Rotate Your Stock: Considering What Trees to Plant
Before automation, this message was a familiar sight in hardware and grocery stores where goods had a shelf life. The idea was the older items should be moved to the front of the shelf for quicker sale. In today’s retail stores, older or seasonal goods are displayed with clearance signs enticing us to buy, making room for newer merchandise.
The same concept applies in nature. In the mountains, after a significant event (fire, pestilence, logging, mining), aspen trees are first to inhabit the site. As aspen age, the stand naturally thins itself allowing pine and spru …Read Full Post »
Pest Predictions for 2012
The Iowa caucuses are behind us and political prognosticators in full glory. Not to be left out, we have our own 2012 predictions. Our predictions are on the 2012 landscape insects and diseases – no politics involved. Two thousand and eleven was laden with garden pestilence. The following are some of the more interesting contenders for 2012.
National Significance:
Thousand cankers of black walnut has the potential to wipe out black walnuts in the United States. This insect/disease complex appeared in Colorado nearly ten years ago but is the mo …Read Full Post »
Voles and Your Landscape
Making pest predictions for the next growing season can be a gamble, but one prediction that now is almost a sure thing is voles will make an appearance. We have seen an increase in vole activity in suburban and rural landscapes. This heavy snow cover will make them all the more prevalent. Voles will feed on your landscape plants during the winter with the damage showing up next spring.
Voles are small mouse-like mammals that cause damage by girdling landscape plants and making tunnels or runways in the yard. Voles also girdle the roots of trees and shrubs …Read Full Post »
How to Care for Your New Trees Over Winter
Winter isn’t quite here yet, but the snow sure is. Remember last year? At the close of November 2010, just 1.5 inches of snow was recorded in Denver. Twice this season, we have faithfully shaken the heavy wet snow from our trees – especially the young ones. What else can be done for your young trees to ensure their success in the landscape?
Broken branches should be pruned at this time – the sooner the better. When pruning, use sharp hand pruners and saws. Make cuts close to the adjoining branch or stem. Take care not to leave a bran …Read Full Post »
Dig Into Fall
Fall planting is a favorite time of the year for those who enjoy their outdoor spaces. Get a jump on spring by planting bulbs, perennials, shrubs and trees yet this fall. Denver Botanic Gardens hosts a spring and fall Plant and Bulb sale; it’s a great place to pick some up if you need any. For shrubs and trees, call Swingle, we’ll take care of providing and planting so you can sit back and enjoy the new additions your landscape.
Now is an excellent time to consider new plantings for your landscape. Cooler air and soil temperatures put less stress on newly installed plants. Roots …Read Full Post »
Don't Touch That Dial - Mountain Pine Beetles Coming to Pine Near You
As we reported earlier this summer, mountain pine beetle is firmly entrenched along the Colorado Front Range. Evidence of mountain pine beetle can be found in many Colorado communities and recently in the Denver metropolitan area. Last summer around Labor Day is when we found the diagnostic pitch masses on many ornamentally grown ponderosa and Scotch pine trees. From Cheyenne to Fort Collins where mountain pine beetle was first reported in 2009, many pine trees died this year from repeated pine beetle attacks. In Denver and surrounding suburbs, most attacked trees remai …Read Full Post »
Neighborhood Landscape - Beauty or Bane of the Block
No question, this year has brought a preponderance of dead and dying tree branches.
Much of the blame may be placed on the dry winter devoid of snowfall. Surface roots desiccated and died. These roots are responsible for water and nutrient uptake. While the spring rains came, the damage had already been done leaving suffering trees and shrubs dying from a lack of water.
The mild winter encouraged squirrels to gnaw their way through many shade tree branches – honeylocust and elms are favorites.
Branch and stem diseases were also favored by the past winter. A warm dr …Read Full Post »
Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic
Beetles flying east, A Crisis in North America and our own back yards
Most of us have seen the brown mountainsides on the I-70 corridor or have read news accounts about the current mountain pine beetle epidemic. Here are some staggering figures:
In Colorado, this is the most severe pine beetle epidemic in 125 years.
Since 1996, the beetles have chewed their way through 3.2 million acres of the Colorado forest.
Colorado is just a part of the total mountain pine beetle epidemic. In the Rocky Mountains including United States and Canada, a staggering 40 millio …Read Full Post »
The Green or Not So Green Grass of Home
Last month, lawns along the front-range began their annual ritual of awakening from winter dormancy. Some lawns are springing to life as normal, while some are not.
