The 1797 USS Constitution Ship— A Live Oak Wonder!
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Category Archives: Trees
Celebrating My 65th Birthday 80 Feet Up In a Tree & Rappelling Out!
The title says it all, so nothing more is needed, except that I also cut down the 100 foot, 140 year old dead fir tree, and then went out and paid cash for a brand new, larger stump grinder. What more could an “elderly” (ha! ha!) arborist want for his birthday? Cheers!
Gutter Cleaning Reindeer?!
Who says that reindeer can’t clean gutters while they’re going from rooftop to rooftop on Christmas Eve?
Every year in December, we at Good News Tree Service do the gutter cleaning for one our HOAs for which we typically provides arboricultural services. With 265 townhomes, it provides work for the crew during a slower time of the year for tree services.
With family and friends coming to visit our clients, my crew was concerned about being on people’s roofs on Christmas Eve, since they’d be tromping around on the roofs cleaning gutters possibly being a bothersome disturbance to people on their special day. Well, we came up with a solution to a potential problem. My wife came up with the idea of putting reindeer antlers on the guys’ helmets. I thought the guys might think it was a stupid idea, but they actually enjoyed the fun humor of it all and let me tape the antlers to the helmets. They then posed for a photo op, and then hurried up onto the roofs to do their work.
We’ve got a great crew!
The Mowing Crew “Mowed” These Apple Trees!
Fruit trees are not a lawn to be mowed or a hedge to be sheared! So don’t let your gardener or your mow, blow and go guys touch (attack!) your fruit trees. All they know how to do is to shear things or hack and wack trees back to nothing! Rather, hire a qualified arborist to do your pruning, unless you want your trees and shrubs decimated!
The other day the Good News Tree Service crew went to a client’s house to prune their fruit trees. Unfortunately, the mowing crew, against the client’s wishes, had gotten to the fruit trees before we did.
Here is the pathetic sight that greeted us — two apple trees hacked back to stubs and denuded of all fruiting wood! In my many decades of pruning fruit trees, I have never seen anything like this before. I was horrified!
These tree butchers had cut off all of the fruiting wood that we had carefully nurtured for many years. It will take several years before these trees produce new fruiting wood, and until then, they will bear no apples. Needless to say, our client wasn’t very happy about this sad state of affairs.
The problem in many of these situations is that the mowing crew speaks little or no English. I hear this again and again from my clients. Thus, a language barrier exists between the homeowner and the crew doing the work. You are telling them one thing, and think you’re saying something else, and off they go. Yikes! Yes, you save a little money by hiring cheap labor, but in the long run, you risk losing money in other ways. So do your homework and hire the right people for the job who know what they are doing.
Here is what a well-pruned apple tree should look like:
My Japanese Garden Evokes Joy Even in Gloomy Weather!
Educated Arborists Make Better Arborists!
“Old fashioned service, modern techniques since 1985,” is one of the mottos of Good News Tree Service, Inc., and we mean it! To stay up with modern techniques, you have to stay up with new technology and the science of arboriculture. This means staying on the cutting edge (pun intended or not, your choice) of what’s going on outside of your own localized, professional ghetto. That’s why we attend conferences, go to workshops, read books and magazines, do online learning and earn credentials in various aspects of tree care.
Growing up in the family business working with shrubs and trees while learning from my father, and I thought I knew everything. Then I realized how little I really knew. Finally, after many years in my own tree service, I decided to do something about my ignorance. I studied hard and became an International Society (ISA) or Arboriculture Certified Arborist, then a State of Oregon Licensed Commercial Pesticide Applicator, an OSU Master Gardener and I earned an ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. Along the way, I began attending conferences and workshops, and encountering others who knew more than I did. That’s also when my passion for trees was ignited, my business began to take off, and true professionalism became a reality rather than some vague idea. I had become a craftsman in my trade, not just a run-of-the-mill tree whacker!
Keep learning! Ignorance is not a badge of honor anywhere!
This brings us to the present. The 2023 ISA International Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico just ended a couple of days ago where about 700 plus arborists from some 20 countries gathered for several days of 8 AM until 9 PM total immersion in all matters tree-related. Every tree care conference we attend is a literal tree-lover’s oasis — a who’s who in the world of tree care from top scientists, industry leaders, the CEOs of professional organizations, arborists, and world-renowned educators. This year was no exception. My son Jared and I attended many classes and workshops during our rendezvous in Albuquerque with other tree geeks. We came away with our heads bursting with new ideas and the latest scientific information to help us to be better craftsman arborists.
