Why are Trees Important?

Eric Countryman, certified arborist at Davey's  East Pittsburgh office, talks about the benefits of trees, why it's important to care for them and how to make your trees thrive.

In this episode we cover:

• The benefits of trees (0:44)
• What to consider when planting a tree (2:27)
• Tree topping (4:25)
• How trees grow - how tall will they get? (6:53)
• Free consultations at your house (8:15)
• Benefits of an arborist (8:50)
• Pruning season and tree diseases (10:01)
• Eric's favorite part about his job (13:18) (18:21)
• Underrated trees (16:34)
• Winter desiccation (19:08)

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

To learn more about the benefits of trees, read our blog, Benefits of Planting Trees - Latest Research.
To learn more about how trees help save you money, read our blog, Put a Dollar Amount on Your Tree! Discover the Value of Your Tree.
To learn more about tree topping, read our blog, What is Tree Topping and Why Topping is Harmful to Trees.
To learn more about Davey's free consultations, read our blog, What to Expect When You Request a Davey Tree Free Consultation.
To learn more about pruning, read our blog, Importance of Pruning: 5 Reasons to Prune During the Winter Season.

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

Transcript

[music]

Doug Oster: Welcome to The Davey Tree Expert Company's Podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each episode showcases one of Davey's certified arborists sharing advice with everyone about caring for your trees and landscapes. We'll talk about everything from introduced pests, seasonal tree care, deer damage, how to make your trees thrive, and much much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more, because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer. Our guest is Eric Countryman. He is a certified arborist and district manager for The Davey Tree Expert Company. Welcome to the podcast, Eric.

Eric Countryman: Hey, thanks, Doug.

Doug: Yes, we know, trees are good, you're learning that in elementary school, but I don't think people really think about the specifics of why trees are so good for the landscape.

Eric: Yes, I mean, trees do give several benefits to your property, to the health of a community. Studies have shown that for a personal reason, they can increase a property value up to about 20%. They can provide just a lot more beauty and softness to a stark or concrete area. Also, some studies have shown that it can decrease energy costs for a homeowner by up to 12%. They can be financially helpful and then just pretty to look at. Trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. That's always good for us. Then some other studies have shown that in neighborhoods that have a proper tree canopy that crime rates are lower.

Doug: As far as when we're talking about the cost of heating the home or cooling the home, having trees around there, certainly, in my case, I'm living in an oak forest, and I certainly understand the benefits of that shade canopy on top of the house.

Eric: Well, sure, it's not only just shade from the sun, but you also get airflow underneath the trees and then can almost canopy some of that in as well. You're not getting it all just blasting right through or blowing right away.

Doug: I think many people look at the beauty angle, that when they're looking at a tree to add to the landscape, talk a little bit about that, but also talk about when we're this time of the year looking around at the bones of the garden, which I consider the trees and shrubs. If we want to add a tree, what are some of the things that we should think about when thinking about adding a tree to the landscape?

Eric: I'd say from the beauty component, trees add an element of height to landscaping. As you're planning out how it's going to look from the curb, a tree on the corner can help steer your eye toward your front door, which is pretty typical in landscape design. Then there's just can help lower the height of something, building or a home is very imposing and having trees in the front can help bring that height down just to be more visually appealing and just make you feel more comfortable.

I mean, the biggest thing that I feel people miss is realizing how big a tree is going to get, and then how close they put it to their home. You do need to do your research on the size this is going to get and do I need to plant it if that 10 feet away 20 feet away, does it need to be on the other side of the yard? That could keep you from having a lot of trouble with it down the line.

Doug: Well, I think you and I are on the same page here because as we drive by especially new construction, but as we drive by properties, I know that anybody that loves trees, you get upset when you see them planted in the wrong spot.

Eric: Yes, right tree right place. I think that's if you don't have the room for it to grow high, do the power lines and you need to plant low-growing trees. If it can't get wide, you need to plant skinny columnar ones. If you have a great big front yard with lots of space and plant the biggest oak, you can find and let it grow.

