Monday, March 24, 2014

Spring is (Sort of) in the Air!

Spring has sprung! Ok, I know it’s still cold today, but it’s officially been spring since Thursday, and the sun is out and birds are chirping! In a couple of weeks it should be about the perfect time to start in on some early spring tree care in Fairfax. Fruit trees, especially, require some extra work for very rewarding (and tasty) results:



Fruit Tree Care in Early Spring


Early-spring maintenance of fruit trees is important to start the growing season correctly and to prepare the trees for healthy, vigorous growth and an abundant harvest. Without early-spring fertilizing, pest and disease control, trunk protection, weeding and mulching…



As soon as we’re sure that no more frosts are coming it’s time to start preparing your fruit trees for the spring and summer months. One of the best things you can do is spray your trees to keeps the bugs off even before they’ve started budding:



“Fruit trees should also receive an application of dormant oil spray before they begin to bud out. Dormant oil is used to control or suppress scale and spider mites on apple and pear trees. Lime-sulphur is used for the same purpose on plum, peach, apricot and cherry. It will also help control peach leaf curl and plum pocket.”



Peach tree branches


For more tips on bug prevention, pruning, and more, read the following:



Spring Care of Fruit Trees


Spring care and maintenance of your fruit trees can reap rewards later in summer. Careful pruning, training, feeding and protection against disease and pests can result in larger, healthier crops. …



Why not use these last few days of cold to plan out how best to care for your trees this spring?


Spring is (Sort of) in the Air! appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Monday, February 24, 2014

Tree Pruning DIY

Tree pruning can be a relatively simple do-it-yourself job. But before you begin hacking away at your trees there a few things that you need to know. First off, you need to know what time of year to prune:



When to Prune


This depends to a large extent on why you prune. Light pruning and the removal of dead wood can be done anytime. Otherwise, here are some guidelines, but recognizing that individual species may differ is important to remember. …



You also need to know the best pruning tool to use for your particular job. Lowes has a great video showing you the basic varieties:







If you’ve never pruned before, you’re also going to want to do a bit of research into appropriate pruning techniques, lest you accidentally damage the tree in your enthusiasm. This article should get you started, but feel free to do more research on your own:



How to Prune a Tree


Pruning helps trees grow strong and look neat and attractive. One prunes a tree to remove damaged branches, allow for new growth or create a distinctive shape. It’s important to do it correctly, so you don’t end up damaging the tree. Read on to learn the basics. …



And of course, some pruning jobs are just too challenging or difficult to do yourself. And that’s where your local Fairfax tree trimming professional comes in. It’s not worth falling out of a tree and injuring yourself just to save a few dollars. If you’re concerned about the difficulty of a job, don’t hesitate to call in the professionals.


Tree Pruning DIY appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Saturday, December 7, 2013

Choosing and Caring for Real Christmas Trees

One of my favorite childhood memories is going Christmas tree hunting every year with my family. We have never once purchased a fake tree – we all much prefer the scent and appearance of real trees. However, if you know nothing about real Christmas trees, looking for one for the first time can be a bit daunting. The first thing to consider is whether you want to get a pre-cut tee, cut your own, or use an actual live tree. The following article expounds on these options:



Choosing Your Christmas Tree


Choosing the family Christmas tree can be a season highlight or headache. Everyone has an opinion and generally, bigger and fuller is seen as better. …



The next step is to research the types of tree available, to find some kinds that you like. One year my family purchased a Douglas Fir. The tree was absolutely beautiful, but the branches were so flimsy that all our decorations ended up in a pile around the base of the tree. That wasn’t nearly as bad, however, as the time we tried a Blue Spruce. The needles were so sharp that we all ended up wearing work gloves just to decorate it! Needless to say, knowing a bit about the tree types ahead of time is never a bad idea. Read further for the ups and downs and the most common Christmas trees:



Christmas Tree Types


For many, the yearly adventure of trudging off, bundled with hats and scarves to pick the perfect Christmas tree has long been a family tradition not to be missed. While most people have a routine to selecting their tree, we asked Rick Dungey from the National Christmas Tree Association to give insight on what is new for the season and what tips he has for making your tree last the whole season. …



Once you’ve chosen the form and type of tree you’d like, it’s time to dress warm and go out and pick one. Check out this video for some helpful tips on picking a healthy tree that will last as long as possible:







Finally, once you’ve gotten the tree home, you will need to mount it, decorate it, and maintain proper tree care. This article provides some good tips:



How to Care for a Christmas Tree


When you choose to decorate your home with a real Christmas tree, there are steps you can take to keep the tree green, healthy and safe throughout the holiday season. If you love the characteristic aroma of an evergreen tree, here’s how to take care of its source. …



Despite the amount of work that a real tree can be, it is worth every bit of it. A plastic tree will look fake, but a real tree will add a warmth and light to your living space, not to mention a lovely, Christmasy scent, that can’t be matched. Why not try something new this holiday season?


Choosing and Caring for Real Christmas Trees appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Saturday, October 26, 2013

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees – Or Does it?

Apparently, to find money growing on trees all we have to do is move to Australia. Literally. According to a recent ABC news report, CSIRO researches have actually found traces of gold in the leaves of some Australian eucalyptus trees. How cool is that?? The article says:



“CSIRO researchers believe the trees, sitting on top of gold deposits buried deep underground, suck up the gold in their search for moisture during times of drought.”