Here are are just a few of the people we hung out with and learned from at this year’s ISA conference:
Dr. Richard Hauer, professor emeritus of urban and community forestry at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, is a leading expert on the invasive emerald ash borer among a plethora of other tree related subjects. Nathan and Jared have attended many of Rich’s lectures at three recent conferences.
Dr. Stephanie Adams, plant health care expert at the nationally renown Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, has taught Nathan and Jared about tree roots, plant pathology and tree health care at a couple of conferences in the last year. She has provided Nathan and many others with valuable information to help us become better arborist. Thank you Stephanie!
Shawn Bernick is the COO of Rainbow Ecoscience at Minnetonka, Minnesota which is a supplier of some of Good News Tree Service’s plant health care products and equipment. Shawn has provided Nathan with valuable technical info on choosing the right products and equipment in our tree care business. Our thanks goes out to Shawn and to Alison Herrell, Rainbow’s local rep, for their excellent customer service.
Next year, Nathan and Jared plan to be in Atlanta, Georgia, for the ISA’s international conference as it celebrates its 100th anniversary as the world’s leading arboricultural professional organization. Nathan is planning to be one of the speakers at that conference.
The Emerald Ash Borer Tree Killer—What it is and what to do about it
There’s a new tree pest in town called the emerald ash borer (or EAB) and it wants to kill all the ash trees in this area.
The Emerald Ash Border (or EAB) was discovered in the summer of 2022 in hundreds of trees in the Portland Metra area and is spreading rapidly throughout the region.
According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the EAB “is a highly destructive invasive forest pest” that has killed over 100 million ash trees so far in the US. It moves quickly, and can cause nearly complete mortality of ash trees within about several years after detection. There are no effective means of eradicating the EAB once the insect is established in an area. Once a tree canopy has been thinned or been reduced by 20 to 30 percent or more by EAB feeding activity, it is too late to save the tree. It will die.
Good News Tree Service, Inc. can save your ash tree from the EAB beetle before it’s too late. CALL US TODAY FOR MORE INFO!
Frequently Asked Questions About the EAB
What trees species does the Emerald Ash Borer attack?
The EAB attacks all varieties of ash or Fraxinus trees regardless of variety, size, age or the health status of the tree. It also attacks the white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) and cultivated olive trees (Olea europaea).
How quickly does EAB spread?
The beetle can fly several miles (sometimes up to 15 miles) from one infested tree to one that is not. However, the most likely means by which the EAB spreads is thought to be by hitchhiking on vehicles and by translocated firewood. That’s why the EAB is more likely to spread to trees in areas along major freeways and highways, which opens up the entire Willamette Valley to the EAB.
How quickly will the EAB kill my tree?
An ash tree usually dies within four to six years after initial infestation. For the first couple of years of EAB infestation, it may be impossible to detect EAB activity in a tree, which is why trees worth saving need to be treated earlier rather than later.
What are the signs that my tree has EAB?There are several including:
- Thinning of a tree’s crown.
- Branch dieback.
- Woodpecker activity.
- One-eighth inch sized capital “D” shaped holes in the bark of the tree.
- Splitting bark.
Progression of EAB symptoms in a tree, which may occur a couple of years after the tree has already been infested include:
- Year one: no crown thinning.
- Year two: moderate crown thinning.
- Year three to four: heavy crown thinning and death.
What are my options when it comes to EAB?
- Do nothing. Then wait for your tree to die as you unwittingly facilitate the spread of the EAB to your neighbors’ ash trees.
- Remove the tree. If your ash tree is small (smaller than six inches in diameter), we recommend removing it and replacing with another species of tree. The cost to remove an ash tree and its stump can be $1,500 or more. This does not factor in the diminished value to your property that the removal of a mature tree will cause. In Portland, for example, the assessed value of mature ash tree is $3,12013. Plus, this not cover the cost to replace the tree, which is often a requirement in many municipalities.
- Treatment. Considering treating high-value ash trees with an insecticide, which is a proven way of protecting your tree. Keep in mind that this will cost hundreds of dollars and must be repeated every few years, thus requiring a long-term commitment.
