Talking Trees with Davey Tree
Your trees and landscapes require year-round care, and The Davey Tree Expert Company is here to help provide you with expert advice. Join our professional Davey arborists and gardening-expert host Doug Oster to learn all about caring for your properties. We'll talk about introduced pests, seasonal tree care, tree diseases, arborists' favorite trees, how to help your trees thrive and everything in between. Tune in every Thursday because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer.
Talking Trees with Davey Tree
Tree Check Month: How to Spot Warning Signs This August
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Rachel Broskey from Davey's Knoxville office joins us to discuss Tree Check Month, including how to inspect your trees, what warning signs to look for and why routine tree care is essential for keeping your landscape healthy and safe.
To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.
To learn more about checking your trees for pests or diseases, please read our blogs Disease & Insect Issues, Plant Health Care and Soil Care & Mulching.
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Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com.
Connect with us: podcasts@davey.com.
Welcome to the Deby Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oester. 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 today by Rachel Broski. She is a sales arborist with the Knoxville, Tennessee office of the Davy Tree Expert Company. And today, Rachel, it's all about tree check month. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you doing, Doug? I'm doing great. What is tree check month?
What is Tree Check Month?
SPEAKER_00Tree check month is something that you need to get out there. Right now, what we're dealing with this month specifically is a lot of drought stress, um, flying insects. There's a lot of things that are now starting to do damage in the trees that you can now see visually. So we know to go out and treat for those things.
SPEAKER_01So if I am a homeowner, what is the first thing I should be looking for?
SPEAKER_00You want to look at your trees, especially the foliage for any insects. Right now, one of the biggest issues that I've seen this year is bagworms. Um, unfortunately, sometimes by the time we get out to the property or by the time they see the damage, it's too late or a lot of the tree has been lost. Um, so if you just kind of get up close and personal with your foliage and you look at what's going on with it, if you start to see any dieback, don't just wait for it to get worse, really get out there and take a look at it beforehand.
SPEAKER_01Well, schoolman bagworms, it's
Bagworms
SPEAKER_01it's kind of like a bag hanging in like an evergreen. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, they go after our evergreen conifers. Um, so things like Leyland cypresses, arborvities, and what they do is they use the needles, they feed on the foliage of the tree, and they use that needle to kind of camouflage themselves. So really it just looks like almost like your fall needle drop in a tree. Just looks like a very small dead tip on that branch, but really inside of there is a worm that's feeding on that branch and eating the foliage, essentially.
SPEAKER_01What other things can we be looking
Drought stress
SPEAKER_01for this time of year?
SPEAKER_00One of the really bad things this time of year is going to be drought stress on trees, which can be difficult to identify. So that's something that you should probably have an arborist out to look at your foliage. Um, if you're aware of what your trees typically look like and the tree is looking a little bit dry or the foliage isn't looking, you know, the way that you're used to seeing it, that's a good idea to have an arborist come out and take a look at it.
SPEAKER_01Where you're at in Tennessee, are you guys uh looking at drought?
SPEAKER_00Yes, definitely. Um, we've had a lot of rain recently, but we had um an early drought this year. So the trees are definitely struggling. I think our dogwoods are struggling um more than other things right now. And when that happens, there are things that we can do to try to combat that um in the trees. So it's a good idea just to have us out and hopefully get started on a treatment plan.
SPEAKER_01Well, we
Free arborist visit
SPEAKER_01might as well talk about uh having an arborist out. It's free to have an arborist, right? Yes. How does that work? How why are you coming for free?
SPEAKER_00So we come out really what our job is is to educate the clients. And of course, we hope that they'll sign up with services for us. Um, but we like to go out and educate people about their trees, and we like to go out and do that free estimate to hopefully just tell them what's going on with their trees and in hopes that they'll sign up with services, but if nothing else, so they'll take that education and hopefully, you know, make better decisions for their trees and their landscapes as well.
SPEAKER_01Well, I tell people probably every other day when they have a tree issue, you need a certified arborist to take a look. And the importance of a certified arborist is that they have a code of ethics, and you don't have to sell something when you get to that house, right? You're just more of a scientist looking over the property and seeing what the problems are. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Yeah, and when you have a certified arborist that has that knowledge backing them, they're not gonna go out there and just say, oh, well, I think you know, you should do X, Y, and Z. And then you end up with a worse situation than before, like volcano mulching. Yes, mulch is good, but there's an incorrect way of doing it. So when you have that knowledge behind that, you're gonna have things done the right way. And especially when you're hiring baby, you have that satisfaction guarantee, you have somebody on site with that knowledge guaranteed, and it's it's a a good company to go with.
