by Sheila Dunning | Dec 17, 2013
Removal of the container and inspection of the rootball is critical to tree survival.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is Arbor Day 2014. Florida recognizes the event on the third Friday in January, so the next one is January 17, 2014.
Arbor Day is an annual observance that celebrates the role of trees in our lives and promotes tree planting and care. As a formal holiday, it was first observed on April 10, 1872 in the state of Nebraska. Today, every state and many countries join in the recognition of trees impact on people and the environment.
Trees are the longest living organisms on the planet and one of the earth’s greatest natural resources. They keep our air supply clean, reduce noise pollution, improve water quality, help prevent erosion, provide food and building materials, create shade, and help make our landscapes look beautiful. A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four.
The idea for Arbor Day in the U.S. began with Julius Sterling Morton. In 1854 he moved from Detroit to the area that is now the state of Nebraska. J. Sterling Morton was a journalist and nature lover who noticed that there were virtually no trees in Nebraska. He wrote and spoke about environmental stewardship and encouraged everyone to plant trees. Morton emphasized that trees were needed to act as windbreaks, to stabilize the soil, to provide shade, as well as, fuel and building materials for the early pioneers to prosper in the developing state.
Proper planting depth and adequate watering can ensure long-term survival.
In 1872, The State Board of Agriculture accepted a resolution by J. Sterling Morton “to set aside one day to plant trees, both forest and fruit.” On April 10, 1872 one million trees were planted in Nebraska in honor of the first Arbor Day. Shortly after the 1872 observance, several other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. By 1920, 45 states and territories celebrated Arbor Day. Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day during his presidency in 1970.
Today, all 50 states in the U.S. have official Arbor Day, usually at a time of year that has the correct climatological conditions for planting trees. For Florida, the ideal tree planting time is January, so Florida’s Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday of the month. Similar events are observed throughout the world. In Israel it is the Tu B Shevat (New Year for Trees) on January 16, 2014. Germany has Tag des Baumes on April 25. Japan and Korea celebrate an entire week in April. Even, Iceland one of the treeless countries in the world observes Student’s Afforestation Day.
The trees planted on Arbor Day show a concern for future generations. The simple act of planting a tree represents a belief that the tree will grow and some day provide wood products, wildlife habitat erosion control, shelter from wind and sun, beauty, and inspiration for ourselves and our children.
Clayton ( Sheila’s grandson) will reap the benefits of the trees planted this Arbor Day.
“It is well that you should celebrate your Arbor Day thoughtfully, for within your lifetime the nation’s need of trees will become serious. We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted.”
~Theodore Roosevelt, 1907 Arbor Day Message
by Larry Williams | Dec 17, 2013
Common symptoms of the black twig borer. Image Credit Matthew Orwat UF IFAS Extension
Q. Small branches are dying in some of my trees. What’s causing this?
A. More than likely the culprit is the Black Twig Borer. This very small beetle, about 1/16 inch long, has been active this year.
Common trees attacked include cedar, golden rain tree, maple, redbud, sweetgum, loquat, dogwood, Shumard oak, Chinese elm, magnolia, Bradford pear and pecan. The beetle is not limited to these trees. And it may attack woody shrubs and grapevines.
Black Twig Borer Entry Holes. Image Credit Matthew Orwat UF IFAS Extension
Black Twig Borer Entry Holes. White Frass Visible. Image Credit Matthew Orwat UF IFAS Extension
This beetle only damages branches that are approximately pencil size in diameter. These small branches die above the point of entrance with the leaves turning brown, creating a flagging effect of numerous dead branches scattered throughout the outer canopy of the tree. These dead twigs with their brown leaves are what bring attention to the infested trees.
Bending an infested twig downward will result in it snapping or breaking at the entrance/exit hole. Carefully putting the twig back together may allow you to see the hole. The hole is usually on the underside of the branch and will be very small, about the size of pencil lead in diameter. Sometimes you may see the minute, shiny black beetle and/or the white brood inside the hollowed out area of the twig at the point where it snapped.
Black Twig Borer inside the stem. Image Credit Matthew Orwat UF IFAS Extension
The black twig borer, Xylosandrus compactus, is one of the few ambrosia beetles that will attack healthy trees. However, the heavy rainfall this summer stressed many of our tree and plant species making them more susceptible to insect damage and disease.Female beetles bore into small branches or twigs of woody plants, excavate tunnels in the wood or pith and produce a brood. Damage occurs when the beetle introduces ambrosia fungi on which the larvae feed. The beetles emerge in late February, attack twigs in March and brood production begins in April. Highest population levels occur from June to September. Adults spend the winter in damaged twigs and branches. So it’s important to pickup and dispose of the small branches as they fall.
