The Pruning Season Is On!

The 15th of October is a special date in Southeast Wisconsin.  That is date that most municipalities set for the start of pruning season for Oaks, Elms, and now, Ash.  Many municipalities have chosen not to have laws on the books prohibiting the cutting of these types of trees when the bugs which carry their diseases.  It is prudent, however, to have respect for the realities of the situation.  The disease is carried by bugs.  In the case of the Ash, the bugs are the malady.  In the cases of Oak and Elm, the bugs carry the fungus which kills the tree.  These bugs are attracted to stress pheromones that trees give off when they are injured.  Pruning (cutting) trees is technically wounding it many times.  If the bugs are attracted to the pheromones, and it's possible to prune the trees when the bugs are dormant, ie in the winter, then it would be prudent to do so.  Vertical Techniques and many other arboricultural firms are not pruning Oak, Elm or Ash between March 15th and October 15 in order to be proactive against the spread of disease.  We will have some great pruning shots in the next couple of weeks.  Be sure to make it back here to check them out!

Vertical Techniques has been quite active lately.  We have been contracting jobs in Milwaukee, New Berlin, Greendale, West Allis, and Madison.  We have been Sub-contracting in Milwaukee and Green Lake and Mayville, WI.  Over the summer we worked with Green Man of Oak Creek, WI to remove diseased American Elms (Ulmus americana) on the street in Wauwatosa, WI.

  We have been volunteering with the Victory Garden Initiative in Milwaukee, WI.  We have worked with Cody Ryan of Green Lake, WI to facilitate the donation and planting of 8 trees (six American Chestnut (Castanea Dentata) and two Butternut (Juglans cinnerea)) at the urban food forest being started at Concordia Gardens in Milwaukee.  We have also volunteered and cut down many invasive Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) and Boxelder (Acer negundo).  The material will be chipped and used in the gardens.  The amount of resource that is just hanging over the fence-line is substantial and will go a long way in creating the soil that will grow the food forest and gardens.  Check out our latest gardening blog post.  You will see that you can use material from your trees to make a great vegetable garden.  Thanks for checking in!

The Emerald Ash Borer hits Milwaukee

A couple of weeks ago The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal reported on the invasion of the city by the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis).  Here's a link to the story.

emerald-ash-borers-found-in-city-of-milwaukee-

 

 This invasive borer is going to wreak some serious havoc with the Ash (Fraxinus spp.) resource here in Brew City.    Here is a link to the International information site for the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).

.emeraldashborer.info

There were few options given in the newspaper article.  It seems there is also little time left to act or we face the certain loss of the resource.  We can preemptively cut down the resource and lose it for the future, or we can use chemicals that will be injected directly into the tree.  For the record there is no mention of any type of cultural option for prevention of the infestation on particular trees.  Cultural practices can be very effective in maintaining tree health.  Utilizing permaculture techniques may go a long way in doing that.  The American Elm Bark Beetle (Hylurgopinus rufipes) is responsible for the Dutch Elm Disease epidemic on American Elm (Ulmus americana). The disease is a fungal infection that is introduced to the tree by the excrement of the beetle which lays eggs under the bark.  

 It has proven effective in combating the spread of Dutch Elm Disease to prune American Elms only in the dormant period.  In Milwaukee the dormant period is roughly mid-October to mid-March.  It is clear that this practice does not eliminate the chance of infection.  However, it has proven to be an important tool in the fight to stop the spread of the infection.  There are other options also available to homeowners and businesses alike that don't involve pesticides.  The options are a lot more holistic and work well when implemented together.  One of my clients has a mature Burr Oak that is realizing the benefits of being part of a hugelkultur.   ere is a link.

verticalurbangardener

The use of permaculture principles is an option.  Here is a link that can help describe the principles.  The main consideration is the cycle of life and the utilization of the materials produced.

 permacultureprinciples

The use of pesticides can have a devastating impact on the ecosystems that are already struggling with the climactic changes brought on by global warming. Within the information about the pesticides that could be used to "control" the insects it is stated that  Imidacloprid is one of the insecticides most commonly used. This insecticide is injected either into the soil in the root zone of the tree or directly into the trunk of the tree.  The insecticide is taken up by the tree and when the insect ingests the tree, it dies.  Although the website suggests that the risks to mammals are less than the risk to insects, it is clear that the chemical is a poison.   In a recent Harvard study there is a strong correlation found between Imidacloprid use and colony collapse disorder in Honey Bees.  Here is a link to a story about that study.

Harvard study

There is the option to use permaculture techniques to bolster the root zones of our tree resource.  The trees are able to survive in so many stressful situations.  Ash especially get the hard to grow in places like planter-boxes in suburban parking lots and sidewalks.  These boxes can be nutrient poor.  Many Ash trees are stressed at this time in Milwaukee due to the drought.  There are many situations in which trees will give off stress-related phermones that attract insects.  But there are also things we can do to reduce the stress on the trees.