Doug: Well, you'll like this story, I tell it often when talking about planting trees. A friend of mine brought in a plant marker from a tree, and she said " Doug, I planted this in a container. What do you think?" It was a magnolia, and I looked at that the mature height was 30 feet. I said, "Brenda, you can't plant that in the container. It's going to get 30 feet tall. She told me, "I'll just trim it off the top." When you hear the word top does your head explode?

Eric: Yes, it does. Hey, if you want to keep it in a pot, that's probably going to be your only option, but it's not going to be a healthy tree or a healthy, at that point shrub, what is it, a topiary at that point. Specifically for plant trees in our landscaping " topping" indiscriminately cutting it off just at 20 feet high or making it totally round, it just leads to greater problems for your tree. The suckering growth that comes after you do that is less strong, it's less healthy, it's more susceptible to drought stress, it's more susceptible to heat stress. Those openings where you had made those cuts and all these suckers are coming out, just are going to rot straight in.

Now you're going to have even less holding wood as this thing matures, and it's just not going to be really it's not a problem solver. If the tree has really gotten too large, and you feel like that's the only thing you can do with it, it's probably time to think about total removal and replacement.

Doug: Yes, I think there's nothing worse than seeing a tree that's been topped, and the times I see it here in the city or mostly around power lines, it's just inevitable that the tree is going to degrade when it's continually top-gutted.

Eric: Yes, absolutely. Once you do it once, you're going to have to do it constantly because the growth that comes out is not good. When something, a typical big tree, say, every three to five years, a top tree, it's almost every one to two.

Doug: When we look at or when we're thinking about planting a tree, and we're poking around at the nursery, and we're looking at plant tags, that was one of the interesting things I think about that story was that the gardener could have read that plant tag, but brought the plant tag to me to read it. As we talked, know how big it's going to get. When it says it's going to be 30 feet tall, it doesn't stop at 30 feet, does it? It just might slow down there. How does that work?

Eric: Yes, when you're talking mac side, I think it's more average, it also depends on how it's planted, where it's planted the sunlight it gets, if it's going to be reaching for sun for whatever reason, it may grow taller, faster because it's just trying to get toward light. Also, pruning on it constantly could lead to faster and harder growth, but typically, if it says mature height, 30 feet, once it gets about that 30 feet mark, it's going to slow down and you might get an inch a year, not six inches.

Doug: When someone's looking at a tree, it's so hard for them, even though they know how big it's going to get, when they put it in place, it looks great that day, but in five years, that's how you have to think about this. You're thinking 5, 10, 20, 30 years down the road as a mature specimen.

Eric: Yes, and that is something you have to think about. You may not really be able to do that yourself, that's why there are arborists available. There's plenty of ways to contact an arborist such as myself, we'll be happy to come out and give you some guidance and some suggestions, maybe have better ideas or go, "Yes, that tree sounds perfect."

Doug: Then one thing I think is interesting is that if you do have a tree problem, you can call a certified arborist like yourself from The Davey Tree Expert Company, and you'll come out and help them. It's no cost, and you will tell them the problem with a tree.

Eric: Absolutely, yes, we do provide free visits to people's homes. We do make suggestions, obviously and there could be a cost associated with that, depending upon what it is and what their remedy is, but for us to initially come out and take a look around, absolutely.

Doug: Talk about how important that is to have an expert come look. The worst thing you can do, especially with a nice looking tree, it's just a start after it on your own not knowing what you're doing, why not have an expert take a look at it.

Eric: You know what? I agree, but in the age of YouTube, you seem like you could become an expert in anything. Some things are just out of a homeowner's reach, you're talking about a large oak tree, there's only so much you're going to be able to do if you don't know how to get yourself up in the air to take care of it. I'm a trained arborist, I went to college for science for biology and then through 15 years of work with Devy I have learned more and more and more about trees, that I noticed things faster than you could ever think of to look up on YouTube.

