Author: Stein Tree

When Is the Best Time for Trimming Shrubs in Wilmington DE?

Written by Stein Tree on October 26, 2016. Posted in Tree Care, Tree Service, Trimming Shrubs and Trees.

Landscaping maintenance, such as trimming shrubs in Wilmington, is important for curb appeal, and also for the health of your trees, shrubs, and other plants. The timing of pruning or trimming in particular, can mean the difference between an explosion of beautiful foliage or the loss of a beloved tree.

Some Guidelines for Successfully Trimming Shrubs and Trees

Avoid Trimming Shrubs and Trees when they are Vulnerable

The exact timing for pruning depends a great deal on the desired outcome. However, unless you notice damage on the tree or shrub, pruning should be avoided in the fall, during droughts, and at the coldest part of winter. Trimming shrubs in Wilmington during these times opens the shrub or tree to infection by fungal spores, or disease.

Prune during Dormancy for the Best New Growth

Generally, late winter to early spring is the best time to trim or prune, allowing for the greatest burst of new growth. Plants, which are dormant in the winter, will have greater reserves to nurture more vibrant and lush growth. The type of plant in question will also play a large part in deciding the best time for maintenance.

Encourage Vibrant Blooms on Flowering Trees and Shrubs

Homeowners plant flowering trees and shrubs to enjoy the beautiful blooms, sweet scents, and wildlife drawn to the plants. Pruning can enhance these flowers by encouraging new blooms, and the timing depends on when the plant flowers. Those that bloom in the early spring should be pruned after their flowers fade. Summer bloomers are best trimmed in late winter to early spring.

Control Growth by Trimming in the Summer

Summer trimming slows the growth of the plant by limiting the plant’s access to sun and nutrients. When done after the growth cycle, trimming shrubs in Wilmington stunts the tree or shrub. A few reasons homeowners decide to prune in the summer include:

Control the growth to balance foliage lushness.
Reduce development to maintain smaller trees or shrubs.
Remove branches that are damaged, dead, or otherwise hindering the plant.
Remove branches that buckle under the weight of the leaves.

Call Stein Tree Service for Expert Help Trimming Shrubs and Trees

Plants are delicate and improper trimming and pruning can leave the plant disfigured, open to disease, or can even kill the plant. Knowing the best ways and times is important to maintain the beauty of the landscape. Before you attempt trimming shrubs in Wilmington, you should learn about the best methods for particular plants, or contact a professional tree service provider.

To learn more about trimming or pruning plants in the Delaware, Maryland, or Pennsylvania areas, please contact the experts at Stein Tree Service today.

Cottony Camellia Scale

Written by Stein Tree on July 22, 2014. Posted in News & Announcements, Pests & Diseases.

Cottony Camellia Scale insects tap into plants and feed on plant sap, weakening and even killing plants over time. Cottony scale insects produce a cottony egg mass from which the mobile crawler stage hatches. The young crawler stage is also the easiest stage to control.

Scale insects are closely related to aphids but most don’t look like insects at all, appearing legless and attached to the plant’s leaves or stems (see photo right). Scale insects feed by tapping into the plant stem or leaf and withdrawing plant sap. Like aphids, they are often associated with sticky honeydew which supports the growth of black, sooty mold.

Some scale insects produce a cottony sac (see photo right) that contains hundreds or thousands of eggs. Scale insects that make these cottony egg sacs are called cottony scales. Eggs generally hatch in early summer and release the crawler stage, the only highly mobile stage in the insect’s life cycle. The active crawler stage is also the one that must be targeted for effective control.

There are many scale insect pests of ornamental plants and they have very complex life cycles and host plant interactions. One of the best comprehensive sources of information about these pests on ornamental plants is Insects That Feed on Trees and Shrubs by Johnson and Lyon (see Amazon below right).

Plant damage caused by scale insects

Plant damage is related to the sap that scale insects take from the plant. Over time as more sap is extracted the plant weakens, leaves may drop and eventually whole branches may die.

Plants that are stressed by drought, root damage or disease are better hosts for many pests including scale insects. These same stressed plants may be killed by high scale insect populations. In addition, sooty mold growing on the leaf surface can interfere with normal processes and can further weaken the plant.
Scale insect control

The most important part of scale insect control is timing. Control measures must be timed to coincide with hatching of the crawler stage which usually occurs in early summer for cottony scales. If properly timed, and good spray coverage is achieved, soft insecticides like insecticidal soaps and oils are just as effective as conventional insecticides (see Using Insecticidal Soap For Garden Pest Control). Over the long run soaps and oils may be more effective since they preserve the natural enemy complex which may account for most of the long term control of these plant pests.

Scout plants starting in late spring. Use a hand lens to look for scale crawlers on the underside of leaves or near cottony egg sacs. Scale crawlers will be about the size of spider mites but amber in color. Once crawlers are found control treatments can begin. It may take several seasons to completely control a severe scale infestation. Scale infestations often take years to develop and it is unlikely that you’ll eliminate them overnight.

Birch Leafminer – Among the Most Common Insect Pests Affecting Birch Trees

Written by Stein Tree on July 9, 2014. Posted in Pests & Diseases.

