Just how cold does it have to get to kill those pests?
Many of us like to look for silver linings, and the shining hope of a frigid winter is that overwintering insects suffered more than we did. If there are fewer harmful creepy-crawlers this summer, then maybe that chilly February was worth it.
I can’t speak to how the yellow jackets fared (hopefully poorly), but I do know that our problematic bark beetles—specifically the fir engraver and Douglas fir engraver—took it all in stride. February was hardly a blip on the radar for their sleeping larval selves. It was not cold enough to cause beetle die-off. Thus, expect more browning firs in the months and years to come.
When it comes to winter, beetle larvae are way tougher than we are. They use snow around the base of a tree and the tree’s bark as insulation. The larvae excrete all their stomach contents so the liquid won’t freeze up. Then they fold over on themselves and generate a kind of internal antifreeze. Finally, they wait, able to withstand temperatures of up to -40 degrees.
February’s chill didn’t even come close to that.
This is the characteristic “mining” pattern the Douglas-fir engraver beetle larvae makes when eating the tree’s inner bark. Each beetle has a pattern all its own. Image courtesy of Wayne Brewer, Auburn University, Bugwood.org.
The best hope for temperature-related beetle die-off is to have a hard freeze—below zero—very early or very late in the season. Like in October or now, in March or April. If the freeze comes early, the beetles won’t have yet generated enough antifreeze in their systems to survive; and if the freeze comes late, the larvae will have already woken up with the warmer weather and shed their defenses. However, even in these scenarios, beetles can always fly in from areas that didn’t get as cold.
Thus, it seems, the beetles—and their detrimental effects—are with us for at least another year.
So, in the absence of such beetle die-off, what is a landowner to do? First, keep an eye on the health of your trees. Beetles are opportunists. They’ll go for stressed trees whose defenses are down, and then they’ll spread from there. Cull the diseased trees from your forest to limit infestation opportunities. And while you’re at it, just thin your forest in general. Trees living in competition with one another for light and nutrients don’t have the necessary resources to fend off beetle attacks. Give your trees the room they need to thrive. Finally, if you do have beetle-kill on your property, remove it.
To learn more about beetles, check out these Forest Service documents on the fir engraver and the Douglas-fir engraver beetles. Also, our last post was about bark beetles in North Idaho. Finally, don’t hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions about the health of your trees.
Rampant dieback is evident in area trees, but why?
This year, many of us noticed conifer dieback —especially affecting fir trees—on our properties and in our surrounding forests. The flaring out (or reddening) of so many trees is alarming to those of us familiar with bark beetle infestations elsewhere, including those decimating entire hillsides in Montana and Colorado. Are our tree stands doomed, too?
The thing is, bark beetles aren’t to blame for what we’re experiencing here; they’re just finishing off a job begun by other factors. The fir dieback we are now seeing actually has its roots in a century’s worth of logging, fire suppression, and the introduction of pathogens like white pine blister rust. This all contributes to more grand fir, Douglas fir, and subalpine fir than North Idaho has traditionally supported.
Next, the hotter, drier summers of recent years have stressed out our trees, leaving them more susceptible to diseases and pests. Thus, pathogens that healthy trees can easily fend off are now flourishing amidst weakened “immune systems.”
One such problem is the myriad native fungi that lead to root rot. Doug fir, grand fir, and subalpine fir are the species most susceptible to root diseases, and these diseases alone—even without the beetles—are leading to massive dieback.
Since the fungi responsible for root rot live in the soil and remain onsite through generations of trees, this problem isn’t going away anytime soon. However, even in the face of drought, there are things a landowner can do to diminish the threat of dieback. The first step is to thin the forest so trees aren’t competing for water and nutrients. Twelve to fifteen feet between saplings (more for larger trees) is a good rule of thumb. The second step is to ensure forest diversity, including a majority of trees tolerant of root diseases. These include (in descending order): ponderosa, Western larch, Western red cedar, lodgepole pine, Western white pine, Western hemlock, and Engelmann spruce.
