national numbers. Urban living has led to a dramatic interest in houseplants among apartment and condo residents. Young urbanites even call themselves “Plant Parents,” and there is a company by that name that offers plant care services when owners are away.Full scale landscaping of city residential lots can be a creative and fun endeavor. We have some impressive, small space city landscapes here in Rochester but you have to know the owners in order to arrange a tour. If you are considering moving to a home on a small city lot, you should meet with one of our landscape designers during the winter. They have countless creative, small garden design ideas. If you’re looking for more ideas and want to see what’s possible, visit some of the garden shows and tours available throughout western New York. One of my favorite places to learn about these events is gardensbuffaloniagara.com. A visit to Buffalo the last weekend in July for Garden Walk Buffalo will introduce you to creative designs with plants that are appropriate for our hardiness zone. Hundreds of people open their private gardens for this free tour. A considerable number of the most spectacular landscapes are concentrated in several adjacent city neighborhoods. I recommend the cottage district tour, which is comprised almost entirely of small space landscapes.Regardless of where you live, sustainability is expected to be an important consideration. Green walls, edible plants, native plants and good stewardship are being emphasized. The idea of the circular economy promoting repair, renew, reuse and recycle that began several years ago is starting to really take hold. Planned obsolescence and our throw away mindset are giving way to restoration and renewability.Regenerative gardening is a new movement within organic gardening. Its objective is to preserve our precious topsoil and stop the land damaging practices that have already claimed a third of this growing medium. Regenerative practices include the use of compost, planting native plants to attract pollinators and beneficial insects, and regenerating habitat for frogs and other endangered amphibians, If we disregard all these warnings, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warns that our topsoil could all be gone by 2050.Last but not least, the report suggests that fungi may be the saviors of the world. Mushrooms have been found that can eat plastic and then be eaten by humans.Oh yes. What will the color of the year be in 2020? The garden trends report says it will be indigo, so be sure to include plants with blue flowers in your landscape this spring.Happy New Year!
I’ve just finished reading about a trend that leaves me aghast! Robert Hudson Westover, with the USDA Forest Service, wrote a story, entitled “Brown Furniture is the New Green.” In the story, published in the December issue of Tree Care Industry magazine, he describes a trend away from wood furniture by young people. This trend extends to new wood furniture, too.Much of this unwanted heirloom furniture is being burned or ending up in landfills. Besides losing pieces of history, we are also adding to our environmental problems. Wood is a carbon bank. Carbon is the primary ingredient in wood and, while living, trees use the carbon dioxide that we exhale in the process of photosynthesis. As trees grow, they store more and more carbon and they hold it until they are burned or decay. The stored carbon is then released back into the atmosphere, where we don’t need it.
I suspect that much of this aversion to wood is because some people have bought into the misguided myth that cutting down trees – any trees – is a bad thing. The truth is that trees are crops just like grain, fruit and vegetables . They aren’t going to stop eating bread because the whole wheat stalk was cut for the kernels at the top because wheat is a renewable resource. Farmers plant more seed, which yields another crop. Trees are also a renewable resource. When forest or woodlot owners cut one, they plant one or more new ones.If we save the furniture and other wood products that we own, that wood continues to store carbon. The new trees that are planted then begin storing carbon, too, carbon they will carry with them until they are burned or decay.The alternative materials for furniture – metal and plastic – are not renewable resources. Once metal is mined from the ground, it doesn’t grow back. Once petroleum or other materials are converted to plastic, they can no longer revert back to their natural state. There goes the environmental argument.If young people are turned off by the size, weight and style of classic and antique wood furniture, many lighter weight, simpler, modern, wood furniture is on the market. Those who eschew the classic designs of wood furniture for environmental reasons can still embrace clean air by acquiring modern wood furniture. And, there is a market for the antique and classic furniture. They can literally have their cake and eat it too.
Snowplows are a necessary evil in our corner of the world. After a snowfall, the sounds of snowplows are welcome to those who want to travel, but not for landscapes.