Is there anything I can do to protect my ash tree?
Other than treating your tree with a systemic insecticide, the answer is no.
How effective are treatments?
If an ash tree is treated in time, usually before 20 to 30 percent defoliation occurs, the survival rate is about 99 percent. After that level of defoliation occurs, will die the tree thus becomes a standing hazard requiring removal.
What is the cost to treat my ash tree for EAB?
The cost to treat an average sized ash tree (20 inch diameter at breast height) is around $300 to $400 (or less for quantity discounts). Generally one can treat an ash tree for 20 to 30 years for the same cost as removing it and replacing it with another tree. Often local municipalities require that you replace your tree especially if it is a street tree, which adds to the overall cost of removing a tree.
How often do I need to treat my tree?
An ash tree will need to be treated only once very two to three years, and will need to be treated for the life of the tree.
How are the treatments applied and are they environmentally safe?
Yes! Absolutely. The systemic insecticide we use is injected directly into the tree’s vascular system (like and IV), so it all goes into the tree, thus there is no residue present to harm pets or people. The product we use also doesn’t harm bees or other pollinators.
More Info About EAB
Oregon State University Extension Service— general info: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/forests/cutting-selling/what-do-about-emerald-ash-borer-recommendations-tree-protection-eab
Oregon State University—EAB identification guide: https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/em9160.pdf
OSU Extention Service–general info and more links: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/announcements/emerald-ash-borer-quarantine-adopted-washington-county-effective-dec-20-2022-may-16
OSU Extention Service:
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/forests/cutting-selling/what-do-about-emerald-ash-borer-recommendations-tree-protection-eab
Footnotes
1–EAB confirmed in Oregon: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/stakeholder-messages/plant-health-news/eab-or
2–Oregon Department of Agriculture: https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/IPPM/Documents/EmeraldAshBorer.pdf
3– Oregon Department of Forestry: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58740d57579fb3b4fa5ce66f/t/60772a17647ad466155f74a7/1618422303582/March+2021_EAB.pdf
Tree Planting Site Analysis, Planting and Monitoring Specifications
By Nathan Lawrence,
Owner of the Good News Tree Service, Inc. in Wilsonville, OR since 1985 — ISA Certified Arborist • ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified • State of Oregon Licensed Commercial Pesticide Applicator • OSU Master Gardener
The following information and recommendations pertain to the northern Willamette Valley areas of western Oregon.
Planting the right tree in the right location will help to minimize plant stress (both biotic and abiotic), pests and mortality, thus ensuring better tree performance for years to come. This is a wise use of resources, economical, good for the well-being of the community and for the local environment and the earth in general. This also means that fewer chemical pesticides will be required in caring for the tree, which is a good thing for everyone and everything.
To accomplish these goals requires intentional planning and tree planting strategies. Prevention is the best medicine! Property owners cannot afford to pay someone simply dig a hole and drop a tree in it, and then walk away after the tree planter has collected their money and moved on. Garbage in garbage out! If the tree was not planted with intentional forethought with an eye on long term tree survival, it is likely the tree will under-perform, require expensive (often chemical) treatments and may even die. If the tree is planted with strategic and intentional forethought, and then properly cared for subsequently, it will be more likely to perform healthily for generations to come
The following are some things to consider before planting a tree on a site.
Site Evaluation
It is essential to determine the soil volume of the planting area, so that the appropriate tree can be chosen for that specific site. The smaller the soil volume, the smaller the tree (at mature size) that can be planted in that area. Conversely, the larger the soil volume, the larger the tree (at mature size) that can be planted. I recommend that the tree size–soil volume ratio be based on various studies of a tree’s soil requirement at its mature size. If a tree doesn’t have the proper soil volume, its roots will not be able to uptake the amount of soil moisture and nutrients they need to be healthy, nor will they be able to anchor themselves sufficiently against wind storms.
Here is a list from based on the above mentioned soil volume study for urban trees of approximate tree size and suggested soil volume requirements. These numbers are based on the tree’s crown spread and diameter at breast height (or dbh) at the tree’s mature size. (One online calculator for determining the soil volume needed for a tree can be found at https://greenblue.com/gb/resources/soil-calculator/.)
