Landscape Design Flaws can harm the trees post-construction

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Whitefly Pupal Casings on Cherry Laurel

Often confused for scale or even artillery fungus, these whitefly pupal casings have a lot of variety. Some have white margins; others have waxy filaments.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Bagworm on Red Maple

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Sooty Mold on Cherry Laurel

There is some mild whitefly presence on the cherry laurel, but I think the honeydew is really coming from a shadetree above.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Scale on Yaupon Holly October Houston

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Pop Quiz: Anyone with an ID on this lovely tropical?

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Sooty mold affecting several surrounding plants 2/2

In addition to the lacebug damage, I found aphids, fat and happy, on the American elm that was dripping on all the expensive landscape plants below.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Sooty mold affecting several surrounding plants 1/2

Here's a plant health inspection I conducted in Piney Point Village, Texas. I took the elm leaf back to the lab to examine under one of my microscopes. Later, you'll see that I found aphids--live and fat--feeding right over the top of the lacebug damage from earlier in the season. You'll also see the black spot of elm up close. 



Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Plant Turnaround Before and After Houston 2010

It's amazing what a little TLC can accomplish. Hand-prune the jasmine away from the base, put a stop to the weedeater damage at the base, loosen up the guys--eventually remove--a little soil amendment. and a disappointing transplant can turn into a sensation!

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Oak Wilt Inspection from Aerial Lift

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Cable and Lightning Protection System Inspection

Hardware in trees needs to be inspected periodically. There are a few things to keep in mind. Hardware and installation techniques should conform to the ANSI A300 Support Systems Standard. Hint: if you purchased your hardware at the hardware store, it probably isn't up to standard. Cabling systems work. Lightning protection systems work. Props work, Through-bolts work. In the right situations, that is.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Magnolia inspection: scale, pH and soil nutrition

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Bright Red live oak root sprouts sprouting from an (otherwise) dead live oak transplant. Close examination of the leftmost stalk will reveal fire ants tending their flock of aphids.

 
 Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Fire ants tending a flock of aphids on live oak

 
This close up doesn't really show the fire ants--just the aphids--but they're there. The kind of freaked out when I plucked off the branch and tried like hell to bite me, and wouldn't pose for the picture. And yes, I said live oak.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Some lightning strikes are more damaging than others...

 
 Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

How to manage a tree whose entire feeder root system resides above the root collar?

 
Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Pruning away, and still no root collar!

 

 Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Part 2/2 of Cathedral Live Oak Transplant turnaround

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

"Cathedral" live oak transplant turnaround

This live oak transplant had a little trouble after planting. We're hoping that our efforts to stabilize it will prove successful over the coming years.



Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Immature Scale October Houston

Immature scale photographed at 100x in October in Houston. Matches up with an immature scale depicted in Johnson and Lyon.

 Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones or Shane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Algal Leaf Spot on Camellia Houston October

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service, a Certified Arborist or just someone who is serious about tree care, call the company I've been working with since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. We'll set a time for me to come out, or, depending on what part of town you're in, John Jones orShane Hrobar. This is my personal blog: it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts, whose website you can visit at www.bartlett.com (I especially recommend the "Resource Library" under "Site Map".)

Texas Tree Trails

Here's a link to a nice work in progress on Texas tree trails.

http://greattexastreetrail.org/

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Houston Arborist Gene Basler Examines Trees After Root Invigoration

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Houston Arborist Gene Basler Examines Webworms on Pecans

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Gene Basler Examines Distressed Pecan

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Bagworm on Shumard Oak

Bagworm on Shumard oak? Oh, yes. And plenty of them, too. I have now seen bagworm on live oak, red maple, Shumard oak, red-tipped photinia, Italian cypress, Eastern red cedar, Ashe juniper and Leyland cypress.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

"Butterfly" deformity on red bud

I collected these deformed leaves from a red bud in Fulshear, Texas. I would have ignored one, but two?

My first thought was eriophyid mite damage, until I found this bagworm on a red maple on the same property.