Birch leafminers Fenusa pusilla (Lepeletier) are sawflies, which are closely related to bees and wasps. They are among the most common insect pests affecting Birch trees (Betula spp.) in North America. Areas inside the leaves are consumed by the larvae affecting the leaves’ ability to produce food. Yearly browning of birch leaves are noticed in mid-July and August, but the leafminers have been feeding inside the leaf tissue since early spring.

Life cycle

Leafminers overwinter in the soil as prepupae. Adults emerge in May to late June to early July, depending on temperature and humidity. Oviposition (egg-laying) peaks during the last week of June. Adult birch leafminers are small (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch long), black and fly like. Females deposit their eggs singly in slits cut in the central areas of young leaves, usually near the tips of branches. More than one female may lay eggs in a leaf.

The eggs hatch into legless, worm-like larvae. These immature larvae feed individually between the leaf surfaces, creating blotchy kidney shaped mines. The immature leafminers feed for several weeks, then drop to the ground where they enter the soil layer to develop into pupae. They pupate and remain there until the following spring. After overwintering as prepupae in the soil below the tree, the adults emerge just as the birch trees are leafed out. Adults are almost all females.

Damage

The areas of leaves that are consumed by the amber marked birch leafminer larva turn brown. Because people often do not see the early signs of birch leafminer feeding, it often appears the tree has suddenly dried up or become diseased. This browning is caused by the outer layers of the leaf drying out after the leaf miner larva has consumed the green tissue between the outer layers of the leaf. Early mines appear as light green or whitish discolorations on the leaves.

Larvae sometimes can be seen easily when leaves are held up to sunlight, especially as the mines and larvae grow larger. Feeding over several weeks causes the blemish to take on a blister-like appearance. A single leaf can contain as many as 40 larvae whose mines may merge to destroy the total photosynthetic area of the leaf. Heavy infestations of leafminer larvae can seriously affect a tree’s photosynthetic capacity. Repeated attacks will generally cause stress which may induce susceptibility of the tree to other injurious agents.

Species Responsible

There are two species mainly responsible for defoliation and browning of birch trees in the United States and Canada. In Northern forests, it is the Amber Marked Leafminer, Profenusa thomsoni, which were accidentally introduced from Europe to North America early in the 1900s. The other is the Birch Leafminer, Fenusa pusilla, which is more common in Eastern forests.

Biological Control of Birch leafminers

Presently there is no commercially available biological control agent to control Amber marked birch leafminers, however Canadian trees in the Edmonton area have been successfully controlled with releases of a parasitic wasp, Lathrolestes luteolator. Populations of the tiny parasitoid wasp selectively attack the most damaging birch leafmining pest (Profenusa thomsoni) have developed and drastically reduced the problem in the Edmonton area of Canada.

Following trials in 1995 that supported a dramatic reduction in birch leafminer damage by the first parasitoid, the City of Edmonton, Canada discontinued pesticide treatments to almost 3,500 city birch trees in 1996 and 1997. These trees continue to show very little leafminer damage without any treatment.

Chemical Control

Spinosad can be used to control birch leafminers prior to extensive damage. Spinosad is a new chemical class of insecticides derived from a soil dwelling bacterium discovered in 1982. It is considered practically non-toxic to humans, pets, and beneficial insects. Unlike other insecticides, Spinosad will not harm beneficial insects including the Amber Marked Leafminer parasite.

Horticultural oil applications applied at the right time may help kill eggs or tiny larvae within the leaf tissue. Oil applications should be made as soon as adults have emerged in the spring and egg laying has occurred and should continue weekly until mid June. Pesticides made with botanical plant oils may be especially useful to prevent egg laying. Neem oil acts as a repellent and may interfere with the egg laying activity of female leaf miners.

Systemic insecticides are chemical pesticides that are absorbed into the tissues of plants. These pesticides make the entire plant, or parts of the plant, poisonous to insects that feed on the plant tissue. Most systemics are very toxic to people and pets. Trunk injections are confined to the tree’s cambium layer, where it is carried to the leaf tissue by the movement of the tree’s sap.

FREE, No Obligation Consultation

Call Stein Tree Service at (302) 478-3511 or Click Here to request your Free, No Obligation Consultation with one of our ISA Board Certified Arborists.

Content sourced from Wikipedia

ISN Networld Rating

Written by Stein Tree on June 30, 2014. Posted in News & Announcements.

Stein Tree Service is rated with ISN Networld

ISNetworld’s functionality gives Hiring Clients the ability to measure key performance metrics while promoting transparency, clear communication and sustainable operations. By identifying contractors who meet both client-specific and regulatory standards, Hiring Clients are able to drive sustainable performance improvements while lowering costs and strengthening relationships with their contractors.

Understanding Insect & Disease Problems With Your Trees

Written by Stein Tree on April 14, 2014. Posted in News & Announcements, Pests & Diseases, Plant Health Care (PHC), Tree Service.

Insects and diseases can threaten tree health. As soon as you notice any abnormality in your tree’s appearance, you should begin a careful examination of the problem. By identifying the specific symptoms of damage and understanding their causes, you may be able to diagnose the problem and select an appropriate treatment.