Where practical, the best control is to prune tree limbs 3-4 inches below the infested area, then remove and destroy the limbs. Proper mulching, avoiding over fertilization and irrigating during dry weather should improve tree health, allowing trees to better withstand attacks. Chemical controls are usually not practical or effective.
Entry point from a different angle. Image Credit Matthew Orwat UF IFAS Extension
Additional information on this beetle is available though the UF IFAS Extension Office, your County Forester or online at the UF IFAS Featured Creature page
by Carrie Stevenson | Dec 9, 2013
How much is a 400-year old live oak tree worth? Can you buy one online, with free shipping, and charge it to the credit card? Pick one up at the local home improvement store? Ask Santa? Of course not. When admiring a tree that size, we have an innate sense of its value, but we would often have a hard time expressing it in dollars. How about a cluster of trees in a wooded lot? Are they worth more than the dollar store being built there? We are conditioned to appreciate the value of things because there’s a price tag on them. Unfortunately, natural phenomena do not have price tags, and many things that are “free” are often perceived to have no real value.
Planting a tree is an excellent way to insure clean air and water in the future. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
Trees, however, have value far beyond the price one might pay at a plant nursery. Their roots absorb polluted storm-water runoff, the primary cause of decreased water quality in Florida. Their leaves take in carbon dioxide and release the very oxygen we breathe. Providing homes for wildlife, fruit and nuts for human and animal consumption, compounds that form the basis of countless medications—trees provide innumerable benefits to ecosystems both local and worldwide. If a local government were to construct a facility or method that could filter the air and water at the same efficiency and volume of the trees in ones county, it would cost the community millions.
This street tree in Chicago was given a price tag to raise awareness of its value. Photo credit: Eric Stevenson
But how is is possible to capture these benefits in a way that we can relate to? Luckily, a partnership between arborists, engineers, and researchers with private industry, the US Forest Service, and the USDA has resulted in an excellent online tool called the National Tree Benefits calculator. Based on software called “i-Tree,” the calculator allows anyone to enter their zip code, choose from a list of common tree species, and using the diameter of a single tree, calculate its economic value. For example, a 15-inch live oak tree at the Escambia Extension office provides an annual benefit of $79 every year, increasing in value as it grows in girth and height. The website delves deeper into the tree’s value, placing storm-water uptake value at $23.77, electricity savings at $15.23, and the capability to remove 607 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Extension Agents are currently working with youth in Escambia County to calculate these values for trees on their school campuses, local parks, and yards. When we’re finished, we will hang actual price tags on the trees showing their annual economic value to showcase these facts to residents of the community.
Interested in what kind of economic benefit that magnolia in the front yard is giving you? Check it out yourself at www.treebenefits.com, and let your neighbors know how valuable those trees can really be.
by Gary Knox | Dec 2, 2013
Acer fabri (Faber’s Maple) is unlike maples familiar to most people as it does not have the typical three or five-lobed leaves. Instead, leaves of Faber’s maple are un-lobed, slender and very glossy. In addition, most people know maple as a deciduous tree, dropping its leaves in fall, whereas Faber’s maple is evergreen.
Figure 1. Acer fabri, Faber’s maple. (Photo by Gary Knox)
Faber’s maple grows as a small, broad tree up to a height of about 30 feet. Leaves on new growth are tinted red, and the familiar samaras (“helicopter” fruits), appearing in September, are also red. New growth on some trees has more red coloration than on others, suggesting the possibility of selecting forms with more red coloration. Hardiness is not confirmed but it is believed to be adapted to USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 7b-9. Leaves reportedly senesce and fall when winter temperatures drop to the low 20s or high teens (°F). Accordingly, Faber’s maple is likely to be evergreen in most of Florida and semi-evergreen after cold winters or when grown in the cooler areas of its hardiness range.
Figure 2. Closeup of the red tinted leaves and fruits of Faber’s maple. (Photo by Gary Knox)
Faber’s maple is native to mixed forests of Vietnam and central and southern China, where it is known as “luo fu feng”. This slow-growing tree fares best in partial sun and well-drained soil. No serious pests are known at this time.
The reddish new growth, glossy green leaves, red fruits and growth as a small evergreen tree collectively make this a very ornamental tree. Rare in cultivation, Faber’s maple deserves to be planted and evaluated more widely. Propagation is by seed and reportedly summer cuttings.
