Last week we discussed the various types of plant damage that can happen during the winter. After all this winter’s storms, the coming weeks would be a good time to assess ice, snow and wind damage to trees and shrubs. So what do you do? Start by asking yourself two questions.
1. Is it worth saving? Probably not if most of one side or the top is gone, especially if it has brittle wood that will be prone to similar problems in the future. Repairing a seriously damaged tree is often a bad investment, since it may never again be attractive and may even become a hazard. A qualified arborist is the best judge of a tree's condition. Request bids from multiple businesses and ask to see proof of professional training and certifications. If you can see that the natural shape will remain after pruning, then you may want to try to salvage it.
2. If you can salvage it, should you do the repair work yourself or hire a professional? If you can safely reach the limbs from the ground with pruning shears or a pole-lopper then you can do it yourself. But take care- many homeowners are injured or do serious property damage while working on trees. And if you aren't familiar with proper tree maintenance procedures, you may do further damage to the tree when you attempt repairs. Also, let a professional arborist work on large trees, trees near utility wires, near buildings and near other landscape plants. You can look in the phone book or go to http://www.isa-arbor.com/ to find a certified arborist by zip code. Make sure they carry proper liability and workmen's compensation insurance before allowing them to start the job. They should be prepared to show you proof upon request.
Questions? Contact your local extension office. In Lackawanna County ask for the Garden Help line at 963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu
Terry Schettini, Extension Educator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Showing posts with label property. Show all posts
Showing posts with label property. Show all posts
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Landscaping for Wildlife
Many of the gifts we receive during the holiday season are to keep us warm during the harsh winter. Fleece, scarves, gloves, and flannel give us protection. Hot cocoa, soothing tea, a bountiful meal with friends and family provide comfort and sustenance. As winter grows longer, the deeper we go into our homes for shelter. The other kind of Pennsylvania residents, the wildlife among us, don’t have such things.
These animals have three options: migrate, hibernate, or stay active. Those that are active face dire circumstances. The same frigid cold, blowing winds, cold rain, snow and ice we face every day. Some of which may keep us from work, social times, and school, but our little friends face as well with little or no comfort.
Their only recourse is to find quality habitat which make the difference between perishing or surviving until spring. Some animals find protection in rock walls, brush piles, downed wood, or underground. For many though, evergreens often provide the best winter, or thermal, cover. Pines, hemlocks, spruces, and even rhododendrons protect birds and other mammals from the wind, snow and ice, as they keep their leaves and needles throughout the winter.
It is common for example to find black-capped chickadees taking refuge in conifer foliage with their heads tucked under their wings to conserve energy. Ruffled grouse, woodcocks, and wild turkey, and rabbits will seek refuge there too.
For the homeowner, there are a few things to consider not doing right now. Keep low hanging branches of evergreens, especially if they touch the ground. These are valuable places of protection. Consider keeping bunches of ornamental grasses too. They tend to stay upright and in clumps providing a good source of shelter. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to remove brush piles either. What you can do is take a few moments in the dead of winter to look for signs of life. Appreciate what you have to keep you warm and look for ways to sustain our outside friends.
The Penn State Master Gardeners have the free publication “Landscaping for Wildlife: Trees, Shrubs, and Vines” call 570-963-6842 or email us at LackawannaMG@psu.edu for a copy.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
These animals have three options: migrate, hibernate, or stay active. Those that are active face dire circumstances. The same frigid cold, blowing winds, cold rain, snow and ice we face every day. Some of which may keep us from work, social times, and school, but our little friends face as well with little or no comfort.
Their only recourse is to find quality habitat which make the difference between perishing or surviving until spring. Some animals find protection in rock walls, brush piles, downed wood, or underground. For many though, evergreens often provide the best winter, or thermal, cover. Pines, hemlocks, spruces, and even rhododendrons protect birds and other mammals from the wind, snow and ice, as they keep their leaves and needles throughout the winter.
It is common for example to find black-capped chickadees taking refuge in conifer foliage with their heads tucked under their wings to conserve energy. Ruffled grouse, woodcocks, and wild turkey, and rabbits will seek refuge there too.
For the homeowner, there are a few things to consider not doing right now. Keep low hanging branches of evergreens, especially if they touch the ground. These are valuable places of protection. Consider keeping bunches of ornamental grasses too. They tend to stay upright and in clumps providing a good source of shelter. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to remove brush piles either. What you can do is take a few moments in the dead of winter to look for signs of life. Appreciate what you have to keep you warm and look for ways to sustain our outside friends.
The Penn State Master Gardeners have the free publication “Landscaping for Wildlife: Trees, Shrubs, and Vines” call 570-963-6842 or email us at LackawannaMG@psu.edu for a copy.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Dead Trees Bring Life
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? This is a question asked for ages, and no matter the philosophical answers debated, a fallen tree may have uses no one sees. Trees have countless uses for humans. They offer shade, filter the air, and add value and beauty to the home landscape. Trees stabilize the soil and even produce food for us. When a tree is cut, it can be transformed into fuel, made into furniture, form the structure of our homes, and without trees, a newspaper could not be written, produced, or read.
