Talking Trees with Davey Tree

All About Spring! Spring Prep, Dormant Oil, Too Wet to Plant?

March 10, 2022 The Davey Tree Expert Company Season 2 Episode 10
Talking Trees with Davey Tree
All About Spring! Spring Prep, Dormant Oil, Too Wet to Plant?
Show Notes Transcript

Brad McBride from Davey's West Cleveland office talks all about how to get your trees and property ready for spring, such as what you should be looking for and how an arborist can help. 

In this episode we cover:

  • Drainage issues (0:49)
  • Dormant oil and hemlock woolly adelgid (1:58)
  • When to start planting (4:01)
  • Brad's favorite spring trees (4:51)
  • Apple scab (6:37)
  • How seasonal fluctuations affect pests and diseases (8:26)
  • How Brad started his job (10:00)
  • Evaluating tree structure (13:28)
  • Fertilizer (14:56)
  • Right tree, right place (16:30)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn more about spring tree care, read our blogs, Spring Tree Care Checklist: Prepare in 3 Phases and Most Common Questions About Tree Care in Spring.
To learn more about fertilization, watch our video, Tree Fertilization: Why Should I Fertilize My Tree?
To learn more about planting your tree in the right place, watch our video, How to Plant a Tree: Right Tree, Right Place.

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

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Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more, because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined this week by Brad McBride. He's an assistant district manager for the Davey Tree Expert Company in West Cleveland, North Royalton, technically right, Brad?

Brad McBride: That is correct.

Doug: Welcome to the show. We are talking all about spring. Since I am a native Clevelander, I can sure appreciate spring on the horizon after a long winter. I don't know about you, when you're thinking spring and trees, what's the first thing you think about when you're going to be going out to a property this time of the year?

Brad: As you said, everyone's happy to see green grass. We have the snow melt and we saw some turf. We're getting ready for spring. We get some warm days here and there. One of the things that we like to look at when you are coming out of wintertime is how a property behaves in terms of drainage. When you have a big snow melt in saturated soils, it's a good time to take a look at a property to see where those drainage issues are because a lot of what we deal with in terms of keeping plants healthy are environmental issues.

Those aren't always available for you to evaluate. Water being one of them, it's a good time in spring to take a look at how a property drains and whether or not it's affecting plant health.

Doug: In the time that I've been doing this podcast, we've talked a lot about that, a lot about the issues, certainly right tree, right place, but that's a great point to look at an area that might be holding water and that could affect a tree negatively. Now, I've heard about something called dormant oil or horticultural oil. Is that something that you guys use out in the field?

Brad: We do. Our company markets pretty heavily on the benefits of horticultural or dormant oil, but it is just a component of plant healthcare. There are many other products that might achieve the same or better results, and oftentimes you get the best results when you're comprehensive with your plant healthcare program, which is why I mentioned environmental issues because an environmental issue like poor drainage can stress a plant out that would attract pest activity and therefore it might require a multifaceted approach to management. Horticulture oil is a good product because typically it has a low toxicity and it can be applied in a dormant season when many other products aren't effective.

Doug: All right. Since I have you here, I'm going to pick your brain because I've got a lot of hemlocks. Those hemlocks have hemlock woolly adelgid, and that's what I'm trying to battle them with, horticultural oil. What time of the year should I be applying that?

Brad: Horticulture oils can be applied multiple times per year. The best way to do things is to make sure that you read the label and that you follow the restrictions that are on the label. When it comes to managing a pest like woolly adelgid, it can be challenging because we're talking about using a product that's meant to coat the entire surface of the plant. A lot of times, hemlock woolly adelgid is found on the underside of the leaf.

You could be in the right position if you're spraying a tall tree from the ground, but you can understand how difficult it might be to fully cover a plant to make sure that you're getting thorough results, which is why I said a lot of times it's good to have a multifaceted approach. I would think that there are other products that may be systemic or something that would improve the results you're getting by looking at multiple seasons, multiple ways to manage a plant health.

Doug: One thing for the hemlock woolly adelgid, I'm always glad when we get a real serious cold spell because that usually knocks them back a little bit, at least in my property. Another thing, we were talking about moisture in the soil. When do you start planting trees? We're very excited now coming out of this. I always worry, especially when you see the snow melt, that it might be too wet to plant. How do we make that decision?

Brad: It's a case-by-case basis. Planting trees in springtime is a very common time to have that done. You do find saturated soil conditions a lot of times. You have to question your methods and how you're going to get it done without causing an impact on the site. Spring is a great time to plant, but it can also be challenging to access properties with saturated soils and placing them appropriately. Visiting a property in springtime can show you a lot about your site and whether or not it's appropriate for the tree that you selected.

Doug: When you're thinking spring trees and those first trees to bud out and bloom, what's one or two of your favorites when you think about a spring property?

Brad: Everybody's always eager to see a forsythia bloom. The bright yellow shrubs. We're up in the Cleveland area and I've heard reports that in the Columbus area, forsythia is already blooming. That's one that's going to get everyone excited, even though it's not a very popular landscape plant, one that's of high value, it is one that everyone sees and realizes spring is here when you start seeing flush yellow blooms.