Fir trees sometimes struggle and survive at the brink of dieback brought on by drought and root diseases, but opportunistic beetles exist to finish off the job. In North Idaho, we have over 100 species of bark beetle, each specializing in different conifers and sometimes even different parts of specific conifers. These beetles are a natural part of our forest, but they are flourishing right now due to the aforementioned factors of drought, overcrowding, fir population imbalances, and root rot.
If you notice fir dieback (or other struggling trees) on your property, give us a call. We can provide an assessment of your trees and forest and how best to tackle the domino effect that runs from drought to dying trees.
It’s not all about trees when wildland fire season arrives…
Summer has become scary for most of us in the West, with wildland fire surrounding us for much of the summer season—and beyond. Currently, over one million acres are burning nationwide, and upwards of 26,000 firefighters are working to contain those blazes. Sand Creek Tree Service is proud to be among them, devoting time, personnel and equipment to the fire-suppression cause.
Our water truck on hand for a blaze in Nevada this year
In addition to our arborist work in and around Sandpoint, we are on-call with the Forest Service during wildland fire season and can be summoned anywhere in the nation. This year, our equipment is spending a lot of time in Nevada. We operate a water truck that assists in wildland fire suppression. This work can wreak havoc with our tree-care schedule, but it makes us so grateful to return to the cool shade of our area’s treescapes when time allows.
If you live outside of Sandpoint city limits, you’re likely surrounded by trees. Most of us live here because we love the forest; we enjoy looking out our window onto expanses of cedar, hemlock, pine and fir. North Idaho offers this in spades. However, come fire season, forests become fuel, and it’s scary living inside the tinderbox. So, beyond making a stump farm of one’s acreage, what’s a forest-bound resident to do?
A healthy forest makes for a healthy burn. A healthy burn will likely leave your home safe.
Fuels reduction is the key. Trees must be thinned, concentrating on increasing space between canopies. Down below, ladder fuels (vegetation that allows a wildland fire to climb from the forest floor to the canopy) must be reduced, including branches, brush and young trees. Surface fuels (dead and downed timber and limbs) should be removed as well as they can harbor and build heat during a fire. As an additional safety measure, residents can clear a swath of trees through the forest 5 to 15 feet wide that acts as a fuels break. This gives firefighters an advantage when trying to save homes. Basically, the idea is to manage fuels so that when a wildland fire does come, it acts as a healthy ground fire that cleans up the forest while sparing large trees and structures.
A fire in Nevada comes dangerously close to town.
At Sand Creek Tree Service, we’re not just arborists; we’re also wildland firefighters. We know how to keep forests healthy and safe, and we’d rather do that than battle flames at anyone’s doorstep.
The lesson we’ve learned on fires is to make sure your home is defensible. And not just your home, but access to your home as well. If you have a long driveway with thick trees, reduce fuels on each side of the road 5 to 20 feet back depending on the fuel types. That means thinning some trees, removing saplings, and limbing up larger trees. Another thing to consider is whether there is enough room to get a fire engine down your driveway and turned around.
Of course, we can’t predict wildland fires, but it never hurts to be prepared. Even if the landscape doesn’t ignite this year, it will at some point. Such is the nature of a densely forested environment.
Sand Creek Tree Service can help with all fuels reduction work. We know what a defensible home looks like; and sadly, we’re familiar with properties that don’t stand a chance. Call us today for an assessment of your property.
Also, to stay apprised of fire potential predictions for our region, visit the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook page for updates through the summer.
Our tree care service has come a long way in eight short years…
Early in our tree service days. The saw pictured in the photo is “Bernie.” It blew up a year after we acquired it.
When we first got our start as a tree care service back in 2010, we were a sight. Armed with little more than two chainsaws, a Toyota pickup, and something we affectionately referred to as the “Afghani Pawnshop Trailer,” we tackled jobs with gumption and gusto rather than horsepower or helpful machinery. When we pulled up, clients likely cringed, but our work ethic proved us worthy of return calls.
One chainsaw was named “Veruca” for the spoiled brat in Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” She only started up when she felt like it—and she often didn’t feel like it. The other saw was named “Shy Ronnie” for the Saturday Night Live character who only ever found his voice when no one was looking or listening. Shy Ronnie, the chainsaw, ran like a dream…so long as you didn’t look at him.
