Growing season 2009

Currently having a great growth year. This springs frequent rain, coupled with a few bright sunny days has lead to quite vigorous growth. I would expect the leaf cleanup to be extra challenging this year due to about a 30% increase in the number of leaves the trees have put on this year (informal observation).

The type of weather that we have had has lead to an increase in occurance of certain fungal pathogens. This may be something that needs to be treated, however, leaves are disposable for trees. If the symptoms are evident, the leaf is already damaged and cannot be repaired. Trees in good health tend to handle these issues just fine.

The trees are currently wilting due to a recent lack of rain. If dry conditions persists, there will be significant leaf drop that is necessary to reduce the water requirement of the trees. This is a normal reaction and does not indicate a significant problem. This is apparent in river birches already (a tree with good adaption abilities for wet/arid/wet conditions).

The economy is trying. Be wary of door to door sales people for "tree work". There is no way to repair trees that have been damaged by unqualified pruning. Additionally the damage can linger for years and even cause death of the tree. We have recently been asked to look at many trees that are succumbing to injuries caused by unqualified pruning.