We also keep ourselves current with coming disease problems, insect problems and can advise you sometimes for ways to prevent having issues long before we have to come out there and try to fix them.

Doug: Well, I'm glad you brought up diseases, because I wanted to discuss a little bit about the pruning season. Most of the deciduous trees in the east are dormant now, and I know there are some diseases that are just devastating to certain plants that for that reason we're only pruning things this time of the year.

Eric: Yes. They're the two big ones, the two most common are Dutch elm disease associated with American elms and Oak wilt, which is a problem for both red and white Oaks species. Both of them are a fungal disease that is carried into the tree via insects and also from open wounds on the tree. By pruning in the winter, the wound problem isn't an issue because the tree's dormant and it's not going to infect and the fungal disease isn't really present as spores aren't present.

The insects are also not present to be the vectors to carry the disease in. Here in the Pittsburgh area, I do know throughout most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, we don't do any pruning unless it's absolutely necessary for a safety reason for an Oak or an Elm until about middle of October, until about the end of March. That's what we classify as the dormant season.

The only other new one are beach trees with the beach canker, that's more transmitted via an insect as well, but it's another disease that is getting into the trees that we're finding. It's probably better to prune them when they're dormant, just again, to cut down on any extra transmission.

Doug: Then for other trees in the landscape, what should we be pruning and what shouldn't we be pruning? I know there's hundreds of different varieties, but is there a general pattern for things that we do and don't want to prune during this season?

Eric: It's not necessarily what kind, it's more what for if that makes any sense. Dormant pruning time is a great time to prune out more structurally the inside of your trees. You can see them with the leaves out, we can see where there's crossing branches, more dead wood, we can see the structural integrity of the tree. During your active growing season, you do that a lot. You do a pruning more for appearance, clearance from the house, the leaves are on, you can see how big something is. Raising the canopies up because they're getting too low over the garden once the leaves are on.

It's more for different reasons. I just personally don't want to prune a flowering tree until after flower. Just because you're going to cut the blossoms off. It's not going to look as pretty, I don't think it'll hurt really any species that I know of, but it's just not going to have the best flowering show.

Doug: Something like a dogwood that already has its buds on it. That's something that I want to wait and see the flowers. Like you said, unless there's a safety issue, unless it's a crossing branch, it's going to bloom, but are you going to get to it in the spring? Lots of things to think about there. For you, what do you get out of this job? Why is it right for you?

Eric: Well, when I was in college, I wanted to be a doctor actually, and turns out that I didn't want to be in school for that long. It's not going to be the right thing for me education-wise and career-wise. What this gave me the opportunity was, is to act like a "doctor." I get to examine a patient, I get to suggest and provide a treatment and alleviate whatever the problem is, or sometimes you have to give the right option that it's time that the tree's got to go. I get to work with people in their homes. There's definite a value in being someone's expert, giving them solid advice, it working, and then getting enjoyment and satisfaction over having a nice looking house.

Doug: Tell me a little bit about that enjoyment and satisfaction and what it feels like to give a homeowner that? Basically, it's a peace of mind.

Eric: Especially when we get called out and we're, oh my goodness. My shrubs are getting decimated by bagworms, we need help. You go out and not only do you see the bagworm problem, but there's scale on Magnolias and we've got hemlock woolly adelgid and we provide a thorough comprehensive plan. They say, "Eric, we're going to trust you." Then we always hope to deliver, and if we do the next year, boy, that just looks so much different. Everything's looking greener, it's looking healthier. The stress is off of them and they just think it's the greatest thing. It makes me feel good that I put my mind to use, came up with a solution and it really worked. It's always very fulfilling that way.

Doug: I'm glad you brought up hemlock woolly adelgid because that's what happened with me. I had guys from Davy here. I have to have a team from Davy here about once a year, living in an Oak forest, something falls, something's not right. When they came to work on my Oaks, that's what they realized was a big problem for me was that hemlock woolly adelgid. Even though as a garden person and someone who spends a lot of time looking at their trees, I hadn't seen that hemlock woolly adelgid, and I'm so glad they pointed that out to me because I was able to start treatment, get it under control. Again, I wouldn't have seen it. That was definitely a great thing to happen when they visited.