Doug: There's no doubt about that. I can't wait to see my forsythia bloom.

Brad: Besides that, crab apple is another one of our favorites. Although crab apples have disease issues, apple scab being the main culprit, they are one of the most showy flowering trees in springtime. They have such a good variety of colors. They have profuse blooms. You got to love a crab apple. Then you're flowering cherries. If you've never been to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms and you like trees, you should definitely make some time on your calendar to visit that and see that. It might inspire you to plant a flowering cherry here in Ohio or wherever else you may live.

Doug: I love crab apples. I often tell arborists that I've got one right outside the kitchen window. Actually, I had a pine tree come down on that crab apple. My local team from Davey was looking at that crab apple and they're like it, "Well, it's about a 50-50 chance." I said, "Anything you can do to save that thing?" He's like, "Let's cut here, let's cut there." That's been five, six years and the crab apple is definitely looking great the way that they trimmed it. Talk a little bit about that apple scab and how you guys deal with that.

Brad: You brought up another good point, too. One on apple scab. If you have a crab apple tree and you've ever noticed it losing leaves in late summer, early fall, you're not getting the best that you can get out of your tree. That leaf disease called apple scab does cause trees to defoliate earlier than they should. Crab apples have fall color. If you didn't know that, that means you've had a tree dropping leaves earlier than it should. If you have a crab apple and you want it to be as nice as it can be, treating it with fungicide is a thing that you should consider.

If you do not want to commit to that, similar to an ash tree, if you want to save an ash tree, you need to commit to systemic insecticide treatments to manage emerald ash borer. Those things are something you should consider to be ongoing and forever if you want the best results out of your tree. Not everyone is willing to accept that, so you may want to consider removing and replacing that tree with a disease-resistant variety.

There are crab apples out there that have disease resistance, but they may not be what you're looking for. It may not be the shape of a tree you want or the color of flower that you want. If you desire a crab apple with a certain shape and color and it does have disease problems, then you just have to realize that treating that is something you're going to have to do and you're going to have to commit to, to get the best-looking tree.

Doug: In my case, this is a tree that I've been looking at for 23 years. I put some other crab apples in that are disease-resistant, but this one is a special one. It definitely needs treated with fungicide because we do lose the leaves probably every other year, maybe every third year. When you have a real wet season, you get apple scab pretty bad. At least we do here.

Brad: When it comes to pest and disease, seasonal fluctuations, yearly weather patterns, they do influence pest and disease activity. As you said, one year might not be as bad as the other, but it is something that people should be aware of. You pointed out that your tree was something special to you. The tree is what? How old is it now? 23, 24 years old? Somewhere there.

Doug: Right.

Brad: Five years ago, someone told you that you might need to cut it down. Trees do have life expectancies just like people do. When they're cared for poorly, it shortens their life expectancy. It doesn't mean that the tree needs to be removed right now. That's up for you to decide what your tolerance for risk is or what your tolerance for the way your property looks aesthetically. If a tree company tells you to cut down a tree, you have the choice to make. It's your decision to decide whether or not you can tolerate a tree that might not look as good as another one. Or if you can tolerate the possibility that a portion of the tree may fail.

Doug: Did you just bust me and say that I'm taking care of my crab apple poorly? [chuckles]

Brad: Hey, if you don't know, you don't know. Like I said, taking care of plants is multifaceted. You look at the structure of the plant, whether or not it's going to fail, you look at the health and the vigor of the plant to determine if it's doing well and then you try to make suggestions and you take recommendations. Like I said, everyone has choices to make. You could think of it as a financial portfolio. Can you tolerate a high level of risk or are you conservative and you don't want any chance for failure?

Doug: Tell me a little bit about how you got into this.

Brad: As a young man, let's say a teenager, I was really into landscaping, cutting grass, weed whipping, wearing sleeveless shirts, getting a suntan. I like being outside. Going through college, I was working with Davey Tree in the summertime, and it was the best place I'd ever worked. It was a place that was reliable, took care of their employees, had a structure for a career path. I started to realize in college that I didn't want to be a teacher, that I wanted to work outside. I had a company that I was working for that I saw a career path with. Like I said, I was in college and so I started to realize that and so I had started to fashion my education towards trees.

I studied biology, but in that field, you have areas to focus on. I focused more on tree management and trees. Then I set myself up for an internship after college with Davey Resource Group as an urban forester. I started with Davey Tree in 2005 as a groundman at the Akron office and did that for a couple of summers. After I graduated, I got into a consulting role and then transferred back to the residential service line as a salesman in 2017.

The career path's been great. I've worked for multiple offices, multiple service lines. I had the most respect for Davey as a place to hang your hat to a career, a place that I feel comfortable investing in. Something I would challenge somebody on and I would ask them, "If the place that you work were an institution to invest in, would you invest in it?" I can wholeheartedly say that investing in Davey Tree is something I feel great about, and it's paid off and shown me that it's worth my time.