Today, our chainsaws don’t bear names because they don’t have personalities. They’re not secondhand. They actually run well. This is a good thing, though it’s fun to reminisce about the old saws. We finally gave Veruca away—for free!—and the recipient of this gift came back to complain about how terrible the saw was.
For several years, we didn’t own a chipper. We just loaded our trailer as full of branches as humanly possible and drove the loads to a competitor whom we paid to chip our mess. The system was far from efficient, but it’s all that we knew.
Our first chipper. It looks so small!
When we finally purchased a chipper, it had a six-inch capacity. It was tiny, and with its narrow wheelbase, it tipped over a handful of times. With this chipper, we took on an 18-day logging project high in the mountains. At the time, it was magical—waking in the night to the sound of bugling elk, watching the seasons change—but now we look back and shake our heads. How did we ever do it?
Instead of the portable winch and skidsteer that we use now to load logs onto our trailer, we once used a hand-crank come-a-long—with varying degrees of success. Often, we’d just have to cut the logs into sizes we could lift by hand without throwing out our backs. One giant cottonwood had to be cut into cookies only four inches thick; we couldn’t lift the rounds otherwise.
The first iteration of the “tree train.” It’s all different now, with a Dodge, a dump trailer, and a 12-inch chipper. But we’ll always be grateful to the Toyota pickup for pulling ridiculously heavy loads.
Through it all, however, several things have remained constant: Tyler is a skilled climber and arborist; our emphasis is on safety; we love trees; both of us enjoy what we do; we work really hard; and we smile a lot while doing it. Somehow, this formula has worked for us. Every time we’ve decided to take a leap of faith and buy an expensive new piece of equipment, we’ve been met with the opportunity to take on more work and make an even better living for ourselves. Our tree care service continues to grow, and for this we are grateful. We are grateful to all of you in Bonner County who continue to come to us for your tree work needs.
Today, we have an employee whom we can’t imagine working without. And we have a lot of seemingly indispensable equipment: our Dodge Ram, a dump trailer, a 12-inch capacity chipper, a skidsteer, our portable winch, and more.
We look forward to continuing to work and grow in North Idaho—both as a business, and as a family. Thank you for supporting Sand Creek Tree Service!
Mistletoe may be good for those desiring a kiss but not so much for your trees…
We see a lot of mistletoe around here. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that love and lingering holiday cheer are in the air, but rather, that the seeds propagating the parasite are soon to be airborne. (And watch out: Mistletoe seeds are ejected from the plant at speeds of up to 60 mph!) It’s something to be aware of as mistletoe is detrimental to the health of your trees.
Note the abnormal branch growth of the witches broom on this fir. Photo by Cephas via Wikimedia Commons
North Idaho is home to a handful of dwarf mistletoes that are specific to our native trees. Larch, Douglas fir, ponderosa and lodgepole pines are all primary host species. In our work, we have seen it most often in larch and Douglas fir.
What does mistletoe look like? It’s most easily spotted when the infection is full-blown and affected limbs have witch-broomed in response. A witches broom is a mass of chaotic branch growth that appears as a dense clump in your otherwise well-formed conifer. The witches broom is a response to the mistletoe but not the mistletoe itself.
Larch dwarf mistletoe shoots begin to sprout in the spring eventually forming clusters of shoots as seen in this plant. Photo courtesy of the USDA Forest Service Archive
Mistletoe is hard to detect early on. For several years, no outward symptoms may be apparent. This is known as a latent infection. After several years, though, scaly shoots emerge. However, since they are only two inches tall and are likely hidden in the canopy of the tree, most property owners don’t notice the early stages of mistletoe infection. Thus, we are often called in to treat more heavily infected trees that have had many years to spread the parasite to surrounding trees. This makes mistletoe eradication difficult.
Mistletoe harms trees in numerous ways. For one, as a parasite, it takes water and nutrients from the tree for its own growth, leaving the tree weaker and more susceptible to other insect and fungal invaders. Infected trees grow slowly, and heavy witch-broomed limbs are prone to breakage due to their weight. Mistletoe often leads to tree death. It also creates a fire hazard. All of this means that a mistletoe infested tree is a hazardous tree.