The snowplow operator’s job is to clear the road or driveway, piling the snow wherever there is room. Unfortunately, that is often on top of landscape beds or against trees. Knowing that snow removal is a fact of life in the Rochester/Finger Lakes area, your best recourse begins at the planning stage when you can avoid putting landscaping in areas where snow is thrown.My observation is that most suburbanites refrain from placing a lot of landscaping in the tree lawn between the road and sidewalk. Most landscaping in the municipal right of way (usually about 35 feet from the center of the road) is limited to replaceable annuals planted around the mailbox or hardy plants around underground utility transformers. The trees in the tree lawn belong to the municipality and they are usually very hardy.Occasionally, a less hardy tree or clump of shrubs will be planted too close to the road. But the more prevalent problem is when plantings are too close to driveways.Plows can damage plants in a number of ways. The highway department plows can pile snow against trees that are too close to the road. Occasionally, they can hit a tree but that’s rare. The worst hazard for plants, even if they are further back from the road, is salt or other deicer that can be toxic to plants. These problems, except for deicer spray, also apply to driveway plowing.Snow piled against a tree places a significant amount of pressure against one side of the trunk. Over time, this practice could cause lean. It could even topple a tree with weak roots. Snow piled up against the trunk can also provide a hiding place for critters who want to dine on your tree bark. If you have trees only on one side of the driveway, you can ask the plow operator to pile as much snow as possible on the other side. That may work or it may not.It’s easy for plows to pull up grass that is unseen under the snow. Municipalities and private plow operators may come in the spring and plant new grass seed where they ripped it up. If not, you can either seed those areas yourself or collect the pieces of sod that appear after the snow melts and piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle.The take away from this post is to keep your most valuable and vulnerable plants as far away from the direct or indirect path of snowplows as possible. If you have repeated damage to a tree, wrap it with burlap as you would a tender new tree or put a snow fence around it. For damaged planting beds, move the bed and plant grass there, and plan on reseeding the grass targets every year. It’s a small price to pay for cleared roads and driveways.
Both landscape care and tennis are strenuously physical. Whether mowing your lawn with a walk-behind mower, spreading mulch or compost, weeding planting beds, or playing a game of tennis, you use muscles that you don’t normally use. To prepare for such activities, experts recommend doing warm up exercises before starting and cool down exercises at the end.Experts in both gardening and physical fitness urge exercise before and after starting your main activity. They point to Olympians and athletes in other televised sports going through an exercise routine before taking to the field, ice or court? They must be on to something.When working on your landscape, you use muscles that you may not use in any other activity, especially if you’re sedentary in your day job. That’s why it’s good to stretch those muscles and limber them up with light exercise before starting the real exertion. It’s the same reason why athletes warm up before their performances. Often, you’ll see our professionals, especially our tree climbers, go through an exercise routine before starting a job.Some of the exercises need to stretch shoulder, arm, neck and leg muscles. Others should help your breathing, especially if you have shortness of breath when mowing, stooping or even kneeling.If you belong to a gym or have a personal trainer, you may have warm up and cool down exercises that are part of your routine. Ask if they are right for your landscape activities, too. If not, the gym or trainer may be able to give you a routine. Or, you can always check the internet.I Googled “Exercises before gardening” and got more than 42 million results, including some YouTube videos. If you want to go even further and make gardening part of your fitness program, Google “Gardening exercise” and get even more results. As always, we can’t vouch for the accuracy of all that information on the internet. But, if you find exercises that interest you, discuss them with a trusted professional to see if they are right for you.Researching and developing a pre and post landscape or gardening exercise routine is a good winter activity. Use your downtime to do your research and practice the exercises in the warm comfort of your home before the season starts and you’ll be all ready for a fit start to the 2020 growing season.
Nothing can warm a cold winter day more than enjoying a festive holiday celebration with family and friends. This year, two major winter holidays are celebrated at the same time. Hanukah begins Monday (December 23) and Christmas is celebrated next Wednesday (December 25). The celebration of both holidays includes light to brighten the darkness of long winter nights. Winter begins this Saturday (December 21).It is the holiday wish of the 130 member Birchcrest Tree & Landscape family that light will add to your holiday cheer, regardless of whether the light is twinkling on a tree or glowing on a menorah.The following Wednesday (January 1), the holiday seasons all culminate in a common crescendo as we usher in the year 2020. That number reminds me of perfect vision. I hope that perfect vision prevails as we make decisions that affect the health and welfare of those we love and for whom we are responsible. Happy New Year!