Then I began to wonder if the damage on the same part of the red bud leaf wasn't perhaps an aborted attempt to start a bag, which the leaf subsequently grew around.

(By the way, one might be tempted to correct me and insist that it's a silver maple leaf, because the bagworm damage leaves the illusion of deep sinuses. But it's a red maple.)

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Bright green Chelicerae of the P. audax jumping spider

This is the Phidippus audax. I this photo the metallic green is faded, as the specimen has been dead for some time, but the live jumping spider's bright green fangs really jump out at ya. I shot this with my Celestron Digital Microscope.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Leafhopper nymph on River Birch

I recorded this leafhopper nymph on the underside of a river birch leaf today, Saturday, October 9th, 2010. There is also the spider mite present on the leaf, but not in this clip. Recorded with Celestron Handheld Digital Microscope

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Possible Pityophthorus Chamber on Live Oak twig?

This live oak twig is 5/16" in diameter. The holes, before I whittled them away, were even smaller (see below). I'm not sure, but I suspect the debris inside the gallery might be dried up ambrosia.

I found a cool scavenger that I've been unable to identify, and also a roving mite with a spider tattoo on its back (Neoseiulus spp.?).

 The holes before I opened the door.

 I also have a video and a second video of this scavenger.

Here's the mite with the spider tattoo that was also in the gallery.

 

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

What does it mean to be TCIA Accredited?

Here is a link to the Tree Care Industry Association.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Why Should I Hire an Arborist? A link from the ISA Website

I've written (and ghost-written) several times about the topic of choosing the right outfit to care for your trees. There are a few points that I consider important that are not covered in the article linked below, but it's a pretty good one anyway.
http://www.treesaregood.org/faq/faq03.aspx
Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Don't Try This At Home, Folks!

I was working late at the office this evening, and I received a call about 7pm from a gentleman who was clearly trying to keep his cool. He had gone on Google and typed in "Tree Service 77018", and I was closest. (Now, tree removal ain't azackly plucking carrots, folks, and I would advise employing a few discriminating criteria other than just geographical proximity to one's house when choosing a tree company. But I digress...)

I went to take a look, and found this. It was too dark to take pictures, but the entire tree was leaning over the house. So, even if it had a perfect notch cut installed by the Canadian Felling Masters of Canada, and even if there were a rope in the tree tied to the bumper of a very large truck being operated by a skilled operator (a felling technique I do not espouse, by the way), then it would be quite difficult to pull the entire tree crown in the intended direction.

But I didn't mention the best part: the entire back part of the tree, approximately 60% of the circumference of the trunk, is decayed:

Anyway, I advised him to move his whole family to the other side of the house for the evening, and wished him luck with whatever cheap dude he decided to hire.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Post Oak Continues to Decline after Health Care Program Discontinued

I hope the following clip shows the importance of staying on top of one's plant health care regime.This post oak was fertilized once once and treated for root rot twice, then nothing since January 2008.

This is very common. People are looking for a magic bullet that will cure their trees. If they don't get immediate satisfaction--as if an old, struggling post oak were going to jump out of bed and feel better after a couple of days--then they discontinue the service. The tree continues to decline, they think Bartlett ripped them off, and nobody's happy.
Managing Plant Health is really no different from managing our own health. We have to stay on top of it. There's a lot more we could do for this tree besides just inject liquid Texas Boost(R) into the ground and try to arrest the root loss.
Fertilizing and root rot treatments are great, and they should be a part of a larger strategy to try to stabilize the tree and arrest the decline. But what really needs to happen is root invigoration. Restructure the soil in the entire dripline of the tree, encourage the soil biology to build up, and place the tree on a completely separate irrigation schedule from the lawn.
I like to draw the parallel of chronic stress headaches. We can take the immediate action--a painkiller--or we can take the long-term action--active steps to manage stress better. Well in this analogy, fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides are really just the painkiller. The lifestyle change is the root invigoration.
This does not mean that this is the answer for every tree and landscape plant, just for the vast majority of them. This one may be too far gone. Or it may stabilize. Either way, root invigoration should be considered as a key component in any tree or landscape plant management plan.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Rain Barrels on Residential Property in Houston

 In early October I examined these rain barrels on a residential property in Houston.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

How bad is the pine bark beetle problem this year?

