Hort Peeves (Tree Edition): Planting to Kill

Posted by: Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension

I started my career in horticulture working at Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota. I was a high school student who needed a job, never once thinking how the nursery industry would shape my future. Because of this...and because my brother, Jeffrey, works for Bailey's, I have a deep appreciation and understanding of nursery practices and what's required to produce landscape plants. This is why my blood boils when I see trees mistreated, carelessly maintained or poorly planted--I understand what it takes to produce healthy trees.

Burlap and twine left on the tree at planting. Remove all root ball coverings! Or as much as you possibly can.

Think about it. To help supply the landscape industry, trees are produced at wholesale nurseries throughout the country. The majority of nursery production is on the west coast--California, Washington and Oregon, because they have ideal growing conditions. These states have consistent moisture in winter and long summers perfect for growing ornamental plants. You can produce plants more quickly when you have an optimal growing environment. But that doesn't mean a tree can be grown overnight--in fact, most trees take years to grow.

And then these young trees are delivered to a job site and left to die. Or they are planted wrong, neglected and left to die. Or they are just mistreated and left to die.

Tree planted at the new CSU Medical Center on campus. This tree died within two weeks of planting, likely due to drought stress. It has since been replaced, costing additional time and money.

That's not to say that all nursery trees don't make it--most do. Most of this is preventable. We can prevent tree death if we step up to care for the trees in the first place. I don't have a solution for how to fix this problem, but in true Extension fashion, perhaps a little education is necessary:

All trees start out as a seed or a cutting. It just depends on the type of tree and how it's typically grown. Most named cultivars are vegetatively propagated through asexual reproduction (cuttings, budding, grafting). Some trees, like oaks and redbud, are grown from seed (though they may be grafted later). Seeds are typically fall-sown and cuttings are taken throughout the summer. Regardless, either seeds or cuttings will be sown outdoors or stuck in a greenhouse, nurtured and maintained.

A greenhouse full of maple cuttings.

The young trees (often referred to as "liners") are harvested once they are ready for the next stage of their production cycle, generally after six to 12 months of care.

A maple tree liner.

Trees are dug from the greenhouse and outdoor seedbeds in the fall and transported to cold storage facilities to be sorted and graded during the winter months. The trees are sorted by size, caliber and quality. The following spring, the liners are "lined out" in the field, generally between March and May.

After planting, multiple things can happen. The tree may be budded the first growing season in the field. It may be left to grow for one year so it develops more roots. It may be grown (with regular pruning and training) for a certain period of time (no budding or grafting). Some are even grown in the field for awhile and then transplanted into containers to be grown for an additional year.

But what's important to know is that from seed/cutting to a 1 1/2" to 2" caliper tree may take anywhere from three years....to five years. It will take even longer for bigger trees. That's a long time for the nursery to invest in a product. And that's why it hurts to see these trees dead in the landscape.

For example, if a maple cutting was initiated in the greenhouse this summer, it would be dug in the fall of 2017. It's then planted into the field in 2018. It's grown for another season (2019) and by 2020 it's considered to have a "three year top". The tree may be dug that season or grown for one more and harvested in 2021 (four year top). So after the initial planting of the cutting in the greenhouse, it grows for another four full growing seasons--about five total years, give or take.

This is also why trees are an expensive investment.

If you stop watering (or don't water) the turf, young trees will likely suffer. Remember trees and turf are sharing the water.

Though the industry has recovered quite a bit from the Great Recession, you may have noticed that there was a short supply of trees available for purchase. Calculate back to when those trees would have been started as seeds or cuttings--it would be the late 2000s. Many nurseries stopped producing trees, not knowing if the industry or housing would recover. Things are starting to improve and nurseries are back on track. But there was a definite decrease in supply for a few years.

When you buy a tree or you're planting a job site, make sure you have everything ready to plant. Get the utilities marked. Mark where the trees will be planted. Have water readily available. Make a plan for maintenance following planting. This is far easier for homeowners, who only have to take care of one or two trees. It gets more difficult if you have a large site with 100 trees. But it's not impossible.

So does the grower care what happens to the tree after it leaves the nursery? ABSOLUTELY! Nursery employees spend a lot of time growing trees and want to see their product be successful. We all do.

Hort Peeve and Pleasure: Fertilizer Spreaders

Posted by: Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension

Spring is off to a racing start in the Front Range of Colorado this year. I had a Master Gardener tell me that she keeps a historical diary of when plants bloom and this is the earliest she's ever seen Callery pear and crabapples in full bloom.

With the early spring come lawn questions. To be fair, lawn questions occur most of the year, but generally the most frequent questions start in late April to May when things aren't greening up like they should. But not this year--I started booking Lawnchecks (lawn evaluations) in March.

