An earth-friendly holiday tradition

Posted by: Todd Hagenbuch, CSU Extension, Routt County

The holidays are upon us, and for many, with that comes the age-old tradition of putting up a tree. One of my favorite family traditions is going with my wife and kids on a nice day or moonlit night and scouring the hillsides for a perfect tree, always excited to have the smell of evergreen once again filling our home. I've written about this tradition before, but as we just completed this task yesterday, I can't help but talk about it again.

Live trees are often the choice of horties, no matter how you get the tree. If you’re going to buy a live tree from a local vendor, you have a lot of options to choose from, with size, species, and price all being considerations.  These trees, typically grown on family-owned tree plantations around the country, are part of a sustainable, green industry. 

Two trees felled...and one daughter
about to be!

When you go to a tree retailer, make sure to choose a fresh tree. A fresh tree will have a healthy green appearance with few browning needles. Needles should be flexible and not fall off if you run a branch through your hand. Raise the tree a few inches off the ground and drop it on the butt end. Very few green needles should drop off the tree. It is normal for a few inner brown needles to drop off.

If you don’t want to buy a tree at a lot, you might consider going out and cutting your own tree like my family does.  The USDA Forest Service (USFS) sells permits for $10 per tree, and a family can purchase up to five permits. Likewise, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) typically sells permits for between $6-$10 per tree depending on location, and may allow you to cut up to 3 trees.  Permits from either agency can be purchased at your local district office.  Note that certain areas of the forest are off-limits for cutting trees including many recreation areas, within 100’ of roadways, and all wilderness areas. When you get your permit, make sure to discuss with your local office what the rules are for your area. Also, remember that private property is just that: private!  Don’t enter private land unless you have explicit permission to do so, even if the perfect tree is within sight.

Cutting the tree is easiest as a two person project. The "cutter downer" usually lies on the ground while the helper holds the bottom limbs up. While the cut is being made, the helper should tug on the side of the tree opposite the cut to ensure that the saw kerf remains open, keeping the saw from binding. 

Regardless of whether you are cutting on public or private land, try to choose trees that are in a clump and not single trees in the open to help with forest management objectives. Don’t ‘top’ trees, avoid cutting trees over 20’ tall, and make sure to cut within 6” of the ground so the resulting stump doesn’t create a hazard. 

One tree for us and one for Grandma
and Grandpa, ready to be loaded and
taken home.

Before the tree comes inside, cut 1 ½ inches off the bottom of the tree and immediately plunge it into a bucket of water.  Otherwise, sap will seal the bottom of the tree and keep water from entering.  Have your tree stand ready, and work quickly so you can get water back in it right away.  Trees take about 1 quart of water for every inch of diameter of the trunk, so be prepared to water the tree several times each day.  Remember that if it goes dry, the sap can reseal the trunk.  Also, to help keep the tree fresh, keep it away from heat sources and out of direct sunlight.

When the holidays are over, give your community and the environment a holiday gift by recycling your tree. You can mulch it for use in your own yard or contribute it to a community-wide chipping program, enabling you to enter the New Year with a clear conscience that you’re helping the environment and completing the life-cycle of the tree. 

Happy Holidays and happy tree decorating from all of us at CSU Extension!

Oh Forest Tree, Oh Forest Tree

Posted by Todd Hagenbuch, Routt County CSU Extension

The holidays are upon us, and for many, with that comes the age-old tradition of putting up a  Christmas tree. One of my favorite family traditions is going with my wife and kids on a nice day or moonlit night and scouring the hillsides for a perfect tree, always excited to have the smell of conifers once again filling our home.

Ready to find that perfect tree

If you’re going to buy a live tree from a local vendor, you have a lot of options to choose from, with size, species, and price all being considerations.  These trees, typically grown on family-owned tree plantations around the country, are part of a sustainable, green industry.

When you go to a tree retailer, make sure to choose a fresh tree. A fresh tree will have a healthy green appearance with few browning needles. Needles should be flexible and not fall off if you run a branch through your hand. Raise the tree a few inches off the ground and drop it on the butt end. Very few green needles should drop off the tree. It is normal for a few inner brown needles to drop off.

If you don’t want to buy a tree at a lot, you might consider going out and cutting your own tree like we do.  The USDA Forest Service sells permits for $10 per tree, and a family can purchase up to five permits.  These can be purchased at your local Forest Service district office.  The Bureau of Land Management typically sells permits for around $5 per tree, and may allow you to cut up to 3 trees.  Check with your local Forest Service or BLM office for details and for permit purchase.  Also, remember that private property is just that: private!  Don’t enter private land unless you have explicit permission to do so.