There was a time when jobs were separated only by blue collar and white collar. Then came the pink collar jobs, which are those held, predominately, by women. Now we’re hearing about green collar jobs. These jobs are just now being identified by a separate collar category.Green collar workers include those working in traditional tree, landscape and lawn care positions, those who work for nurseries and garden centers, and even those working on farms and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) cooperatives. According to Garden Media’s 2020 Gardening Trends survey, horticulture jobs outnumber graduates two-to-one.If discussions about a fence-sitting high school student’s future plans comes up at holiday gatherings, you might suggest they look at green collar jobs. The survey notes that many high school students are looking for opportunities that allow them to avoid the student debt that’s strangling so many graduates today. I’m pleased to report that many top level green collar jobs only require an associates degree, vocational training or even on-the-job training.There are plenty of educational opportunities right nearby. Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua has a very good horticulture program. Many of the SUNY two year colleges offer agriculture and some, such as Cobleskill, offer horticulture as well.My alma mater, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), offers excellent four year courses in a wide variety of majors. A five-year landscape architecture program is also offered. ESF is in Syracuse, adjacent to the Carrier Dome. Students enjoy many Syracuse University amenities while paying SUNY tuition.Once a person has begun working in one of the green industry fields, they can take examinations for the certification credentials that are offered by trade associations and professional societies. Two very prestigious credentials are Certified Arborist, which is offered by the International Society of Arboriculture, and Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, offered by the New York State Nursery & Landscape Association.Finally, the green industry is diversified. There are opportunities for women and men in all positions.. The first women were admitted to ESF (then SUNY College of Forestry) in 1956. Today it’s ranked as one of the best colleges for women.There is renewed interest in all that has to do with nature, healthy eating, beautiful landscapes and saving the planet. We just need people to step up and make it their purpose in life. And, we will reward them for their work and passion.
With the holidays right around the corner, many of us are racking our brains for gift ideas. For some reason, people who spend a lot of time working in their yards in the summer get dubbed as the person who has everything. Just because they like to garden, operate power equipment and get their hands dirty doesn’t mean they have everything. There are plenty of thoughtful gifts you can give them.
The two biggest things you have to consider are what the gift recipient likes to do in the yard and how much you want to spend. What you get depends on the extent of their involvement in the care of their yard. Are they satisfied doing the basic lawn mowing and weeding? Or are they full fledged gardeners?For the basic yard maintenance person, may I suggest a Birchcrest Tree & Landscape gift certificate? This can be applied to any of our services, which can range from a Plant Health Care or lawn care contract to a complete landscape design and installation.If your Saturday lawn mowing friend lets the sun beat on their head or just wears a baseball cap, you might present them with a wide brimmed hat to cover such vulnerable areas as their ears and neck. Or maybe one of those fancy water bottles for them to keep hydrated.For the avid gardener, the choices are endless. They include hats, gloves, tools, decorative plant containers, or a Birchcrest gift certificate so we can do the maintenance work and they can do the fun stuff. If your gardener friend is also an indoor gardener who enjoys house plants, you might consider a beautiful house plant. Not a seasonal plant like poinsettia but one that will provide pleasure all year long.Other gift ideas may include a gardening book or magazine subscription. These are gifts you can buy online without even leaving home, and the recipient can begin using your gift right away, without having to wait for spring.I hope we’ve given you some good ideas for gifts that the gardener would like. Now, instead of trying to decide what to get your outdoor person, you’ll have to decide which of the many possible gifts would be most appreciated. Who knows; when you begin searching garden supply websites, you may find something that you can’t live without, either.
This Thursday, we Americans will take a pause from our daily routine to gather with family and friends to observe a day of Thanksgiving. Early in our education, we all learned about the history of the holiday, beginning with the Pilgrims feasting with a New England tribe of Native Americans, who taught them how to survive in this unfamiliar land. After our feast, we will adjourn to a nearby television set to take part in a much more modern tradition – watching football.I can’t help reflecting on a bit of horticulture history that has come full circle. It’s believed that the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to grow what they called the “three sisters.” The three sisters are three late season vegetables that are easily preserved through the winter. The three are corn (maize), winter squash and beans.Corn grows tall, providing the beans with stalks to climb. Beans are legumes that return nitrogen to the soil to keep it fertile. Squash leaves creep along the ground, providing cover so the soil doesn’t erode away. The rough surface of the leaves and stems discourage foraging animals from harvesting the beans before the people can. And all of the produce can be preserved without refrigeration.The modern twist on the three sisters? Today’s sustainable gardeners are planting corn, beans, and squash, except that they call it companion planting.At their Thanksgiving dinners, many families serve corn (often the only vegetable young children will eat), beans (the ubiquitous green bean casserole) and squash. What a teaching moment!On behalf of the Birchcrest Tree & Landscape family, I wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.
When herbaceous perennials finish flowering for the season, we naturally want to cut them back, often to the ground. This year you may want to leave some intact for winter interest. Sure, they may be brown but brown contrasts with white snow.