SPEAKER_01You had to bring up volcano mulching.
Volcano mulching
SPEAKER_01We talk about that every other show, Rachel.
SPEAKER_00I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's something that we we battle. And I always ask uh Arboris, uh, what would it be like if I'm in the truck with you and you're driving by these developments that are uh filled with uh trees that are under under mulch. They've got like six, eight, ten, twelve inches of mulch at the base of the tree. And I know if you're anything like me, you're just like shaking your head and like, oh, those poor trees.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a bad situation. And honestly, I I feel worse for the homeowner in that situation because most of the time they're walking into a landscape that they didn't have any part of or that they did have a part of, and somebody just educated them incorrectly. Um, and then you have to go in and spend more time and more money, and it's very it's harmful for the trees as well. And I feel bad for the homeowner in that situation because most of the time they just don't know, and they're not, I mean, we don't expect them to know either.
SPEAKER_01I feel the same way, but there's like there's somebody at fault here that that shouldn't be doing doing that. And I tell the story all the time that uh I drive out of this radio station uh every Sunday, and they were volcano mulching like to the max, these mature oak trees. Well, now one of those oak trees is not there. Uh all that's all that's left is is that big giant volcano that was there, and that's that's that's the sad part of it is that a uh 50-year-old, 100-year-old tree or one that's just planted three years ago is definitely gonna be negatively affected by by doing that. Yet people see it, and as you said, they don't know any better.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And a lot of people like the way that it looks, so the aesthetic purpose of that, um, and they just don't have any knowledge about the damage uh that it's gonna do to the trees. I've had the privilege of working um pretty closely with a few of the larger landscape companies in my area, um, and it's been an ongoing process, but I I feel like I've kind of swayed their their ideology on how they do some things recently, which is awesome. They just, and I feel like even even though they own a landscape company, they didn't know the damages that it can do to the trees with the practices that they had, you know, not removing twine off of a tree or volcano mulching, things like that. It's just that's the way that they've done it forever, and they just don't know any better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, tell me about the resistance you get because I hear it all the time. There's science and then there's the way we do it. Yes. And I'm just encouraged that you've made some progress because oftentimes people are pretty bullheaded about it, like a landscaping company. They're like, this is the way we've always done it. You people want it this way. We don't want to take the mulch back when after we dump uh six yards.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's and there definitely is some resistance. And I don't know if I've necessarily changed the way that they're gonna do things in the future, but I've at least gotten them to understand that they need to have us on site. If they're not going to do things right, you know, from the beginning, then it's good to have us on site to go in and remove some of those things um and take care of the twine that's still on there and things like that. So even if they're gonna continue to do it, at least we're gonna be on the property right after they're there to fix their mistakes.
SPEAKER_01So, how bad was the
Knoxville's seasonal drought
SPEAKER_01early part of your uh seasonal drought?
SPEAKER_00It was it was pretty bad. I there's a lot of trees that are now starting to come out of it. We've had a ton of rain um probably the last month. So things are starting to recover, but I would say that our dogwoods um have been pretty severely uh affected from it. There's a lot of you know dead foliage on them, and some of them have just completely died, they just didn't leaf out, and these are like older, mature dogwoods that didn't have any health issues really that we can see. Um, and now they're just dead.
SPEAKER_01So isn't that a good feeling uh after you have a dry period that you get some good rain as a plant person? We talk a lot about drought on the the show, and I always say it's one of the worst things for a plant person when you're not getting rain.
SPEAKER_00Yes, definitely. Yeah, the rain is always a welcome site. Um it's one thing to go out there and kind of hand water your your plants, and that can be beneficial, but I feel like nature is really good at just kind of taking care of itself. So when everything is going according to plan and that that rain is in the atmosphere, it's it's good for our plants.
SPEAKER_01So for
Looking closely at your trees
SPEAKER_01tree check month, I think it's interesting because people even hey, I I host a tree podcast and I'm and I live in an oak forest and I'm not checking my trees. Uh yes, and I should be. Um when the arborist from Davy comes every six months, uh, you always find something that I should have seen first. Uh although I did, I was out there yesterday and I saw I'm always worried about seeing oak leaves that have uh a weird color. I'm worried, always worried about oak wilt that is in my forest. But I I saw some leaves on the ground and I was looking close at them. I'm looking up, I'm like, oh, this is it's it's not that. It just dropped off. It was just a storm, so it's okay. How much time should I spend out there looking up, looking down, and looking closely?