What happened?
Only two winters since 1882 have seen less snowfall than this 2010-2011 season. Through March of 2011, only 20.6 inches of snow fell in Denver. From October to March, the precipitation was only 50 percent of normal. Except for February, temperatures were above normal. The battle cry went out to water the lawns. Some heeded the cry, others hoped for rain. The grass died from …Read Full Post »
Colorado Tree Care: What Stories are Your Evergreen Trees Telling?
Signs from the Pines
Within the past 30 to 45 days, many Colorado spruce and pines have taken on a poor crown appearance. What we see unfolding in the evergreen trees now could be a prelude to the 2011 growing season. Since the Mountain Pine Beetle has made a significant presence in pine trees on Colorado’s Front Range, it is not business as usual for pine trees in Denver and other urban Colorado areas.
Pines are Storytellers.
Dendrochronology is the discipline of correlating tree growth rings with significant historical events. Analysis performed on both li …Read Full Post »
Colorado Sprinkler System Freeze Prevention
Identifying your backflow preventor There are various types of backflow preventors on the market today, but the most common ones are: AVB – Atmospheric Vacuum Breaker PVB – Pressure Vacuum Breaker RPA - Reduced Pressure Assembly Protecting your backflow preventor from freezing temperatures (1) – This is the unprotected backflow preventor. The entire device, including exposed copper pipe is susceptible to damage from exposure to freezing temperatures. (2) – Place an old blanket, folded towel or an old coat over the en …Read Full Post »
Decorative Colorado Organic Mulch
Colorado Organic Mulch Our mulch is all local Colorado recycled tree waste put to good use in your beds and borders allowing soil to hold more water and nutrients that are beneficial to your plants and flowers. This means less frequent watering is required and most important your doing your part to conserve our water resources. Natural Mulch: $19.00 per y …Read Full Post »
Organic Mulch: Re-using Trees to Beautify Colorado Outdoor Spaces
Swingle's Organic Mulch is produced and distributed by our Denver office. As a progressive full-service tree and shrub care company we are dedicated to the good health and preservation of Colorado’s trees. We know that proper pruning is only part of the battle. By producing high-quality organic mulch and making it readily available and affordable we are doing our part for Colorado’s roots and soils. The next step is up to you. It makes us happy to know that local wood is returned to it’s natural place in the cycle, just as it would be on the forest floor, while still …Read Full Post »
Spring is for Spraying
Traditionally, the day after New Year’s meant our mailboxes were stuffed with colorful seed and plant catalogs, along with the much awaited catalogs and tax forms. While the IRS has ceased mailing their tax booklets, the catalogs still continue to arrive. Catalogs are a reminder that spring, with all the splendor of renewed garden life, is just around the corner. When thinking of spring, a gardener’s mental calendar starts the season in April and May. Landscape pests, however, are thinking of starting much earlier – even now. As the soil and air temperature warms, weeds germ …Read Full Post »
Buckeyes Bonking and Hawthorns Hitting the Wall
"Bonks," and “hitting the wall,” are jargon terms used by athletes. From lack of water or nutrition, activity suddenly becomes more difficult. Ordinarily simple movements seem to require more energy than normal. Medical experts tell us we need to drink water several times during the day. Similarly, horticulturists tell us that during the heat of the summer our landscapes need water three times a week. Proper hydration and watering are top of mind during the summer when thirst comes quickly and landscapes wilt under Colorado’s hot sun. Skiers, runners, hikers and c …Read Full Post »
‘Tis the Season for Predictions
Pundit predictions will soon be in the air. World issues, politics, and economics are favorite themes. What about your landscape? These six pests bear watching. Insects - European elm flea weevils, tiny but mighty at just 2 mm in length, devour elm leaves before your eyes. Eaten leaves look similar to those feasted upon by leaf beetles. These critters should be voracious in 2011. Scales - European elm, oak kermes, pine needle, and euonymus scale are all common in the landscape. One adult produces 50 – 300 eggs each. Scales tap into the tree or shrub’s sap stream, sucking the suga …Read Full Post »
Winter Pruning
Colorado residents cannot help but enjoy our pleasant fall weather and autumn colors. While the mild temperatures have been abundant, the results in the rain bucket have been dismal. Since August 8th through the end of October, Denver has only recorded six tenths of an inch of precipitation. As most of our sprinkler systems have been turned off for the winter, now is a good time to have our hoses available to water trees and landscape plants throughout the fall and winter months. A critical fall and winter time activity is assessing landscape pruning needs. Pruning completed during the w …Read Full Post »
The Landscape Down Under
One cannot help but notice what Colorado landscapes look like this fall. Low relative humidity, wind, high temperatures, and the lack of precipitation have left landscapes scorched. On the plus side, mountain aspen viewing has been spectacular. But right now the state is tinder dry – including some landscapes. Some folks have given into despair leaving their lawns dry. It is easy to fixate on the brown foliage and turn our attention to the next growing season. However, plant material that goes into winter dry this fall, will only incur more stress nex …Read Full Post »
Welcome to Deadwood, Colorado!