Stress

Basic elements that influence plant health include sufficient water and light, and a proper balance of nutrients. Too much or too little of any of these environmental conditions may cause plant stress.

Environmental stress weakens plants and makes them more susceptible to insect and disease attack.

Trees deal with environmental stresses, such as shading and competition for water and nutrients in their native environment, by adjusting their growth and development patterns to reflect the availability of the resources. Although trees are adapted to living in stressful conditions in nature, many times the stresses they experience in the landscape are more than they can handle and may make them more susceptible to insects and diseases.

Diagnosis

Correct diagnosis of plant health problems requires a careful examination of the situation.

Accurately identify the plant. Because many insects and diseases are plant-specific, this information can quickly limit the number of suspected diseases and disorders.
Look for a pattern of abnormality. It may be helpful to compare the affected plant with other plants on the site, especially those of the same species. Differences in color or growth may present clues as to the source of the problem. Non-uniform damage patterns may indicate insects or diseases. Uniform damage over a large area (perhaps several plant species) usually indicates disorders caused by such factors as physical injury, poor drainage, or weather.
Carefully examine the landscape. The history of the property and adjacent land may reveal many problems. The number of species affected may also help distinguish between infectious pathogens that are more plant-specific as compared to chemical or environmental factors that affect many different species. Most living pathogens take a relatively long time to spread throughout an area, so if a large percentage of plants becomes diseased virtually overnight, a pathogen is probably not involved.
Examine the roots. Note their color: brown or black roots may signal problems. Brown roots often indicate dry soil conditions or the presence of toxic chemicals. Black roots usually reflect overly wet soil or the presence of root-rotting organisms.
Check the trunk and branches. Examine the trunk thoroughly for wounds because they provide entrances for pathogens and wood-rotting organisms. Wounds can be caused by weather, fire, lawn mowers, and rodents, as well as a variety of other environmental and mechanical factors. Large defects may indicate a potentially hazardous tree.
Note the position and appearance of affected leaves. Dead leaves at the top of the tree are usually the result of environmental or mechanical root stress. Twisted or curled leaves may indicate viral infection, insect feeding, or exposure to herbicides. The size and color of the foliage may tell a great deal about the plant’s condition. Make note of these and any other abnormalities.

FREE, No Obligation Consultation

Call Stein Tree Service at (302) 478-3511 or Click Here to request your Free, No Obligation Consultation with one of our ISA Board Certified Arborists.

Bagworms – Destructive Tree Pests Coming This Summer

Written by Stein Tree on April 2, 2014. Posted in Pests & Diseases.

It looks like the very destructive Bagworm is going to be around this summer. Spring is the perfect time to make a plan for this pest and protect your at-risk trees.

Below is an excerpt from a Penn St. article on the Bagworms and their destructive activities in Southern Pennsylvania. (Full Article)

The Bagworm (Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis) is a perennial insect pest of arborvitae, juniper, pine, spruce, and many other evergreen species. It also attacks certain deciduous trees such as black locust, honeylocust, and sycamore. The bagworm is most common in southern regions of Pennsylvania. Infestations have recently been noticed north of Interstate 80 in the state. The spread of the bagworm is slow since adult females are unable to fly. Their dispersal over wide areas occurs mainly through movement of infested nursery stock and ornamental plants, or by ballooning (wind dispersal) of small bagworm larvae during early June.

Description

This insect is most easily recognized by the case or bag that the caterpillar forms and suspends from ornamental plants on which it feeds. The bag is made of silk and bits of host foliage. These materials are interwoven to disguise and add strength to the case. When the larva is mature, the bag may be 30 to 50 mm long. Young larvae hatching from the eggs are approximately two mm long, glossy black on the back and dull amber on the undersurface of their bodies. Mature larvae are dull, dirty gray and splotched with darker markings toward the head. Fully developed larvae are about 18 to 25 mm long. The adult female is worm-like. The adult female lacks eyes, wings, functional legs and mouthparts. She never leaves the bag that she constructed as a larva. The adult male is sooty black and moth-like with transparent wings that are nearly devoid of scales.

Stein Tree Service has significant experience at treating Bagworm and helping keep your trees healthy. Don’t wait! The time to make a plan is now. We offer a free, no obligation consultation with an ISA Certified Arborist who can offer guidance, discuss risks and a plan to manage all your landscape health care needs.

Why Choose Stein Tree Service?

Our staff is the best in the business and has hundreds of years of combined experience. We have ISA Certified Arborists, Registered Consulting Arborists, Certified Tree Risk Assessor, Licensed Forester, Certified Professional Horticulturalist, Registered Tree Expert and Certified Applicator.

Our equipment is state-of-the-art and radio dispatched for immediate response. The company fleet consists of several aerial lift trucks, chippers, chipper trucks and stump grinding machines as well as various pieces of machinery for right of way work.

Our reputation speaks for itself. We have served thousands of customers throughout the Delaware Valley and maintain the highest level of customer satisfaction. The vast majority of our business comes to us via referrals from past customers.