Herbaceous plants are those with leaves and non-woody stems. Herbaceous perennials are those that die back to the ground every year but grow back the next spring. Their roots stay alive, though dormant. Hostas are good examples. Other perennials are woody shrubs like lilacs and viburnums.Some perennials grow so low that they won’t be seen above the snow. Others, however, grow taller so they will protrude out of the snow banks. Before the snow flies herbaceous perennials that have died back may not be particularly attractive. , After a snow fall, these plants can provide a nice break from the endless sea of white outside our windows. As the photo shows, even brown plants can add nice texture to a winter scene.Before cutting back perennials, I suggest that you look at them not as dead pants but rather whether they can add winter interest to your otherwise monochromatic (white) yard. Leave those that will show above the snow and cut and compost the rest.There are a few winter blooming perennials that will grow in the northeast. Pansies are perhaps the best known but hellebores, snowdrops and some varieties of phlox will also add color to your landscape on those drab days of winter.Woody perennials (trees and shrubs) won’t die back to the ground but the deciduous plants lose their leaves and go dormant in winter. Only a few, witch hazel for example, may flower in winter. Others add winter interest in other ways. Dogwood shrubs show off their red branches in winter while holly shrubs display their red berries. Holly plants are dioecious, which means male and female flowers are on separate plants. So you need a male holly plant nearby to have red berries on the female plants. Monoecious plants have both flowers on a single plant.Don’t prune flowering shrubs like lilacs in the fall. They’ve already set their flower buds for next spring, and you may cut them off when pruning. Most shrubs do flower in spring but a few flower later in the season on new branches. Buddleia (butterfly bush) is an example. The rule of thumb is to wait to prune all woody plants until after they are finished flowering.
Our Plant Health Care and lawn care customers have received their contract renewals for 2020. If you are one of those recipients, I urge you to read it carefully, sign it and send it back.Note the paragraph that describes the early bird discount. If you choose to pay for the season in advance, we discount you an amount that covers our costs for preparing individual invoices and processing each payment. This can amount to a significant saving, Maybe even enough to buy a loved one a holiday gift. However the offer is good only through the expiration date printed on the contract.You’ll still receive a document in a plastic bag, hung on your front door knob, after each application. It tells you what services we performed that day but there will be no “amount due.” And you won’t have to write a check after each service call.If you’d like to place the care of your valuable trees, shrubs and lawn in the hands of our trained professionals, there is still time to sign up for a Plant Health Care and/or lawn care program in 2020 and enjoy the early bird discount. One of our tree and landscape consultants will be happy to visit you, check the size of your yard and the plant material that you have. We will then make recommendations for an all inclusive program to meet your needs and the needs of your plants.After that, there’s nothing left for you to do, except enjoy your carefree landscape. Our professionals arrive at the proper time and perform the services for that visit. You don’t even have to be home. What a great holiday gift for your landscape.
As fall descends into winter, there are a number of last minute ways to protect your valuable landscape from the damaging effects of snow, ice and cold temperatures.[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Inexpensive, portable, folding cold frame for overwinterting containerized plants.[/caption]Recently planted trees or shrubs should not be forgotten when preparing your landscape for winter. They may need to be wrapped in burlap for the winter. This is especially true for those planted close to the road where they can be damaged by spray from road salt. The wrappings can be made from easily obtained materials, specifically wood poles and burlap. Be sure to keep the top of the “tents open and don’t let the burlap touch the plant.Add extra mulch around trees and in planting beds so it’s 3 to 4 inches deep but don’t let it touch tree trunks or shrub stems. And, make a note to remove the extra mulch in the spring.Recently planted trees and shrubs may also need fertilization in the fall so soil has the nutrients needed to sustain them through the winter and when blooming and foliating in spring.If you have containerized plants on your deck, patio or elsewhere in your yard, remember that only the very hardy can survive the winter outdoors. To be safe, it’s a good idea to wrap insulation around the containers left outsode or put them in a planting bed and pile much around them.Containerized plants that are cold hardy but can’t survive wind can be overwintered in a cold frame. You can build one from scratch or buy kits or pre-fabricated cold frames from some home or garden centers or from garden supply websites. Your more tender containerized pants should be taken inside for the winter.Finally, there’s still time to apply anti-desiccant to your evergreens and both pre and post emergent weed killer to your weeds. This year, fall has arrived later than usual. Some deciduous trees haven’t even turned color yet. Trees that have turned color are still hanging on to their leaves. Most lawns still need mowing. However, I wouldn’t wait too long to get this work done. When the weather decides to turn cold, it’s apt to do it very quickly.If these are jobs you’d rather not do, we have the Plant Health Care professionals who can help you with any or all of these tasks.
