Lips and Walls: Digging into Tree Decay

When clients call about decay in large older trees, every so often it’s necessary to respond that I’m not interested in hearing any lip from them. I do this respectfully of course.

It’s a frequent misconception that the roll of callus tissue or “lip” that trees produce at the margins of a wound will cause, or at least accelerate, trunk rot by catching and holding a small amount of rainwater. It makes perfect sense to us that if an open…

Over the past 2 years, many counties across NYS have experienced gypsy moth outbreaks and based on the density of egg masses recorded in some areas of the state, it might very well be another high population year. Calls and emails have already started coming in from concerned individuals who experienced tree defoliation last year or have noticed egg masses lining the branches of their trees. Over the weekend, I was weeding along the side of my house and thought I saw ants crawling along the…

Fall Color Conspiracy

Conspiracy hypotheses (or theories, as we like to call them, since “hypotheses” cannot be uttered without a lisp) seem to multiply unfettered these days, so I feel awkward birthing yet another. But you may be intrigued to learn that the wide spectrum of color in the region’s fall foliage is largely the result of a Depression-era project implemented by the Hoover Administration.

We live in one of the few places on Earth where trees produce such a…

https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/40723/20200229/using-buds-to-id-trees-in-winter-and-surviving-on-sap?fbclid=IwAR3_77WrfktZVeXSDTv60A_znUHQY1dkMZt8SrrKnBfHqlmzmF0SJMvV-yI

Wishbone Trees

Breaking a wishbone, some believe, may impart good fortune to the person left with the bigger half. When a tree splits, though, everyone loses. Fortunately, by engaging a tree-care professional, we can control whether or not a Y-shaped tree splits.

Growing up, our family’s Thanksgiving traditions were well balanced. First we ate a lot, but after dinner my two brothers and I engaged in vigorous exercise for thirty minutes or so. That’s usually how long it took to…

Treeconomics 101: Color-Coded Prosperity

Deciduous trees, lakeside ice-cream stands, and marinas all close down each autumn for the same reason: as daylight dwindles and cold creeps in, their outfits become less and less profitable. At a certain point it makes sense to batten the hatches until the following spring.



Some enterprising holdouts stay open longer; perhaps they have a cost advantage others do not, or have less competition. A few are the opposite, closing shop…

Unnatural Selection

Paul Hetzler

After a winter fraught with temperature swings, ice and near-record cold such as this past one, being able to finally plant things outdoors is especially welcome. While flowers can be dug up and replanted around the yard much like arranging the lawn furniture, it is different with trees.

Consider that the act of planting a tree is in many ways a transcendent one. Sure, a new tree will give us shade, beauty, energy savings and increased…

Love Trees

Generally speaking, I love trees, even those I must admire from a distance, such as the love-tree, a.k.a. the cacao, Theobroma cacao, from which chocolate is derived. Not only is chocolate associated with romance—most notably on Valentine’s Day—it can potentially help us feel more lovey-dovey thanks to some of the chemicals the tree produces.

Native to Central America, the cacao tree grows almost exclusively within about twenty degrees latitude either side of the…

If you enjoy working in your woodlot and struggle with the undesirable trees that you may not have time and skill to safely fell, this study is designed to find a solution for you.

Many woodland owners have a large number of undesirable trees, or large trees, they would like to kill, yet they lack the skill or time to safely fell these trees. Felling also may not be desirable because of the risk of damage to nearby…

Plant a Tree or Rental It: Your Choice

Planting a tree isn’t rocket science, which is good thing. If it were that complex, I’d wager we’d have a lot fewer trees lining our streets. It may not take a scientist to plant a tree correctly, but a lot of money is spent each year to buy and plant trees which may as well be leased, because they will only live a fraction of their…

Tree identification is a great activity, appropriate for most ages, and possible throughout the year.  Although NY and the Northeast count scores of trees, a relatively few are common.  The webinar linked below illustrates tree identification for common northeastern hardwood trees, but more importantly discusses strategies for learning how to identify all trees.

Hardwood tree identification and ecology webinar…

The March 20, 2013 webinar was on the opportunity for forest owners and foresters and loggers to thin woodlots to improve tree growth, vigor, and health.  The outline of the webinar included: the context for thinning, what to expect from thinning, forest development and clues for thinning, selecting the correct trees, strategies for thinning, and cautions plus concerns. 

Thinning provides an effective strategy for woodland owners to improve the growth of their trees.  If the…

Conifers are an important and visually distinct component of the northeastern landscape.  They are important because of those qualities that allow them to be utilized for lumber, pulp, biofuels, fence posts, etc.  They are also important because of the diversity they bring to the woods for wildlife, aesthetics, and watershed protection.  Learning to identify conifers is fun, and relatively easy given the few common species we will find in a local woodlot.



The webinar on conifer…

Hardwood tree identification is an important first step towards understanding and valuing our woodlots.  Once we can identify each species, we can begin to assign different values to those species, and the roles they play in helping us achieve (or impede) our ownership objectives. 

Hardwood tree identification goes beyond looking at leaves.  Leaves are apparent for only a few months of the year, and even then leaves are…