- 14 foot crown spread by 4 inches dbh needs 100 to 307 cubic feet of soil volume.
- 21 foot crown spread by 8 inches dbh needs 200 to 698 cubic feet of soil volume.
- 27 foot crown spread by 12 inches dbh needs 300 to 1144 cubic feet of soil volume.
- 32 foot crown spread by 16 inches dbh: needs 1000 to 1607 cubic feet of soil volume.
- 36 foot crown spread by 20 inches dbh needs 1300 to 2034 cubic feet of soil volume.
- 39 foot crown spread by 24 inches dbh needs 1400 to 2512 cubic feet of soil volume.
To determine the average soil volume of a street tree planting strip, first measure the width of the strip (from sidewalk to street curb), then the average depth of the soil (two feet or less), then the length of strip. For example,
- If the tree’s roots spread to a radius from the trunk of 10 feet with 2 feet of soil depth in a 5.5 foot wide planting strip, then the soil volume in that area is 220 square feet.
- If the tree’s roots spread to a radius from the trunk of 20 feet with 2 feet of soil depth in a 5.5 foot wide planting strip, then the soil volume increase to 440 square feet.
- If the planting strip is 8 feet wide and the tree’s roots spread to a radius from the trunk of 10 feet with 2 feet of soil depth, then our soil volume is 320 square feet.
- If the planting strip is 8 feet wide and the tree’s roots spread to a radius from the trunk of 20 feet with 2 feet of soil depth, then our soil volume increase to 640 square feet.
Another way of determining the soil volume is to calculate the soil volume based on the size of tree’s canopy. One to three cubic feet of soil is needed for every square foot of crown projection. This is the anticipated area under the drip line of the tree at expected maturity. This formula does not apply to fastigiate and columnar habit trees. The soil volume requirement can be calculated for narrow form trees by basing the canopy diameter on the parent tree’s natural growth form.
The volumes generated in the above lists is an estimate and should only be used to generate an order of magnitude as a guide or target volume. Furthermore, there is a wide range of soil volumes recommended by soil scientists, botanists and landscape architects. The bottom line? The smaller the tree the better for most street tree situation, since recommended soil volumes are seldom high enough to support healthy trees long term.
Please note that if the soil is only 18 inches deep, then the soil volume will be even less. In many cases in planting strips along roads and sidewalks, it is not uncommon to hit compacted, impermeable gravel in various spots in the tree’s root zone at only a depth of 6 to 12 inches.
In light of the reality that street trees are seldom planted with the optimal soil volume and soil fertility they would prefer, the manager of the street tree will need to monitor the tree to ensure that it has the proper nutrients needed to sustain maximum tree performance. A planting site that sub par to the tree’s optimal needs may necessitate occasionally feeding the tree if it begins to show signs of stress. This needs to be factored into the long term care of street trees.
Soil Type, Texture and Structure
Next, we must conduct a soil test to 12 inches deep to determine soil type, texture and structure, so that the right tree is planted in the soil type that it prefers. This involves determining the approximate proportion of sand, clay, silt (and loam, which is a combination of the previous three soil types).
Continue readingVisit Bend, Oregon’s World Class “Japanese” Garden
The Bend region of Central Oregon has a world class Japanese style garden that is largely unrecognized for its exquisite grandeur and masterful artistry. It is open to the public, easily accessible and the cost to visit it is negligible. In this video, tour this jaw-dropping, mesmerizing and mind-boggling ancient garden and find out where it is located.
Nathan’s Private Japanese Garden of Eden
There is a saying, “Practice what you preach”. Well, on this channel, we talk a lot about Japanese style tree and shrub pruning, but we live it also. This video is the first ever debut of and your personal invitation to tour Nathan’s own private Japanese garden, which he has created from nothing in his own, somewhat eclectic, Pacific Northwest style over the past 30 years. When he started, the yard was a blank palette…well, not exactly. It was actually a non-landscaped, weed-infested garbage dump. Nathan hauled out a 30-yard dumpster load of old motorcycle and car parts parts, broken furniture, pallets, dead animals, and a lot of other junk besides, and then he got to work transforming it into what it is today. Like all Japanese gardens, this one has been a work in progress, and there is still more to be done. In the mean time, please allow me to share it with you as it currently is. Enjoy.