Recent content

Earlier today, I woke up and looked out a window to see a foggy start to the day. At first glance, I however overlooked the frost that was also present. As it became lighter and the morning continued, the frost lessened and by noon the beauty disappeared, although the fog is still hanging around.   

As the leaves on deciduous trees change colors and fall to the ground, and evergreens remain green, people may ask why is my evergreen dying? Maybe because it’s not an evergreen. There are two common deciduous narrow leaf trees that lose their needles in the fall; Bald Cypress and the Dawn Redwood.

Phragmites is a non-native perennial grass this is commonly referred to as common reed. The wetland grass thrives in its name sake - wetlands or low areas - but can also establish itself in other areas. It is commonly found along roadsides in ditches, in retention ponds and bioswales, along the edges of ponds, rivers and lakes, and will completely infiltrate a wetland, quickly becoming a monoculture - single species. It is considered invasive as it outcompetes all other plants and displaces wildlife as it becomes the top-plant, at least in numbers, in a given area.

Aesculus including Buckeye and Common Horsechestnut have gotten a bad rap due to Guignardia aesculi (Guignardia leaf spot on Aesculus). Actually, some selection are more resistant than others. We hope to highlight some that could be considered potential street trees.

Check out the last installment of the 2020 Turfgrass Times. On this edition includes:  Dr. David Gardner; Dr. Ed Nangle; Joe Rimelspach; Dr. Pamela Sherratt; and Dr. Dave Shetlar (aka the Bug Doc). 

One thing I realized is talking ‘Street Trees’ with a Horticulturalist is like talking politics with anyone else. Everybody has strong opinions and there is a great variation on agreement. So, I start this journey with an apology. I am certain at the conclusion; I will get e-mails ‘What about this……?’ The goal of this series is to provide food for thought as to possible selections you may wish to consider, forgot about, or a combination of both. One thing for sure is I am learning a lot about selections. So, this week’s selection comes from the Maple family. Red maples have dominated our...