Eric: I would say, again, we were talking about this before, but the benefit of having an arborist come to your property, even if you aren't sure you have a problem. Then always the best thing is, well, my dog would've had spots and what can I do about it? We help you have an answer for that. Hopefully, the arborist is out there and he is explaining there's some other things I've noticed. Would you like to talk about it? You can always ask, "Hey, want to look around? Tell me what you think." As the homeowner, pick the brains, get as much advice as you can. They're there, you might as well.

Doug: Well, since I have you here, I'm going to pick your brain. As someone who works with trees all the time, are there some things that you have in your mind, trees that aren't planted as often as they should be, that you love, that you think, gosh, if more people planted this, they would sure be happy to see what it does in the landscape?

Eric: Yes, it's more of a native one that I just don't see planted anywhere near enough, it's American hornbeams, called ironwoods. We do plant the European ones. They're very tight, very formal looking, maybe not for everybody. They're generally pretty strong or you don't see a lot of disease or insect issues with them. They don't get very large. What's cool about them is, if you've ever been in the woods and you see trees look like they have leaves on them in the winter, it's usually your hornbeams, because they'll hold brown leaves till the spring. It gives you a little bit of winter interest as well. As a native species, I just think it's totally undervalued.

Doug: You made me feel so good because about three years ago, I put in an American hornbeam where I had lost an Oak. I think I'm on the right track. Is there one more you can think of that you like that doesn't get planted as much as you wish it could?

Eric: The other would be more of a larger, shade tree would be like a black gum. Sometimes they're called a Tupelo gum. They're just, again, another great strong tree, which we don't see a lot of issue with and their fall color is gorgeous. It's purple. If you got a lot of maple trees, sometimes that can get a little bit repetitive and you add some of those purple trees and they are in the fall and it's really gorgeous.

Doug: What's the best thing about your job, Eric?

Eric: I enjoy mostly, like I said, diagnosing problems. I like researching about new insects, new disease problems and how we can handle it and fix it, and how we can get ahead of it. Then helping people make a plan for that. Pruning is important, but sometimes it's mentally challenging. Now, it could be, how to get this tree pruned when it's in the backyard, surrounded by six houses, no access. We got to figure all that out for safety. It's just not quite the same as pulling out the hand lens and finding mites on a bush and we couldn't figure out what's wrong with it, and then providing a good solution,

Doug: Eric, during this season, is there anything that people should be looking for specifically in their trees during the winter?

Eric: There is one specific thing, and I'm actually concerned about it this year due to the harsh weather we had in this area, through 2020. It's called winter desiccation. It's basically the drying out or browning out of your usually ornamental trees, and particularly shrubs. What happens is, is the root system on these plants, with the drought we had are going to be really damaged. They're going to be smaller. They're not going to be as healthy. If we get a really cold winter where the ground really freezes, the little bit of roots they have are just not going to be able to pull in any water. If it gets windy, then they'll really dry out on their leaves, and then they'll turn brown.

We see this coming out of winter into spring, and suddenly all your boxwoods just look brown on one side. It's a big problem and once it happens there's not a lot we can do to fix it. I do hope once it starts warming up that where watering is needed, fertilizing to maybe get these plants a little healthier. If you do have an exposed hedge that's going to get hit hard by wind, it might be thoughtful to put up a burlap barrier just to protect them from the wind. Maybe they won't dry out quite so fast and will be able to hold their green colors.

Doug: Oh, Eric, this has been great information. I appreciate your time. It was fun to talk to you and I learned so much.

Eric: Oh, it was happy to be here. Anytime.

[music]

Doug Oster: Remember, tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from The Davey Tree Expert Company. Next week it's all about invasive species like the emerald ash borer. Until then remember, trees are the answer.

[music]

[00:21:15] [END OF AUDIO]