Dead trees have a useful and special value, not for us but for wildlife. Dead parts of live trees, which are called 'snags', and fallen trees, referred to as 'logs' become important resources in nature. They become food and shelter for a number of species. As a tree decomposes, it recycles itself into the soil. The process enriches the soil and makes conditions favorable for the next generation of seedlings.
Logs become shelter for many layers of life. Insects, salamanders, mice and other small creatures seek refuge there. Other woodland life feed off them. Some grouse have been known to raise generations on the same logs. As the wood decays, it increases the mushroom population. During the harsh winter months, mushrooms are an important food source for birds, squirrel, and deer.
Snags, or standing dead trees, offer a nesting place for thirty-five species of birds. Wood ducks look for tree cavities near water. Barn owls look for nesting sites near large fields. Chickadees, sapsuckers, and woodpeckers make beneficial use of snags. As insects invade a dead tree, they attract turtles, shrews, salamanders, and bats among others, to sustain their life. One bat can consume thousands of mosquitoes while we slumber away.
While it may not always be feasible to keep dead trees on your property, some consideration should be given to sustaining the life we don’t see. On a smaller scale, brush piles, or even a post-season live Christmas tree set outside can create a haven for wildlife. Just because we don’t hear a sound doesn’t mean sounds are not being made.
For more information on this topic, The Penn State Master Gardeners have the publication 'Dead Wood for Wildlife'. Please contact us at 570-963-9642 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu to request your free copy.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Dead trees have a useful and special value, not for us but for wildlife. Dead parts of live trees, which are called 'snags', and fallen trees, referred to as 'logs' become important resources in nature. They become food and shelter for a number of species. As a tree decomposes, it recycles itself into the soil. The process enriches the soil and makes conditions favorable for the next generation of seedlings.
Logs become shelter for many layers of life. Insects, salamanders, mice and other small creatures seek refuge there. Other woodland life feed off them. Some grouse have been known to raise generations on the same logs. As the wood decays, it increases the mushroom population. During the harsh winter months, mushrooms are an important food source for birds, squirrel, and deer.
Snags, or standing dead trees, offer a nesting place for thirty-five species of birds. Wood ducks look for tree cavities near water. Barn owls look for nesting sites near large fields. Chickadees, sapsuckers, and woodpeckers make beneficial use of snags. As insects invade a dead tree, they attract turtles, shrews, salamanders, and bats among others, to sustain their life. One bat can consume thousands of mosquitoes while we slumber away.
While it may not always be feasible to keep dead trees on your property, some consideration should be given to sustaining the life we don’t see. On a smaller scale, brush piles, or even a post-season live Christmas tree set outside can create a haven for wildlife. Just because we don’t hear a sound doesn’t mean sounds are not being made.
For more information on this topic, The Penn State Master Gardeners have the publication 'Dead Wood for Wildlife'. Please contact us at 570-963-9642 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu to request your free copy.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Monday, August 23, 2010
Keep Your Woodland Trash-free
While you are working hard to keep your garden and home landscape clean and free of debris you may find that illegal dumping has become a problem on your woodlot. Unfortunately, due to economic times, this problem may be increasing. Cleaning up an illegal dump site can be dangerous and very expensive for the landowner.
George Hurd, Franklin County Extension Educator, gives some tips in the Summer issue of Penn State’s Forest Leaves for helping you keep your woodlot debris free.
Your property boundary is your primary line of defense. The stronger and more noticeable it is, the greater the probability that the illegal dumper will go elsewhere. You just have made it too hard to do!
- Secure locks and gates. Gates should be as strong as possible, mounted securely and locked with heavy duty chain and padlocks.
- Keep your fences and gates in good repair.
- Ditch or block access points, lanes, and road access you no longer use. Ditches form natural barriers.
- Use posts or large rocks to block access to large openings into your property.
Cut back vegetation from areas where the dumper could remain unseen while dumping. Most illegal dumpers will drop materials close to the public road. - Post “No Trespassing” signs at regular intervals. Do call police and report trespassers.
If you have trash to be hauled away, be careful who you hire. If it is dumped illegally, you may be liable for cleanup costs and disposal costs.
If you witness someone littering or dumping, get details and descriptions, and report them to an enforcement agency as soon as possible. When contacting an enforcement agency, always start local: local police, a municipal or county code enforcement office, a solid waste authority office, or a county health department. Additional information on Pennsylvania laws on illegal dumping and enforcement agencies is available at: ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/Bureaus/hwybeaut/PALAWSAGAINSTLITTERINGILLEGALDUMPING.Pdf
Another source of information about preventing illegal dumping is PA CleanWays. For more information about their programs or to find a chapter in your area, visit their website at: http://www.pacleanways.org/
For more good tips see the full article at http://rnrext.cas.psu.edu/PDFs/FLSummer2010.pdf or contact your local cooperative extension office. In Lackawanna County ask for the Garden Help line at 570-963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu.
Terry Schettini, Extension Educator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
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