SPEAKER_00That's kind of a loaded question. I guess it really depends on you know the the trees that you have, the maturity of your trees, um, a lot of the urban environments, you're not gonna have to spend too much time out there. Um, but like you said, living in an oak forest or a heavily wooded environment, you're you could spend a couple hours out there at least kind of inspecting everything. And even if you're out there inspecting things, that you can still things can still slip through the cracks. Because to the naked eye, it doesn't, things don't look off until unfortunately it's too late. One thing that we're dealing with right now as well is ambrosia beetle. And if you don't know what you're looking for for ambrosia beetle, it's it's really difficult to tell what's going on until it's too late. And once that foliage starts to die back, that's something that's really hard to kind of get a hold on um before that tree starts to decline and just won't come back.
SPEAKER_01Tell me about the ambrosia
Ambrosia beetle
SPEAKER_01beetle, because I've I've heard of like, isn't there like ambrosia maple, like like as a a wood they sell or something that the ambrosia beetle has done something to the wood and and you can buy it that way or something?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's really pretty. There's like some black staining um within the wood, and it's it looks different than any other maple, and it is really pretty. But if that tree's alive, definitely not a good situation for it. Um, the ambrosia beetles will go in and disrupt the vascular system of the tree. And what you're looking for on the outside of the tree, um, if you start to see, hopefully you can catch it before you start to see your tree decline. But if you do start to see your tree decline, just go around the base of the tree. Typically, you're gonna see them within like the lower six feet of the trunk. They can go a little bit higher, but that's usually where you want to start. And if you see a toothpick-like protrusion of wood um sticking out from the tree, that is a very obvious sign that you have ambrosia beetles. There's other wood-boring insects that don't have that toothpick-like protrusion. So you might see some sawdust spilling out of your tree or sawdust kind of piled up at the base of your tree, and it's usually very fine sawdust, and it'll be very small entry holes from those wood-boring insects.
SPEAKER_01Well, I have to assume if I see a wood-boring insect that it's serious for the tree, right? That I better get an arborist out there right away.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's definitely a very serious thing that we have to deal with. There are different treatments depending on what type of wood-boring insect that we can use to try to stop that damage. And sometimes it's more of a wait and see process. We can do the treatments, but it the damage that they've done doesn't always uh uh immediately present itself within the tree. So sometimes we have to do the treatment and just kind of wait and see how the tree is going to respond to that treatment.
SPEAKER_01Let's specifically talk again about the ambrosia beetle. How bad is that for a tree? Can that be like deadly or it definitely yeah, it definitely can be deadly.
SPEAKER_00Um, once the vascular system is disrupted, the flow of water and nutrients is going to be disrupted. So that can kill a tree very quickly.
How Rachel became an arborist
SPEAKER_01Rachel, how did you get into this? How is this job right for you?
SPEAKER_00Um, I got into this. I own my own landscape company, and then I wanted to become a certified arborist because as much as I love landscape, uh I really I love trees. Um, they're just my passion. I love everything about them, and I just I think that they really can leave a legacy behind um for many generations after you know we won't be here anymore.
SPEAKER_01Before you were a certified arborist and you ran that landscape company, were you volcano mulching?
SPEAKER_00I was not. I did landscape in um Southern California, so we didn't we didn't have very much volcano mulching out there. I did not see that until I got out here to East Tennessee, thankfully.
Fruiting bodies or mushrooms at the trunk
SPEAKER_01What else should I be looking for on my trees if I do want to check my trees? I'm looking up at the foliage, I'm looking down, looking for boring insects. What kind of other things? Just basic stress on the tree, especially in the in the summer like this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So another thing that you want to look for and be really mindful of is if you ever see a fruiting body or a mushroom at the trunk of your tree, um, or on the any of the root system of the tree. It's I always tell my clients that if they ever see anything like that, they can um have me come out to the property or they can just text me a picture right away and get an answer that way. Um, and if it's something that I need to come out and address, then I can come out and address it after that. But that's a sign that you have root rot, depending on what type of mushroom it is. Sometimes it's just beneficial mushrooms and it's not, you know, a big deal. Um, but that's something that is a sign there's something much worse going on inside of the tree.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll tell you, at the radio station where the Davy guys come, uh one day one of them walked out and looked at the base of a I think it's an oak, and he saw a specific type of of growth, of fungal growth, and he said, That tree is gone. It's done. Uh even though it looked it looked good, but he saw that a something right underneath, and he said, That tree's gotta go, or it's gonna fall either on the building or on your car. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I have a tree like that actually in my backyard right behind me, and I we just keep cutting it back, and I really don't want to get rid of it. So we are hoping for the best. There are some types of root rotts that are are worse than others. Um, so getting an identification on that mushroom is definitely important.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything you could do in
Root rot
SPEAKER_01the case of root rot, especially if you're getting a lot of rain? What what would what would you do?