Our approach to mistletoe treatment is to first assess the tree to determine if the tree is a candidate for pruning or removal. If the infection isn’t too severe, pruning of witches brooms and less affected limbs will be undertaken. Healthy looking limbs adjacent to infected ones may also be removed in case infection is latent. Pruning in subsequent years may be necessary to catch future outbreaks. And pruning is best undertaken in the early spring or late fall when pollen and seeds are not being released from the mistletoe. We don’t want to inadvertently spread more infection.
One last thing to consider is that mistletoe does have its uses. Various birds and forest animals use witch-broomed limbs for cover and as nesting sites. We once found ourselves in a tree, dodging a group of flying squirrels leaping to safety. There is something to be said for leaving an infected tree alone if it is not a direct hazard to you and the health of your forest.
If you have concerns about mistletoe, give us a call for an assessment. And for more information, there are several helpful publications online:
At least once a month, we get a request for topping someone’s trees. The reasons are myriad: The tree is blocking the view, it’s impinging on satellite service, it’s deemed too tall and hazardous, or someone just likes the look. On the surface, topping doesn’t seem like a bad idea. You get to keep your tree and have it out of your way. In reality, though, topping is a terrible practice, and we try to dissuade all our clients from having it done.
These Norway spruce trees will be unable to heal over the wounds that topping created, thus leading to rot and structurally unsound trees.
Why is topping so bad? There are a lot of reasons, but first and foremost is that it will likely kill your tree. Hacking it back may not kill it this year or next, but your tree’s lifespan will definitely be shortened.
Topping drastically reduces a tree’s leaf mass, limiting the tree’s ability to produce food and sustain itself. This causes root dieback. Also, the site of an indiscriminate topping cut can provide access to decay, insects, and disease. And limbs newly exposed to sun without the protection of the canopy may become sunburned, leading to cankers and branch death. All of this leads to an unhealthy, unstable tree.
Furthermore, topping often leads to something we call “witchbrooming.” This is where a multitude of branches sprout from near the cut. These epicormic branches are weakly attached and can grow up to 20 feet in one year. Such limbs are susceptible to breakage in storms, causing more damage than the tree originally would have.
Another problem with topping is that it will ultimately cost you more in the long run. More frequent pruning will be necessary to mitigate branch failure risks and to rein in the height of the new epicormic branches. Furthermore, as the tree’s health declines, it may just have to be removed after a number of years.
It’s no surprise that such extensive topping killed this tree. If you want to cut a tree back that much, it’s better to just remove it entirely.
Finally, topped trees are ugly. When you consider that healthy, well-maintained trees can add 10-20 percent to the value of your property – and topped trees can be seen as a safety risk – why would any homeowner request the practice?
However, there are healthy approaches to canopy reduction. One method is called “drop-crotching,” where tall limbs are cut back to an appropriate branch that can take on a terminal role. This branch must be at least one-third the size of the one removed. Drop-crotching can diminish height while maintaining the shape and health of a tree. However, this is only appropriate for trees with a rounded, or decurrent, shape. Pyramidal, or excurrent, trees (think conifers) simply cannot have their height reduced without negative consequences.
In some cases, the best practice is to remove the problem tree and replace it with one better suited to the site.
If you are considering topping your tree, please give us a call. We can offer alternative approaches that may solve the problem at hand.
Utilizing proper pruning techniques can save you money down the road…
Many of the big, expensive jobs that come our way are the result of improper pruning practices. Though these expensive jobs are good for our bottom line, we’d rather see our town populated with healthy, thriving trees, the result of proper pruning.
This tree was once topped, and it has now sprouted back with a vengeance. These epicormic branches tend to be weakly attached to the tree, causing problems with falling limbs later.
Why is proper pruning so important? And why does improper pruning lead to expensive remedies? Improperly pruned trees cause excessive wounding and resultant rot, decreased food production which weakens the tree, increased sprouting that leads to weak branch unions, and increased chances of wind, ice, and sun damage. Thus, a tree that is not properly pruned is more likely to die or to drop limbs. These limbs—or the entire tree—must be removed, at a greater cost to the tree owner than properly pruning at the outset.