Lawnchecks are one of my favorite things to do, primarily because there are so many old wives tales surrounding lawn care--such as leaving grass clippings on the lawn leads to thatch (it doesn't), you shouldn't water at night because it causes disease (it doesn't) and every weedy grass is crabgrass (it's not). I find that doing these visits is one of the best ways to dispell myths and get homeowners the correct information.

One thing that's surprised me is how people fertilize their lawn. We see a lot of "hungry" turf out there and when we ask about fertilization, the answers are all over the board. First of all, fertilizer is good for the lawn. The healthier the lawn is, the fewer weeds it will have. Healthy turf also benefits the environment.

Early spring greening of a lawn in Loveland.

Use whatever fertilizer you like. The lawn doesn't care if the nitrogen comes from chicken poop or the Scotts Company. There is no "best" fertilizer, just like there's no "best" car. They all have advantages and disadvantages. But it is very important on how you apply the fertilizer.

Find a fertilizer you like! It's kind of like shampoo...something for all lawn types.

So many clients use the hand fertilizer spreader...on their 3000 square feet of turf. First of all, this leads to a lot of cranking and is also a very inefficient and non-uniform application of fertilizer. The hand-crank fertilizer spreader is best used on very small lawns (<500 square feet). I can understand why it's attractive to consumers--it's compact and easy to use. But to fertilize a typical lawn with one pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet would mean filling the hopper about 30 times (not an exact number). That's not my idea of easy! So you end up fertilizing less, thus leading to a "hungry" lawn that can't combat weeds and other stressors, like disease and insects. Plus, the fertilizer bags do not list the hand-crank spreader as an option, so it's a wild guess as to what setting to use.

The hand-crank fertilizer spreader. Only useful on very small lawns.

Instead, it is worth it to invest in a push fertilizer spreader. I know that you're only using it a couple times of year and it takes up space. But you can also use the fertilizer spreader to apply seed if you need to overseed. If space is an issue, see if you can borrow one from your neighbor...or the neighborhood hardware store. You can also rent them. The big thing is to make sure the fertilizer you bought has the spreader you're using listed on the bag so you can set the spreader accordingly. Using the correct fertilizer setting will ensure that you apply one pound of nitrogen/1000 square feet.

A push fertilizer spreader. Best for typical lawns.

Push spreaders are two types--drop spreaders and centrifugal ("whirly-bird") spreaders. Drop spreaders drop fertilizer directly below. This means that you walk a lot more to apply fertilizer, but it also means that the fertilizer is staying on the lawn and not spraying to sidewalks or driveways (very important). Centrifugal spreaders can cover larger areas more quickly and do have "edge guards" when you're near a sidewalk or driveway. Just be sure to use them. Fertilizer in our sewers is not a good horticulture practice.

So fertilizer spreaders are a peeve and a pleasure. It's good that you fertilize your lawn...but make sure you do it accurately using the right equipment. After you fertilize, make sure it's watered in well (or time it with precipitation). Happy fertilizing!

Hort Peeves: When you have to pray after you spray

Posted by: Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension

Though she will yell at me for posting this, I'm going to use my mom as an example of this hort peeve. Sorry mom...

When talking to mom a few weeks ago, she asked me, "Hey Al. I want to kill some weeds in my lawn. What do I use?" I advised her that a lawn weed control product is best (after talking about why the weeds were in the lawn). There was a pause and then she said, "Shoot. I used the wrong thing." When pressed, she admitted she used glyphosate (Roundup). And then with a bit of panic in her voice, "Did I kill the lawn?"

One thing that should be noted is that she asked me after she sprayed and not before. Mom!

No, this is not my mom's lawn. This was in Broomfield, Colo.

But I would hazard a guess that most of us have been in this situation before, thus praying after spraying. I have.

Here's your advice for the day: Read the label first. Then think about the product and what the label says. And then read the label again if you have questions. And if you're still unsure, contact the company that makes the product or call your local Extension office. It's very hard to un-do chemical damage. Fellow hortie, Curtis Utley, recently blogged about types of herbicides and their damage.

For some reason, once I started looking for chemical damage in landscapes...especially "Oops I used Roundup", it wasn't hard to find. Lawns are probably the easiest thing to spot.

As seen in Loveland; likely glyphosate damage.

Whatever your opinion is on Roundup, it is commonly used (and misused) in landscapes by professionals and homeowners. So what can you do if you accidentally use the wrong product in the wrong place? Well, it depends on the chemical. If it's just glyphosate and you just sprayed it, try to wash it off. If the product has dried on leaf tissue, like the lawn, you can mow the lawn to about an inch to remove the foliage. BUT not all Roundup is the same (refer to Tony Koski's blog on this). If you used one of the extended control products that contains imazapic or imazapyr, watering can make things worse.