SPEAKER_00So there are so like phytophthora root rot, um, there's things that we can do to try to slow it down. Usually that's a drainage issue with um within the soil. So if it's staying too moist, then that issue may need to be addressed. And that can kind of help the phytophthora go away or move on. Um, but there are a lot of them, there's not really a lot you can do for it. Sometimes people don't want to take that tree down, and I completely understand that, like I'm doing myself. Um, so we can do a reduction pruning there to take some of the weight out of it to reduce the likelihood. Um, but even that is not, it's not foolproof. It's still, there's, it still can go over it. The tree is compromised and that's always going to be there.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love it that you are trying to save that tree. Tell me what you're doing on that tree to to make it do better through this period.
SPEAKER_00So the tree um that I have, it's it's been reduced quite a bit. So the the canopy is very sparse. Um, there's not really a whole lot of true limbs left on it. Um, unfortunately, that's my only tree that I have right now, though. So we're just gonna keep reducing it and hope for the best. Thankfully, the root rot is on the house side, so hopefully it'll go over the opposite direction if it does decide to go over, but it's our only tree, so we're gonna baby it as long as we can.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Uh it's just an example of
Sentimental value toward trees
SPEAKER_01how many of us feel about our trees. Uh you know, when you go to a property, uh, a lot of times people are really invested in their trees, as I am. Uh, and and some of them have special meaning. Some of them, you know, you might have planted it. Uh talk a little bit about that part of your job, uh, about how people do feel about their trees.
SPEAKER_00A lot of the times um we'll go in there by a memorial tree, or it's you know, an inherited property, and that tree was planted by, you know, their mom or their dad or their grandparent. Um, and I know I can't really speak for how other people feel about that, but I know um having my grandfather's fruit tree orchard, it was like a little piece of him that I still got to hold on to. So keeping those trees nice and healthy, it just was very important to me. I almost felt like if I had lost those trees, I would be losing him completely. So I wanted him to stay alive through his through his fruit trees.
Planting memorial trees
SPEAKER_01Well, that is a very fascinating point because I tried to dissuade people from planting memorial trees, unless it's the toughest variety possible. Because just as you spoke there, if that tree doesn't make it, that's another morning, basically. Uh although I have done it myself. I planted uh uh a very uh the toughest trees I can possibly think of. If I want a memorial tree, uh American horn beam is one that I have in my forest. Where again, when I'm trying to replace these oaks with a more diverse, trying to make the forest more diverse for the next owner, basically. Uh but when people do ask for a memorial tree, and I know it always has to be right tree, right place. What are what are your responses?
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna try to tell somebody not to plant a memorial tree. Um, I do, I obviously would prefer that we planted it. And that's not something that a lot of trees have a hard time being transplanted and they did they struggle after being planted. So it's a good idea to try to get those trees on the fertilizer plan. Um, I definitely try to give them you know as much TLC as we possibly can, but it is a difficult situation because you don't want them to feel that loss twice. And it's it's difficult. And we have, you know, I've had clients that have planted memorial trees and then called us out when the tree starts to struggle and you know they haven't made it. Um, so it's it's not a great situation, but I also understand wanting to try to plant that and continue that memory within that tree.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I see a lot of people trying to use red buds here because the heart-shaped leaves and red bud, you know, native, tough as long as it gets established. But as you said, planting it correctly, like you said, you would rather plant it because you know you're gonna be planting it the right way, not too deep, with the right soil conditions, volcano mulching. And no volcano mulching, exactly. Uh well, Rachel, thanks so much for filling us in on Tree Check Month. Appreciate it. And it was fun to talk to you. I know we will talk uh again uh about something uh tree related. So thanks for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you so much, Doug.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for having me again.
SPEAKER_01Tree Check Month is a great reminder to get out there, look down, and look up and see what's going on with your trees. Now, tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Deby Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oster. I'd love to hear from you. There's a couple of different ways to do that. You can send us an email to podcasts at Deby.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S at D-A-B-E-Y.com. You can also click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your ideas could be on an upcoming show. We'd love to hear from you. And as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast. Trees are the answer.