Well, I haven't seen any Dendroctonus at all this year. Last week I was digging an Ips calligraphis out of a pine tree, and for a moment I thought I saw the tail end of a black turpentine beetle (they're relatively large). Well, it hid from me--they always do--and I wasn't able to get the specimen in a bottle. For the record, it's not at all uncommon to see more than one species of pine bark beetle at the same time.

Contrary to popular belief, Ips and sawyers can be found--active--on the same tree at the same time.

Anyway, they're bad this year. Not as bad as 2009, but compared to 2008, when they were hardly an issue, they're killing pines all over town. I found half a dozen infested/dead pines near Memorial and San Felipe, one near Memorial and Wilcrest, dozens out near Fry and Clay in Katy, some up at Champion Forest and Cypresswood. Let's see, Voss and Katy Freeway, Kluge and Huffmeister in Cypress...

One important point: don't let anyone tell you that your tree can be saved once the pitch tubes appear. There are also football-shaped marks on the bark; these are also indications that it's too late. Have the tree removed. Preventive bark treatments with befenthrin are very effective, especially if properly and religiously applied at 4 month intervals. The Texas Forest Service and some other researchers are working on systemic treatment with emamectin benzoate, which promises to provide 2 years of protection. This would be great--if you could get people to pay for it. Of course, the Bartlett lab, headed up by Dr. Don Booth, will have to do their own battery of tests.

I have seen trees that appear perfectly healthy succumb to pine bark beetle attack, but there is always more than meets the eye. All a tree really needs is a loss of turgor pressure at the right time for the attack to be successful. Most pines in the suburban setting are growing in junky soil. In most situations the turf grass has sapped the soil of all nutrients, foot traffic and pavement have compacted the soil, rendering it anaerobic, irrigation systems have caused moisture stress, and as a result the soil is largely devoid of organic matter and beneficial soil biology.

What I'm saying is the apparently perfectly healthy pine tree that succumbs to pine bark beetles usually ain't as healthy as it may look. I've never seen an infested pine, where I couldn't point to some factor or other that could have contributed to momentary loss of turgor pressure.

So, fertilizing is still the best way to reduce susceptibility. Generally speaking, trees whose nutrient needs are being met--running on all eight cylinders, so to speak--are much less susceptible to drought, over-irrigation, turf-grass competition, foot traffic, pavement, construction damage, and (dare I say it?) lightning (more on this here).

Of course (and I'm still speaking in general terms, here, not just about pines), fertilizing is inferior to promoting healthy soil. This means aerating, incorporating organic mattter and encouraging a healthy soil biology (If you build it, they will come).

Now, we haven't really done extensive testing on preventing pine bark beetle attack using root invigoration, the procedure that does exactly that (aerate and incorporate organic matter into the soil, usually to a depth of 7-9 inches, and to a radius of at least 8 feet for a mature pine), but the principle applies.

So, in summary, pines can be protected from attack by a combination of soil nutrition and preventive bark treatments, and don't let anyone convince you that a pine can be treated once it's been attacked.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Cool vid of cicada shedding skin

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

How are lightning strikes and pine bark beetles connected?

On Monday, October 5th, 2009 (about a year ago), at one o'clock in the morning, lightning struck a pine tree near Memorial and Antoine. My client and his family were home at the time and heard the crack. I arrived at the tree at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning, 32 hours later, and pine bark beetles were already present on the tree.

I have heard that they can attack a lightning-struck pine within 12 hours, but 32 is the fastest interval that I have personal experience with, and it's pretty fast.

(Another note on this property, just a month earlier, the next-door neighbor had a pine succumb to pine bark beetle attack and had all of her trees treated with preventive bark application. The property owner decided not to tell me of this event, because he wasn't ready to have me "sell" him a preventive bark application.)

