~From Roots to Shoots~

Greetings,

Now that autumn is in the air, it’s time to think about mums, cornstalks, hay bales, pumpkins and spectacular fall color around your home. It’s ideal weather to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. I encourage you to visit one of our community’s beautiful gardens or arboretums. These serene spaces offer inspiration for adding trees and native plants to your own landscape. Find a list of local gardens at the link below.

This summer brought intense heat and humidity, particularly from late June through July, placing significant stress on plants, trees, and lawns. Despite earlier rainfall, the landscape is now drying out, with many trees showing early color change and leaf drop. Our plant health care techs have been very busy this summer monitoring foliar diseases and damaging insects. Due to the drought conditions, many trees are turning color and shedding leaves early. Hopefully, we get additional rain as our trees and plants prepare for fall and winter.

Our team of arborists were kept busy addressing tree damage from the frequent storms that passed through our neighborhoods this summer. I’m proud of our teams’ tireless efforts tending to our customers’ needs, especially during the very hot weather this summer.

Sadly, our stately beech trees are under attack. We are seeing an alarming rise in Beech Leaf Disease (BLD), caused by a microscopic nematode affecting all species of beech trees along the Main Line. For more details on protecting your beech trees, please see the “Bugs and Blooms” section in the newsletter.

As the growing season ends, we shift to fall and winter tree maintenance. The dormant season allows our arborists to access hard-to-reach areas of your property and perform structural pruning on trees of all sizes. This is the ideal time to prune disease-prone species like American elms and oaks. Contact us to schedule a visit and learn how fall and winter care can benefit your trees and landscape.

Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
Wishing you a beautiful fall season!

Sincerely,
Steve