WIRED magazine also reported this discovery, and I think the following quote does a good job of summing up the event:



Melvyn Lintern and his team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted the research that discovered trees in Australia and throughout the world can be used to detect gold buried up to 30 metres underground. Small amounts of gold dissolve in the water surrounding the trees, which is sucked up by the roots and eventually stored in the leaves. This effectively provides an easy way for gold miners to identify areas of land likely to contain undiscovered mother lodes. (You can read the full article here, if you’re interested.)



This video also does a concise job of summing up everything I’ve just told you:







Now, before we all go off on a gold rush to seek our fortunes in Australia, let’s not let our imaginations get out of hand. These eucalyptus trees do not look like this:


Golden Tree


The leaves didn’t even have enough gold in them to see with the naked eye – According to WIRED you’d need to take the gold from about 500 trees just to make one small ring. But, as the above quote says, this new discovery may make it easier for gold miners to find the areas of land where gold is most likely to be found. Who knew that we could learn something like that from a tree?


Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees – Or Does it? appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Friday, October 25, 2013

Tree Care For Preventing Winter Damage

There’s no doubt that trees often become brittle during the winter. The leaves fall off during autumn and then the tree goes into a sort of hibernation. It’s at this time that trees lose their flexibility and become much more brittle and likely to break from wind, snow, and ice.


They say “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and this goes for trees as well. Following is an article about how caring for tree now can save it from damage during this fragile time.



A little tree care today can prevent a lot of winter damage later on

Winter weather can mean frigid temperatures, icy winds, and snow in many parts of Washington State. While we can choose to stay inside or bundle up and venture forth, trees don’t have that option; they withstand the elements as best they can.



You can also add some additional support for young trees by fixing tree straps and supports:









With just a little planning and effort, you can decrease the chances of your trees becoming damaged in a nasty winter storm. Spend some time protecting your trees, they’ll be eternally grateful.


Tree Care For Preventing Winter Damage appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Tree Care Safety

A table of handyman tools


My dad is a true handyman. Rather than hiring a professional to complete a house project, he almost always does it himself – from roofing to tiling to adding a bathroom. When it comes to caring for our homes and yards, a lot of us our tempted to do the job ourselves and save some money. But tree care is one of those home jobs that can be dangerous, and in some cases deadly. I just came across this article, which is what got me thinking on the subject:



Man Killed in Tree Trimming Accident


Amarillo police said a man was killed about 9:25 a.m. Tuesday morning in a tree-trimming accident in the 2000 block of S. Milam Street, near Wolflin Avenue.


The man was trimming trees in the back yard of a home on the block when the pole saw he was using came in contact with a power line, killing him, police Sgt. Jerry McCall said. McCall did not identify the man, pending notification of next of kin…



Did you notice the date of the article? This isn’t some event that happened a year ago. That man died in a tree trimming accident this morning. I don’t know about you, but that shook me up a little. Tree trimming dangers are real. It’s foolish to undertake such a job without understanding the proper procedures. So I found this webpage, linking you to multiple articles on proper tree care safety:



Tree Trimming & Removal Safety Tips | Tree … – Scoop.it


Removing trees from a yard can be a bit tricky. Initially, you must complete a thorough inspection of the area and establish a drop area for the tree to fall. Limbs should be cut to small sizes that are easily handled by personnel…



So if you’re thinking of dealing with that huge tree in your yard that’s been bothering you for months, do your research first. Make sure you know exactly what needs to be done and how to do it safely. Additionally, know your limits. Although my dad will attempt almost any handyman project on his own, the one thing he will not attempt to fix is a car. He knows that it’s simply beyond his skill capacity to do it correctly, so he hires a professional. If the job is more than you can handle, don’t be afraid to get the help you need. Learn the lesson from my dad – you won’t regret it.


Tree Care Safety appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.


Monday, October 14, 2013

Tree Care News For Mid October

So we have decided to begin blogging! We try to keep up with the latest tree care industry news and often read some pretty interesting articles about all things relating to trees, gardening, landscaping, and forest conservation.


We figured that there had to be some people in our service area that would find this stuff interesting too, so we’re going to make an effort to post regularly here on our blog. We were thinking once a week or bi-weekly… Not sure of the frequency yet.


Anyway, here is an interesting piece about Washington DC’s fall foliage map:



Rake up the fall color with D.C.’s tree foliage map

As the start of October often marks the rapid onset of fall, we have decided to celebrate the changing seasons by highlighting some of D.C.’s most colorful corridors in a new fall color map. As a visual guide, the map provides suggested viewing routes for five vibrant species.



And since fall is here, we thought that this would be a good article to share about planting now to enjoy next spring:



Four Fall Plantings for a Beautiful Spring

Do you suffer from spring landscape envy? Does it seem like every time the weather starts warming up from winter, your neighbors have bursts of colorful blooms in their garden and you don’t? Fall plantings must take place months prior to spring so that you can reap the rewards after the chilly months.




So this is the type of posts that we plan on publishing every week or two. So what do you think? Should we keep this up? If so, what types of articles would you like to see on our site? A little input from our clients would help us create content that you want to read.


Oh yeah, and do us a favor and hit the share button for your favorite social network so others can chime in!


Tree Care News For Mid October appeared first on FairfaxTreeService.com.