In another case, just a couple miles west, at Memorial and the Beltway, I inspected a lightning-struck pine that didn't appear to have pine bark beetles on it until about 10 days after the strike (this, by the way, was in August 2009).

So, what is the relationship between lightning and pine bark beetles? This has been studied by several researchers since the 1940s. What is believed is that these little critters are attracted to the pine smell emanating from the fresh wound of a lightning strike. A lightning strike is very stressful to the tree, and most beetle attacks are successful.

If the tree is super healthy, however, it could conceivably exude enough oleoresin to smother the attacking beetles. This a huge gamble; therefore most pine bark beetle experts recommend immediate removal following a lightning strike (pines, not necessarily other trees).

I have seen this phenomenon.

On F.M. 2920 in Tomball, TX, I was inspecting pine bark beetle damage in the far rear of an acreage property, and I came upon a grand old pine with an old lightning scar on it. It had several years' worth of callus woundwood on the scar. It also was peppered with pitch tubes at the base. Grayish-pink, smooth and weathered was their appearance, with no holes. Signs that the tree correctly suppressed the attack with oleoresin exudate.

So it does happen. Heck, we look at pines at least once a week with old lightning scars on them. Not all are attacked by pine bark beetle. So, immediate removal for a lightning-struck pine? I guess it's a smart practice, if you're a forester and dealing with hundreds of pine specimens on a plot. That happens to be a common difference between arborists and foresters. Foresters are always saying take down the tree. Arborists are (or should be) always saying "hold on a sec."

This is why I say with such confidence in another post on the topic that good soil nutrition can reduce the risk of pine mortality even following a lightning strike. That said, I usually don't protest too loudly to a recommendation for removal of a (recently) lightning-struck pine, largely because I seldom see a pine in the urban/suburban setting that is operating on all eight cylinders.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Is it normal for my tree's leaves to fall off the tree during the summer?

I might differ from other horticulturists and arborists on this point. It is not normal or beneficial, from a plant physiology standpoint, for a single leaf to fall or be cut out of a tree before its normal leaf drop (this does not mean they should never be pruned: more on this in another post). Therefore, if leaves are falling off of your tree, as in the case of the river birch in the youtube video below, during August, then some stress factor is acting upon the tree to cause the leaf drop. This could be drought, overwatering, nutrient deficiency, leaf spot disease, insect or mite damage, wind damage, or any of a number of other factors.

In the case of the river birch below, the homeowner asked me if August leaf drop was normal and I of course said no. I was showing her the stippling on the senescent foliage--this was October 9th 2010, still a little early for river birches to be defoliating--and found the mites and leafhoppers. Hope you enjoy!



One further note regarding premature defoliation: I have a good friend and colleague, Manuel Flores, whom I haven't seen or spoken with in a couple of years. Once at a Q&A Manuel says premature defoliation happens because the tree doesn't need the leaves anymore. According to his thesis, the trees need a greater total square footage of photosynthetic leaf surface during the spring. Once they get over this, they dump the excess foliage. I would politely counter that this is incorrect. This thesis does not explain why we can successfully reduce the incidence of premature defoliation by using foliar fungicide applications in the spring, when leaf spot diseases infect the newly emerging foliage. Also, trees that are treated for mites, chewing caterpillars, lacebugs, aphids, scale and other sucking insects, also have lower rates of premature defoliation. Generally speaking, organisms do not voluntarily cut off their food sources, and in the simplest of terms, a leaf is a plant's food source.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Mexican White Oak about a year after planting in Houston

Here is a quick clip of my follow-up inspection of a young Mexican white oak about a year after planting in Houston. Nice tree.

Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you're looking for a TCIA Accredited Houston Tree Service or Certified Arborist, call the company I've worked for since 2002, Bartlett Tree Experts, at 713-692-6371. This is my personal blog--it is not affiliated with Bartlett Tree Experts.