Mistakes can be made and sometimes the damage is significant and costly. So be smart, read the label and think...it can save you a lot of angst. And prayer.

As seen in Wellington, Colo.; a misapplication of a broadleaf herbicide at a park.

Hort Peeves: Wrong Plant, Wrong Place

Posted by: Alison O'Connor

I saw these trees today (I think they are serviceberry) leaving a restaurant near the CSU campus in Fort Collins. I was with fellow horties Mary Small and Tony Koski and we all stopped dead in our tracks to gawk and take photos.

As seen in Fort Collins...

Wow. Just wow. Talk about a "concrete coffin".

Sniffle. Poor roots.

I'm just at a loss for words...and why don't you just add insult to injury with the rock mulch!

At least the bike wasn't chained to the tree.

What really gets my goat is that they were nice trees...really nice trees. Good quality trees. I'll keep an eye on them to see how they do over the months/years. I won't argue that something green would is nice to plant near the wall to break up some of the hardscape...but maybe a taller ornamental grass would have been a better option or a decorative container? A tree is just a bad choice. The branches are already touching the wall. Any other thoughts/comments?

Hort Peeves: The "More is Better" Attitude

Posted by: Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension

Seriously!?!

Hopefully you did a double-take of the Japanese maple photo above. Perhaps a thought came into your mind that starts with, "What the _____?!" (You fill in the blank.) This photo was taken by my brother, Jeffrey, in Oregon. His text said, "What do you think? A few more scoops should do it?"

In case you're wondering what's wrong, that poor Japanese maple is covered (smothered, really) in Osmocote, a slow-release fertilizer. And this brings me to my hort peeve: the mentality that, "A little is good, so a lot more is better."

Here's the thing..."a lot more" can actually do damage to your plants. Whether it's fertilizer, pesticides or even water. Too much fertilizer can cause burning, salt build-up and excessive succulent growth that is more prone to insects, disease and damage. Overuse of pesticides is wasteful and not environmentally responsible.

Weed death by drowning.

Yes, we've all done it. Even I've done it. But it's not the way to approach sustainable (and legal) gardening.

The bottom line: Read the label and apply the product according to the directions. In terms of pesticides, the label is the law. If the label suggests to apply the product so that the foliage is "lightly dripping", do not pour the product on the plant. If the product suggests 2 teaspoons of product per inch trunk diameter, do not use 2 cups of product.

MORE IS NOT BETTER!

I realize that we're an instant society and we want to see immediate results. If we use Roundup, we want that plant dead within hours. As a point of clarity, glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) usually takes a week or more to work, depending on conditions. But ingredients have been added (like diquat) so that you see foliage burn in a couple hours.

This also brings up another peeve: apply the product in the time frame suggested. If the label says wait 14 days before reapplying, then wait 14 days. Don't reapply at 7 days and think you'll "get a jump" on the problem. Give the product time to work.

Going back to the Japanese maple, Jeff has assured me he will keep an eye on it. I suspect the poor tree will show signs of leaf burn and dieback over the coming months/years. Poor tree.

Ugh.

Hort Peeves: Tree Edition

Posted by: Alison O'Connor, Larimer County Extension

I'm starting a new installment called "Hort Peeves"--things that you see in landscapes that simply don't make sense and drive a horticulturist crazy.

There's a lot of construction near my office and dozens of apartment buildings have been built in the last 12 months (mostly student housing for fellow Rams). It's been an experience watching the building process...and more recently...the landscaping process.

But I cannot stay silent about the trees they planted. First of all, they are inferior quality, with crooked trunks, no defined central leader and poor branching.

Second...these are COTTONWOODS (specifically Populus fremontii; the western cottonwood). Like, freakin' enormous, huge cottonwoods. And look where they are planted! Less than 10 feet from the apartments.

A cottonwood for each front yard!

Oh, and what's even better is that the mature size for these trees is 50' wide by 50' tall.

At least they are hardy to Colorado's climate.

Maybe the builders/landscapers don't bank on these trees surviving to maturity? My guess is they probably don't. But that's another peeve--we should plant trees for the tree's life--not to fit into our personal timeline or the maintenance contract. I fear these trees (at least the ones that survive) will have to be removed in a few years, because cottonwoods tend to grow quickly and they are going to outgrow their space soon. This is where the "right plant, right place" rule of thumb becomes so important.

Sigh. Poor trees. "I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." (The Lorax by Dr. Seuss)