A common sight this September are trees with brown leaves, early fall color, and dead branches. What is causing these maladies? Record cold October 2009 Many trees and shrubs were not ready for the second coldest October on record. In Denver, record lows were recorded on October 2, 9 and 10. The record low of 17 degrees recorded on the 10th froze many landscape plants. Dry winter The first quarter of 2010 was especially dry with only 1.17 inches in the precipitation bucket. Meaningful moisture did not reach us until the last days of April. The extr …Read Full Post »
Vigilance. The key to scales lurking in your landscape!
Scales are inconspicuous insects feeding on your trees and shrubs without notice until twigs and branches start dying. Scales are sap sucking insects along with aphids, whiteflies, psyllids, adelgids, and mealybugs. These insects all feed by sucking sap from the host plant. Damage begins as a weakened look to the plant followed by branch dieback. In severe cases plants are killed. Scales produce a waxy covering over the top of themselves with their eggs making this insect difficult to control. Scale infestations are exploding both in Colorado and throughout …Read Full Post »
Modern Methods for Systemic Insecticides
In an era gone by, townspeople welcomed mist blowers trolling neighborhood streets misting trees. Folks today are looking for insect control products and methods that are less environmentally intrusive. In the past decade or so much research has gone into insecticides directly injected into the tree trunk and those that can be applied to the soil. Trunk products involve drilling into the tree where a delivery device is placed. Soil applied insecticides are diluted materials injected into the soil or drenched on top of the soil surface. Once introduced into the t …Read Full Post »
Trees Planted with Human Hands
Thirty-four million years ago, Colorado consisted of a dense forest. The giant sequoias only exist in fossilized records. Today, Colorado’s front-range is a short-grass prairie. Human hands have planted and created nearly every landscape. Water is the most limiting factor in our semi-arid climate. The lack of abundant precipitation not only results in wilted plants, but also has far reaching effects on the soil. Consistent and abundant soil moisture is needed to wash minerals through the soil. Without this activity, salts and other alkaline mate …Read Full Post »
Cool Tips for Cool Season Turfgrasses
Most of our lawns are comprised of Kentucky bluegrass or a mix of grasses with bluegrass being predominant. Bluegrass is also called a cool season turf. Buffalo-grass would be an example of a warm season grass. What does this mean? This means that our lawns green up early in the year. When the heat of the summer arrives, bluegrass plants slow down their growth. If subject to drought during the summer, they may turn brown and go dormant. Once this occurs, recovery is slow, only occurring when the ninety degree air temperatures abate in late August into …Read Full Post »
Spring is for Weed Control
April showers bring May flowers. Some of those “flowers” include dandelions. Homeowners will spring into action with a dizzying array of herbicides – weed killers. Herbicides are meant to kill plants, insecticides kill insects, and fungicides prevent fungi from growing. Using the wrong insecticide or fungicide may result in poor results. Use the wrong herbicide and you could permanently damage your landscape. With any pesticide it is imperative that you read and understand the label. Tease the glued cover loose and read the entire thing wit …Read Full Post »
It’s a Tree’s Life
Today’s human life expectancy is 77.5 years. How long do trees live? In a typical downtown urban location, trees growing in a sidewalk planter box live an average of 15 years. In a well cared for residential landscape, trees will live over 100 years. So what is the real difference between a young tree and an old tree? Certainly the older tree is larger than the younger tree. But how does this really matter? Can you tell how old a tree is or how long it has to live just by looking at it? Life Stages (tree shapes) Sounds strange, but a tree&rsqu …Read Full Post »