The most common improper pruning practice we see is the topping of trees.
These topped trees are unlikely to survive long. Such drastic pruning practices are never acceptable.
This is where the limbs are cut back close to the trunk in order to decrease the height of a tree. Many people do this in order to improve views or satellite reception, to decrease shade in the yard, or to get rid of some of the “mess” that trees create (leaves, fruit, etc.). In all of these situations, we recommend simply removing the tree. It is better for the tree—and your bottom line—to cut it at the base than to leave it weakened and dangerous.
The International Society of Arboriculture has several brochures on the proper pruning of trees; Pruning Mature Trees and Pruning Young Trees are both worth looking at if you’re considering taking on tree pruning yourself. However, if you have any trepidation about tackling a pruning project, don’t hesitate to call us. It’s much less expensive to properly prune a tree than it is to remedy the damage done by improper pruning practices.
The moment you think about tree pruning is the time to act…
It’s a common question among our clients: When is the best time for pruning my trees? And it’s a question with as many answers as there are people who care to comment. There are kernels of truth to ideas that some trees prefer pruning at some times over others, and that tree pruning at various times of the year produces different effects. However, the answer can generally be kept fairly simple: When you remember that your tree needs pruning, that’s when you should do it. Your tree is healthier pruned, no matter the time of year.
This willow is safer and healthier now that dead limbs have been removed. Tree pruning is vital for tree health.
Removal of dead, diseased or problem limbs can be undertaken at any time without negatively affecting the tree. This makes up the bulk of tree pruning requests. Sometimes, though, people simply want their tree cleaned up and thinned out a bit (and kudos to them for seeing the importance of such maintenance!). Attending to this in late winter or early spring – before the buds swell – will maximize growth in the coming year. Conversely, pruning during or soon after the leaves come out can retard growth. The tree has just expended most of its energy in putting out new shoots and leaves, so it has few resources left to compensate for what has been removed. Normally this isn’t a problem, but if too much is removed during this time of major energy output, the tree can become stressed and, thus, more susceptible to disease.
Pruning when the tree is dormant – after it has lost its leaves and before buds swell in the spring – allows the tree the most time and energy for healing its wounds. It gets a full growing season to compartmentalize those pruning points. Furthermore, at the time of tree pruning, pests are also dormant and won’t use the wounds as points of entry.
Fruit and other flowering trees can be pruned at various times to various effect, depending on your desire to enhance flowering, develop proper structure, or thin fruit. Other trees may be susceptible to certain pathogens that follow particular transmission schedules, so pruning is generally avoided during this time.
All of this aside, though, we can’t emphasize enough that one of the most important things you can do for the health of your tree is to keep it properly pruned. No matter the tree, no matter the season, if you look out your window and are reminded that your tree is in need of a little TLC, give us a call. We will come out and assess the tree, as well as provide a free tree pruning estimate. If we determine the tree would be best left alone for a few weeks before pruning, we’ll let you know. Just make the call. Your tree will thank you with a long and productive life.
Fire season is around the corner, and we can help you prepare…
This is one of many homes lost in recent years where the forest meets our living spaces.
Last fire season was epic, to say the least. More than 300 fires burned 50,000-plus acres in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Over 27,000 firefighters battled these blazes. Such numbers make 2015’s fire season the worst since 1926. And we were one windstorm away from a conflagration that would have rivaled 1910’s Big Burn.
If you live outside of Sandpoint city limits, you’re likely surrounded by trees. Most of us live here because we love the forest; we enjoy looking out our window onto a viewscape of cedar, hemlock, pine and fir. North Idaho offers this in spades. However, come fire season, forests become fuel, and it’s scary living inside the tinderbox. So, beyond making a stump farm of one’s acreage, what’s a forest-bound resident to do?
A healthy forest makes for a healthy burn. A healthy burn will likely leave your home safe.
