Mature trees are the kings of the forest. They provide us with a whole range of
benefits – from improving our air quality, to managing carbon and reducing runoff.
And it’s because of those benefits that we need to do our best to make sure we’re
taking care of them as best we can.

One way we do this is something called crown reduction.

When the summer turns into fall, it becomes time to put a lot of stuff away for the
winter. We put away our bathing suits, beach towels and shut down our pool. We
winterize our lawn mower and get our snow blowers tuned up.
That being said – should your garden hose also follow?

Trees can hold a special place in our hearts for a wide range of reasons. Sometimes
they simply stand the test of time – living through hundreds and thousands of years
of weather, families, history and the like. Others just give our lawn the look we’ve
always wanted it to have.

​Before we know it, all this warm, summer weather we’ve been enjoying will give way for colder weather and inevitably – the fall. And that fall is an important time of year when it comes to taking care of your trees.
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This week’s blog is going to focus on some of the things you need to think about when prepping your trees for the fall and the impending cold weather. Let’s jump right in!

​Tree stumps happen. Storms come and damage trees, we cut them down due to dangerous leans, old age kills them – you name it, it happens and chances are that you’ll have a tree stump dangling out there in your yard at some point and there’s an even better chance that it stays there for a long while.

We don’t pull punches when we say we love mulch and have advocated for it a million and one times on this blog. Its benefits are numerous and it’s a must-have ingredient for a tree’s health, growth and sustenance.
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But to the laymen, it’s hard to tell when’s too much, what’s not enough, or just right. The old saying goes ‘too much of a good thing can be bad’ and that’s very much true even when it comes to things like mulch. Too much mulch can cause problems and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

​Humans love the summer, but do your trees love it? The short answer is – most certainly, yes; But only if you take care of them. Each season has its own, unique effects on trees and summer is no different. Here are some tips to help your trees healthy during those hot, New England summer months!

​There are plenty of things that are good for your trees – but one thing that is not good for your tree (believe it or not) is grass. 

Hearing that seems kind of weird, doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised. Trees compete for a limited supply of water an nutrients in the soil and grass not only takes away from trees – it often takes more than trees do. Additionally, you have to mow grass in order to maintain it. And mowing or trimming around a tree’s base can cut and damage roots.

So – do you want grass around your trees’ base? The answer is ‘no.’ But the problem now becomes removing and disposing of the grass, itself – and that’s what we’re going to discuss today.

​When you see orange and funky colored bumps on your oak leaves, chances are – your trees have blisters. Here’s what it means and here’s what you can do:
 
Blister disease and oak leaf gall are the two issues most commonly found on your oak leaves and here’s how you tell which is which: Blisters will come off as raised spots scattered about your canopy. If the leaves look sunken or indented, then this is what you’re dealing with. They can cause curling and kill leaves earlier than they’re intended to pass. 
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