Acer fabri (Faber’s maple) has not yet been evaluated using the IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas web assessment tool. Without this assessment, the temporary conclusion is that A. fabri is not a problem species at this time and may be recommended.
by Larry Williams | Nov 18, 2013
Florida maple beginning to exhibit fall color. Photo credit: Larry Williams
Although Florida is not known for the brilliant fall color enjoyed by some of our northern neighbors, we do have a number of trees that provide some fall color for our North Florida landscapes.
Our native flowering dogwood consistently provides some change in color before dropping its leaves. You can expect a red to maroon color in many of the dogwood leaves during fall.
Some of North Florida’s native maples produce good color each fall. Red maple provides brilliant red, orange and sometimes yellow leaves. The native Florida Maple, Acer saccharum var. floridum, displays a combination of bright yellow and orange color during fall. And there are many Japanese maples that provide striking fall color.
Another excellent native tree is Blackgum, Nyssa sylvatica. This tree is a little slow in its growth rate but can eventually grow to seventy-five feet in height. It deserves more use in our landscapes. It always provides a bright show of red to deep purple fall foliage.
Crape myrtle gives varying degrees of orange, red and yellow in its leaves before they fall. There are many cultivars – some that grow several feet to nearly thirty feet in height.
Young red maple with fall foliage. Photo credit: Larry Williams
There are a number of dependable oaks for fall color, too. Shumard, Nuttall and Turkey are a few to consider. These oaks have dark green deeply lobed leaves during summer turning vivid red to orange in fall. Turkey oak is sometimes referred to as “scrub” oak and is common on our deep sandy soils. It is short-lived as compared to most oak species, living for fifteen to thirty years before it starts to decline and die. It does not grow very large in height or trunk diameter and is not grown or sold much because it is so common in the wild. Nuttall and Shumard are becoming better available.
Sweetgum is another common native tree to considering for fall color. But some people dislike this tree because of the one to three-inch round fruit (called sweetgum balls) that it produces, which can be a nuisance as they fall on the ground around the tree. And this tree produces large surface roots that can be a problem for mowers, nearby curbs and sidewalks. But its star-shaped leaves turn bright red, purple, yellow or orange in fall.
Our native yellow poplar and hickories provide bright yellow fall foliage. And it’s difficult to find a more crisp yellow than fall ginkgo leaves.
These trees represent just a few choices for fall color. Including one or several of these trees in your landscape will allow you to enjoy the color of fall for many years right in your own backyard.
by Taylor Vandiver | Nov 11, 2013
As I made a visit back to my hometown in North Alabama I was reminded of the subtle changes from fall into winter, which are not always apparent to me living in Tallahassee: the vibrant palette of leaves as they make their permanent descent until spring, the litter of spent cotton along each highway and county road and the annual pecan harvest that has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember.
Due to the variations in climate and topography from upper Alabama to the panhandle of Florida, our seasons can differ greatly. However, I know of one entity that remains a constant and that is the availability of pecans. Pecan trees (Carya illinoinensis) are a common sight throughout the South. They can be spotted as far west as Texas and as far north as Illinois. The pecan tree is native to the Mississippi floodplain, which has deep, fertile, well-drained soils. Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans used pecans as a primary food source for thousands of years.
What’s more, pecans have major economic value. The annual value of pecans in the United States is estimated at 200 to 500 million dollars. Florida produces from five to ten million pounds of pecans annually. The majority of that pecan production acreage (6,500 acres) can be found in North Florida. While the nut is the main attractant of the tree, there’s not much that warms the heart more than seeing pecan pie at the dessert table on Thanksgiving.
A well worn recipe for southern pecan pie that has been passed down through my family.
Pecan trees are deciduous, which means that they drop their leaves in the winter. An additional consideration for those planning to install pecan trees is to be aware that they are wind-pollinated and that their male and female flowers often do not mature at the same time. Therefore, in order to ensure the possibility of high yields, two or more cultivars should be planted together for cross-pollination.
Be sure to choose a variety like ‘Elliot’ or ‘Curtis’ that has good disease resistance, is suited for North Florida and will cross-pollinate well. Plant pecans during the colder months to allow for root growth before spring. The optimum soil pH for pecans is 5.5 to 6.5. At the lower end of this range, micronutrient deficiency symptoms should be less common. Pecan trees should start producing decent crops in six to twelve years. A tree at maturity can reach up to seventy feet tall so plan spacing and placement accordingly.
Pecan tree planted by my great-grandparents in Monrovia, Alabama.
For more information please consult Pecan Cultivars for North Florida or contact your local UF IFAS county extension office.