Fuels reduction is the key. Trees must be thinned, concentrating on increasing space between canopies. Down below, ladder fuels (vegetation that allows a fire to climb from the forest floor to the canopy) must be reduced, including branches, brush and young trees. Surface fuels (dead and downed timber and limbs) should be removed as well as they can harbor and build heat during a fire. As an additional safety measure, residents can clear a swath of trees through the forest 5 to 15 feet wide that acts as a fuels break. This gives firefighters an advantage when trying to save homes. Basically, the idea is to manage fuels so that when a fire does come, it acts as a healthy ground fire that cleans up the forest while sparing large trees and structures.
At Sand Creek Tree Service, we’re not just arborists; we’re also wildland firefighters. We know how to keep forests healthy and safe, and we’d rather do that than battle flames at anyone’s doorstep.
In 2006, Tyler’s job on a fire in Alaska was to quickly assess homes that were in the path of the blaze. Defensible homes received a single pink flag on the driveway, alerting firefighters that the effort of saving the structures was worth it. Meanwhile, homes with no fuels reduction received three flags, telling firefighters that trying to save the buildings was too dangerous. Homes were lost that day due to thick fuels.
The lesson is to make sure your home is defensible. And not just your home, but access to your home as well. If you have a long driveway with thick trees, reduce fuels on each side of the road 5 to 20 feet back depending on the fuel types. That means thinning some trees, removing saplings, and limbing up larger trees. Another thing to consider is whether there is enough room to get a fire engine down your driveway and turned around.
Of course, we can’t predict whether the coming fire season will rival the last, but it never hurts to be prepared. Even if the landscape doesn’t ignite this year, it will at some point. Such is the nature of a densely forested environment.
Sand Creek Tree Service can help with all fuels reduction work. We know what a defensible home looks like; and sadly, we’re familiar with properties that don’t stand a chance. Call us today for an assessment of your property.
Also, to stay apprised of fire potential predictions for our region, visit the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook page for updates through the summer.
Root problems might be simmering under the forest floor, waiting to topple your trees…
Root problems are the most difficult hazards to detect because most of the problem is underground and out of sight. People often have to wait for the visible portion of the tree to be affected before determining that there are root problems. Above-ground signs of root problems might include dieback, discolored needles or leaves, leaning with recent root exposure, as well as soil heaving, conks, or sap flow near the base of the tree. Also, failing trees nearby could indicate that the still-thriving trees might have a root problem.
Roots are essential to the structural support of your trees. They literally hold your tree to the earth. Thus, when root systems begin to fail, trees become a hazard to nearby people and property. Root problems may lead to blow-down in windstorms or tipping over without warning under the weight of leaves in the summer. Root problems are often silent but carry deadly consequences.
Decay fungi often indicate that a root problem is present.
There are two types of root problems: physical and biological. Decay fungi often cause biological root problems. This becomes evident when conks appear near a tree’s roots and in nearby decayed stumps. However, only about half of the trees infected with root rot might show symptoms at any one time. In this region, grand fir and Douglas fir are particularly prone to laminated root rot. Idaho Department of Lands provides an excellent and informative explanation of laminated root rot.
Physical root problems are often human-caused. They include severed, loosened, cracked, broken and exposed roots. Construction or paving near a tree, driving vehicles over roots (soil compaction), and raising or lowering the soil level near a tree can all cause physical root problems. In attempting to diagnose a failing tree, we may ask you questions about recent activity on your property. If you’ve just constructed an addition to your house or have rerouted your driveway or plumbing, that might be the problem.
One final physical root problem that is not human-caused is the girdling root. These roots grow around or across the trunk or other roots on the tree. As the tree grows, girdling roots may begin to choke the tree, reducing its ability to take in water and nutrients. Symptoms are similar to those you might see in drought, including early fall color and dieback.
Of all of these issues, the symptom you should be most concerned about is a tree demonstrating an increased lean with cracking or mounding soil at the base. This is a serious hazard and should be dealt with immediately, before it falls on its own…because it will soon fall. Even if you only suspect root problems in one of your struggling trees, give us a call. We’re happy to provide an assessment and free estimate.
For more information about root diseases, go to the Forest and Shade Tree Pathology website. And to learn more about your potential hazard trees, don’t hesitate to contact us.