We can take the grass out of production.  We can use mulch and wood chips and compost to naturally fertilize and innoculate the root zone with beneficial fungi.  We can use permaculture techniques to grow food and flowers in harmony with the trees.  This will attract birds, bees and mammals that will in turn benefit the whole system. The arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer to Milwaukee is an opportunity to learn.  If we want to keep our Ash resource for future generations, we may need to adapt to a changing climate.  We need to explore cultural practices that can make an appreciable difference in preserving the resource.  Clearly there is room for the chemical option once all else has failed.  There is long way to go before I will be convinced that all else has indeed failed.  There will be more to be said on this topic for sure, but for now it is appropriate to not be hasty.  We will see what works and what doesn't.  For now I take solace in knowing that even though the insect can be devastating three to five percent of the trees usually survive.  As with the Elms, there will still be Ash trees.  We just have to learn how to take care of them. 

Here is a picture of my clients' hugelkultur. 

   

Thanks for Checking in!

Adventures in Oak-Land Part II

Adventures in Oak-Land Part II (2012 late winter and early spring)

Hello again!  The 2011-12 Oak season was a great one at Vertical Techniques!  We had a number of nice Oak pruning projects.  We also had a removal that was pretty sketchy.  We took care to be safe though and it became just another one of the number.  Here are the pictures!

Will pruning the Big White Oak (Quercus alba).

This Big White Oak has a lot of big dead limbs that are over the house.  The goal of the climb is to cut out the dead-wood.  I will rig the pieces using ropes and pulleys in order to protect the house and adjacent trees, like the White Pine (Pinus strobus).

This amazing tree is at least 200 years old.  It is 42" diameter at breast height.  At even 5 years an inch, this tree is 210 years old.  That's a pretty conservative estimate.

Can you see Will?

There he is!

The Big White Oak is done.  Wow!  What a climb.

Here's Will climbing the second Big White Oak of the day.  We provided clearance and removed deadwood.  This tree was a joy to climb.

Can you find Will?

Can you find Will?

Can you see Will?

Will reaching to make a cut.  Notice that he has two-hands on the chain-saw.  That is a safety requirement.  It is a demonstration of skill and technique.  Will maintains good body-position and technique in order to increase safety and production.

Will out on a limb over the road.

The second Big White Oak is looking good!

These photos show Oaks (Quercus spp.) at their pinnacle of majesty in Wisconsin.  They were a privilege to climb and a challenge too.  The other side of Oaks is demonstrated by the following sequence of photos.  This big nasty Red Oak (Quercus rubrum) has holes like swiss-cheese.  I used SRT to be tied in to an adjacent tree and still be positioned to remove two big limbs on the the removal tree in order to preserve a healthy White Oak growing  under it.  Dave then felled the remainder of the tree.  Here are the pictures:

Here's Will getting set up.

Will getting ready to remove the rest of the lower limb.

It crumbled on impact.  Oak usually doesn't do that unless it's rotten.

The nasty Red Oak is ready for the fall.

Dave put it down nicely!

The stump.

There is a quite a bit of decay where the tree had been damaged.  It did effect the fell.  Dave did a great job on a difficult task.

Will bucking up the stem.

 So concludes the third part of my series Adventures in OakLand. We hope you enjoyed the photos.

Adventures in Oak-Land (2012 Part I)

Cabling a 200+ year old Bur Oak (Quercus Macrocarpa)

This amazing Bur Oak is in Green Lake, WI.  It's not too tall, but it's a fat one!  We measured the diameter at breast height and it was determined to be over 40".  That means that if it grew really fast at about five years per inch,  then it would be over 200 years.  We are pretty sure that it grew slower than that, so six or seven years per inch wouldn't be too much to assume.  We know its over 200.  The giant was a tri-stem with one of the stems being quite subordinate.  This subordinate stem was starting to tear out due to the leverage that was developing at its connection to the parent stem.  We decided to cable it in order to preserve it for as long as possible.  It was healthy otherwise and did not seem to have a significant amount of decay anywhere. 
This was a whopper of a day! 

Dave and Erik setting lines.

Will getting set up.

Will getting into position to install the rigging block.  We will run a rope through the pulley and down to the GRCS.  The rope will be attached to the stem that we are going to cable to give it some support while we are out there working on it.

That's a lot of wood!

Installing the block.

Setting up the rigging in the center of the tree.

Dave came up after lunch.

Here it is in all its glory.

Installing what seemed like miles of Cobra. 

Will and Dave working together.

Lots of reaching today! 

Dave looking good!

You want to have a little "sag" in the cable.

Coming down for the day.

 This was huge tree and a pretty big day!