Trees on Tap Program: December 5

Category
Authors
Published on

  Ohio is certainly the place for trees (more later), and you will certainly learn a great deal more about trees at OSU’s 2nd Annual Trees on Tap program on December 5 at the Ohio Convention Center, immediately preceding the 89th Ohio State University Green Industry Short Course and 50th Ohio Turfgrass Conference from December 6-8. 

river birch and robin in winter

 

sweet birch fall foliage

 

A harvest of apples

  The all-day Trees on Tap program on December 5 has many high-powered speakers, headlined by Dr. Nina Bassuk of Cornell University speaking on “Practices of Site Amelioration and Plant Establishment” and i-Tree pioneer Dr. David Nowak of the U.S. Forest Service speaking on “The Role of Trees In Sustaining Environmental Quality, Human Health, and Human Well-Being: What The Research Tells Us”.  

 

Autumn Cascade black gum

 

  I will start the educational sessions with “TreeSources Must-Haves”, from books and websites, to keys to a diagnostician’s field kit and reminders of the wondrous life we lead as tree people.  But before I lead you to registration and educational program links, let us remember these facts about Ohio’s long-standing arbor heritage.

1. We are The Buckeye State and OSU athletic teams are - The Buckeyes. Name another such state of mind. The Stanford tree mascot, the Fighting Sycamores of Indiana State – not even close.

 

serviceberry fruits and foliage

 

 

2. We have Arboreta and Botanic Gardens galore: from north to south from east to west: From Holden Arboretum in northeast Ohio to Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum in Cincinnati, from Fellows Riverside Garden in Youngstown to the Toledo Botanic Gardens, from Dawes Arboretum near Newark to Cox Arboretum in Dayton – and OSU’s Chadwick and Secrest Arboretums.

 

Tricolor beech at Chadwick Arboretum

 

children at Tree Day at Cox Arboretum

 

 

3. The 1st National Tree Care Company (1902) was started and is currently the largest in the U.S. and still resides in Ohio: the Davey Tree Expert Company in Kent.

 

oak leaves in spring

 

 

4. Ohio conducted the first 1st Urban Reforestation project in in U.S. (1920), at Mt. Airy Forest in Cincinnati under the supervision of Edmund Secrest, Ohio’s first state forester and director of what has become OSU’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Secrest Arboretum in Wooster.

 

acorn propagation

 

towering trees

 

5. Ohio developed the 1st chapter of the National Shade Tree Conference (1942), which ultimately became the International Society of Arboriculture.

 

maple leaves on sidewalk

 

 

 

 

6. And, in a huge boon to urban forestry (“you don’t know what you got till it’s gone”) in 1929, in Creston in Wayne County a rail supervisor contacted Paul Tilford at the Agircultural Experiment Station in Wooster, reporting that trees were dying near the railyard. Paul noted that the trees dying were elms and that trains were carrying elm logs from Cleveland to Cincinatti and…well you know the rest of the Dutch Elm Disease story.  

Now: for the programs and registrations:

The program schedule is at:  http://www.otfshow.org/education/

Register at:  http://www.otfshow.org/registration/

Remember, participants will also be able to earn continuing education credits for attending sessions including pesticide recertification credits, ISA credits, Landscape Architects credits and more! 

You can save money by registering by November 25.  Additionally, bring a group from the same business or organization and save money too!   A group registration includes registration for four (4) individuals from the same company.  Additional individuals may be added to your group beyond four for $35.00 per person.  

These events are for people working in every sector of the green industry, including landscape design; landscape, lawn and tree care; nurseries and greenhouses; country clubs and golf courses; and park, city, college and cemetery horticulture programs.  If you work with plants from turf to trees, you will want to attend!

Of special note will be a keynote presentation by former Cleveland Browns running back Earnest Byner during the conference’s awards and scholarships session Dec. 6.

 

Scarlet Brandywine crabapple

 

Crablandia at OSU's Secrest Arboretum

 

Finally: The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

 

tree benefits t-shirt

 

maple sap harvest