When we search for the perfect tree, we look for one that is full and of a good height. We also try to make sure that it is a tree growing in among several others and not one that it out by itself. Why? The lone tree will likely survive longer in the forest, while those that are spaced too closely to one another are vulnerable to disease and insect issues in the future. This is an opportunity to not only get a good tree, but help manage the forest as well. A bonus for us is that we typically put our tree against a wall, so finding at tree that is a bit flat on one side since it's growing among others is a plus.

Once you've found that perfect tree, cutting it is easiest as a two-person project. The "cutter downer" usually lies on the ground while the helper holds the bottom limbs up. While the cut is being made, the helper should tug on the side of the tree opposite the cut to ensure that the saw kerf remains open, keeping the saw from binding.

Loaded up and ready to head home!

Before the tree comes inside, cut 1 ½ inches off the bottom of the tree and immediately plunge it into a bucket of water.  Otherwise, sap will seal the bottom of the tree and keep water from entering.  Have your tree stand ready, and work quickly so you can get water back in it right away.  Trees take about 1 quart of water for every inch of diameter of the trunk, so be prepared to water the tree several times each day.  Remember that if it goes dry, the sap can reseal the trunk.  Also, to help keep the tree fresh, keep it away from heat sources and out of direct sunlight.

When the holidays are over, recycle your tree. The resulting mulch will be a great addition to your yard in the spring.

Finally, don’t forget that you can have a real, growing tree in your home as well.  Buying a potted tree and planting in the spring can help keep the holiday spirit alive in your yard for years to come.

Happy holidays! May your days (and tree) be merry and bright!

Time for a Tree Checkup

Posted by Carol O’Meara, Boulder County Extension

Trees this summer dealt with many challenges, from wet feet to intense heat, and some are starting to throw in the towel.  Although temperatures continue to bake us, symptoms of stress on our trees from a summer of strange weather are showing up all over town.  Help your trees go into fall with a late summer tree inspection.

“We do a tree survey every summer; it’s how we’ve picked up on problems,” said Kathleen Alexander, City of Boulder Forester. “It’s a (health) checkup.  Trees need routine maintenance like pruning or pest control.”  Alexander shared pointers for giving your tree a checkup yourself:

- Is there anything different or unusual about the tree?  Stand back so that you can see the tree from top to bottom.  Does the canopy look full all the way around, and is it the same as in previous years?

 - Check for broken branches that might not have been obvious earlier in the year.  “If the tree has a hanger (a partially broken branch dangling within the canopy) you might not see it until the leaves on it turn brown.  Then you look up and see the branch is cracked,” she said. Large, broken limbs are hazardous, so contact an arborist to have them remove it.

- Is the crown thinner; can you suddenly see daylight through it?  Loss of leaves could be due to stress on the tree or from frost early in the year that prevented the tree from having a full set of leaves. A third reason is mid-summer leaf drop.

Mid-summer leaf drop is characterized by trees leafing out normally in spring, then dropping leaves in late July or August for seemingly no reason.  When trees lose a lot of fine roots during dry winter, they can’t support summer's lush canopies. Leaf tips brown and leaves drop from the tree.

 - Check for changes in the leaves of the tree, such as early fall coloration, chlorosis, or scorched edges.  Scorched leaves show up as evenly discolored areas on leaves that are dry and slightly curled, moving from the tips inward.  These brown areas have no colored rings, called halos, or fruiting bodies of fungus on them. 

 

Scorch

Compounding the mystery of leaf problems this year is the cool wet weather followed by heat, then cool moist weather followed by more heat. Leaf spot diseases, such as Marssonina or Septoria thrive in the type of weather we had.  Infection spread during the cooler weather and symptoms are showing up now.

Fruiting bodies of fungi usually show on the leaf as small, pimple-like speckles and often have red or yellow halos around the diseased area.  Bacterial disease on leaves will have this halo as well, along with a slimy or greasy looking center spot.  If your tree develops these ‘leaf zits’, you should suspect a fungal or bacterial disease.  

 

 

 

Sixty Second Secrets for Gardening Success: Master Gardener Plant Clinics

Today on Sixty-Second Secrets for Gardening Success: Master Gardener Plant Clinics.

Have you ever seen a flower and wanted to know what it is, or ever had your lawn or favorite plant suddenly start looking sick and wanted to know why?

You may not realize it, but expert help may be right around the corner!

Colorado Master Gardener volunteers are trained to help you in plant ID as well aiding in diagnosing what is wrong with a sick plant or lawn.

Plant clinics take place at many locations around the area. Many are held at the County Extension Office while others may be at the local nursery or garden center, your favorite big box store, or at your community farmers market.

For more information on plant clinics, contact your local CSU Extension Office  or visit http://sixtysecondgardeningsecrets.podbean.com/

Sixty-Second Secrets for Gardening Success is a production of Colorado State University Extension.
CSU Extension: Extending knowledge, changing lives.