Doug: I want to continue on that track because you and I were talking for about five minutes before we started here. Being from Cleveland, loving our Cleveland Browns, me living in Pittsburgh and seeing what the Pittsburgh Steelers do, you had an interesting analogy about looking at Davey as this great team. I thought that was pretty cool.

Brad: As you were asking me how I got into Davey Tree, it started off with a love for working outside and working with plants. It eventually developed into sales for something I was passionate about and now management, which is an open book. It's so dynamic. What we were talking about with the Browns is the fact that culture is a big thing you have to focus on and how to manage. We assemble teams of educated, highly skilled, motivated, physically gifted employees that create our team.

We still have a dynamic that is the culture in your office and the attitudes and the egos and how to assemble those things so that everyone's on the same page and seeking the same goals and we realize we're fending for ourselves. We're representing the company, which as an employee-owned company, we should all be owners in. Focusing on that has been a challenge and it's something I enjoy. Every day is new. Every day presents a new challenge and it is always something to continue to develop, continue to work on the culture management here.

Doug: That's awesome. Let's go back to a little bit about spring and trees. You're looking at where the snow is melting and draining, but tell me a little bit about when you go to a property at this time of the year and you're looking up.

Brad: This time of year is still a great time to evaluate tree structure. Over the winter, we've had several ice storms, several windy days, several heavy snows. When the leaves are not on the tree, it's a really good opportunity to evaluate the structure. You're looking for cracks in trunks, you're looking for broken or hanging limbs. You're looking for those things that can affect the safety on a property.

When it comes to looking at tree risk, we look at the trees on a property, we determine what's the most likely thing to fail on this tree? Is it the entire tree? Is it a portion of the tree? If it were to fail, what would it hit? Is the target that we're looking at movable? It could be a parked car, it could be your house, in which case it is not movable. Then we decide if this tree or this portion of this tree were to fail and strike the target, we're looking at what would be the outcome. We evaluate those things and we weigh those things to decide what's the highest priority on a property.

Like I was saying earlier about feeling someone out for their tolerance for risk and what they're looking for aesthetically on their property, they guide the decision and it helps us prioritize a plan for their property based on their tolerance for risk or their acceptance of how things look.

Doug: One thing that I think homeowners neglect often is fertilization. At what point do we get into the season where we start fertilizing trees?

Brad: Fertilization of trees can happen at any time the ground is not frozen. We typically try to do it when the whole property can be accessed. Obviously, case by case basis. If a portion of the property is inundated with water, not a good time to fertilize, but if it's drained out and it's accessible, then the fertilizer we use, which is based on industry standards, is a slow-release product. It's intended to be in the soil until it's consumed by the plant. Delivering that fertilizer is beneficial at all times per year. Fall and spring may be best, but in summer, it could be as well because a lot of times our customers benefit from multiple visits per season.

If you're an individual like yourself that gets three apple scab treatments in spring, we're going to be on your property three times in spring. We have the opportunity to observe something else that's going on your property to make a recommendation for later time. If you say, the only other thing I want to do is fertilizer, then we might spread that out a little bit so we have the opportunity to visit your property in another season and make sure that we're doing the best we can to monitor your property and catch things before they become a problem.

We also have routine inspection and treatment services, but what I'm saying is, I guess we try to do the best we can with people knowing what their needs are, to spread our services in a way that we have the chance to make recommendations.

Doug: With people getting ready to plant trees, pretty soon they're going to be out there looking, I'd like you to talk a little bit about one of the things that I know is so important is making sure that this tree is going to have room to do what it wants as it gets mature because I know as an arborist, and I feel the same way, when I look at a tree that's planted in the wrong spot, it breaks my heart because I know in five years something's going to have to change.

Brad: Yes. You could say that that situation could be planting trees in a row where you plant them heavily and then you thin them out at a later time. To me, that situation doesn't seem like a major issue, but if you plant an oak tree underneath power lines, then that is a problem. You try to think about what the long-term conflict will be and whether or not it's tolerable. Let's face it, we talked about your crab apple earlier. It was sentenced to be cut down five years ago. It's still only 25 years. We still have Johnny Appleseed trees out and about which are 200 years old.

Obviously, trees have a life and they can live full lives or they can be shortened based on how we care for them or the plans that we have for them. Sometimes you over plant and you thin out as time goes on. Sometimes you can simply plant the wrong tree in the wrong space and that could be because the soil conditions, the water, the space that you need for the tree to mature, and then you think about urban areas. Urban area trees only have a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. They just accept that and they get the best they can out of the tree's useful life and then they replace it.

Doug: Brad, I'm going to leave it right there. That's great advice for anybody thinking about planting trees or caring for their trees in the spring. I appreciate your time. That was a lot of fun. I'm glad you're working on a good team.

Brad: It all comes down to goals, what your goals are, and we can help you figure out the best way to achieve those goals.

Doug: All right, Brad, thanks again.

Brad: Thank you, Doug. Take care.

Doug: I'm thinking I should recommend the Davey team to coach my beloved Cleveland Browns the way that sounded, next week. Seeing Green this St. Patrick's Day, we're going to learn when should the leaves come back on our trees. Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oster. I'd love it if you would subscribe to the podcast. We're having fun, aren't we? As always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

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