Idaho Tree Preservation LLC

A HUGE shout out to our own Chase Andersen for working so hard and obtaining the top certification available from the ISA! You are now a part of a small group of tree care professionals who have reached this level. Of course we know it’s just one more step in the journey of life long learning but I couldn’t be more proud of you! Great job!

Some bugs from recent inspections.
An aphid with signs of parasitic wasps and what I believe to be tortoise shell scale and numerous young crawlers that have settled in on the needles. The branches were black with sooty mold and the needles stuck to my fingers! Yikes!
Got tree questions? We have tree answers!

I think we may have done this one but I saw this today and couldn’t help be share.
Botanical Nerd Word of the day
Inosculation or the natural grafting of tissue very similar to artificial grafting.

Buying a new home or property? We would never imagine doing so without a home inspection, but don’t forget about the trees!
Quality tree care can be expensive, removals can be even more so. Don’t be faced with an unpleasant surprise and have those trees inspected before you sign on the dotted line!
Trees can add substantial value to a property but they can also have hidden issues.
Here at ITP we specialize in tree inspection, advanced decay detection, risk assessment and mitigation. Our team of professionals, who possess some of the highest credentials available in the industry can help!

TCIA Aerial Rescue class T-minus 22 min! It has been a real honor to work with TCIA to become a Qualified Trainer and to play a small part in helping other climbers pursue their professional development and hopefully be safer and more prepared in the field.
Unfortunately we only have 3 hours for this overview. This topic could fill many days of learning and hands-on training. But, our expertise is made up of building blocks and each thing we learn adds more to the structure.
Happy Saturday Treeople!

Another first this week, see if you can find what’s strange about this Japanese maple that I pruned today….

Here is something that I have been noticing since last year that I strongly suspect is Botryosphaeria canker.
Like many of our diseases, it’s not curable but it is manageable.
If it is determined that management is needed, we can help!


Just one of the many benefits of trees is shade. The shade of a fairly large Japanese maple in my yard makes the concrete about half as hot as full sun. What kind of difference did this make to our homes in the summer?
A well placed deciduous tree can reduce cooling costs in the summer, and reduce heating costs in the winter.

Hmmmm, these leaves from my Italian plum look a bit off. Stippling and dusty appearance…this is classic mite damage. But let’s look a little further….(see comments)

Well I just got up early to do my TCIA Susan Harwood Aerial Rescue class and it’s next Saturday! I’m a fan of being early is being on time but this is just a bit too early!

A couple of very interesting insects I found while doing a site assessment for a new client this week.
At the top we have what I believe to be a western eyed click beetle (Alaus melonops) whose larva is a predator of wood boring larva!
The bottom is a larva I pulled out of a pine stump. Possibly metallic wood borer larva. It’s quite large at 2.5” long!

All the herbicide damage I’ve been seeing is a great segway into another installment of
Hyponasty is the technical term for the leaf cupping that can be seen in damage from PGR herbicides like 2,4-D and other chemicals in the same group. It causes plants to have uncontrolled cell division and effects dicots but not monocots (grasses). Many trees are also dicots, and can be considered broad leaf plants. So that broad leaf w**d killer, can also harm tour trees.

Use great care with herbicides around trees. Even if the label says it’s safe for use around them, that’s not always the case!
Here we see some classic damage from some of the auxin/growth regulator products (such as Dicamba, 2,4-D, Triclopyr etc). In some cases the trees will come back fine, but in some cases the results are much worse.
Some herbicide can volatize and become a gas, that gas cloud can cause severe damage to of target plants. 

Lignotuber; “ligno” meaning wood, “tuber” meaning swollen growth.

“Lignotubers are swollen, woody areas of regeneration, found in the basal area or within the lower portion of the stem that contain numerous dormant buds and starch reserves.” (Lawes, Bradstock, Kieth, 2015)

Lignotubers are the trees adaptive traits and enable the tree to re-sprout tremendously after severe disturbance (full removal of a tree, fire, etc) and loss in the crown. “This is a geographically widespread trait, occurring in very different lineages and ecosystems worldwide.” (Vesk and Westoby 2004)

The most common trees that exhibit lignotubers here in the Pacific Northwest and West are; eucalyptus, coastal redwood, ginkgo, and bay laurel, madrone are also included (Arbutus sp) . The shoots that originate from a lignotuber can falsely be confused with epicormic shoots (water sprouts). Lignotubers are endocormic, meaning that when they sprout, they already have a strong connection to the parent branch they originate from (pith to pith connection).

Lignotubers are a massive assistance to the tree when disaster strikes (fire, weather event, uninformed tree guy) and can save the original wood and keep the tree alive for years to come.

This is a fairly large Japanese maple that we bare root transplanted four years ago using the Super Sonic Air Knife. It was stressed this spring so one month ago I worked a little of my arborist magic on it and the second photo is today’s update from the client!
Another success story here at Idaho Tree Preservation!
We are your neighborhood tree experts!

Keep an ear out on KBSX on Saturday 4:40 and Sunday 12:40 for our public radio sponsorship ads! I finally managed to catch one and it’s pretty cool! Happy Friday Treeople!

(Pictured are some properly pollarded Platunus x acerifolia) London Plane trees done by our friend Pete Henderson!

Cauliflory
In Latin; “caulis” meaning stem, and “flor” meaning flower. Stem flower. Properly fitting, ehh?

Cauliflory is a very fun and very beautiful aspect to our trees. Here locally (in Idaho) we do not see much of it. We do see it however, in North American Redbud (Cercis canadensis) and Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis). Cauliflory can be seen in many tropical fruit bearing plants that have found adventitious reasoning to bear fruit along their main stems.

Why are certain trees cauliflorous?
While we are not entirely sure, one theory is that some fruit bearing trees are cauliflorous because the fruit they bear are heavy on their tertiary branches. Holding the crop in this area would be an increased weight on the unions and throughout the branching architecture. By growing on the stem(s), the tree is able to alleviate that increase in weight due to where fruit would normally be (when we think of pome fruit, stone fruit). Another potential reason is to facilitate cross pollination, or seed dispersal by larger animals that cannot access the smaller diameter tips.

This way of growth beautifies the spring landscape with fuchsia colored flowers. Cauliflory.
Photo Credit: Ayla Andersen

This is one we don’t see very often! Giant conifer aphids (Cinara sp.)
I tend to see them in this species of fir (Abies concolor).
They are prolific sap feeders and their honey dew dries to a hard, almost shellack finish so they can be a nuisance, especially over driveways like these are.

A glimpse at our climbing today. The new rescue dummy worked great! It’s HEAVY! We had lots of fun, talked to quite a few folks about trees and got some great rescue practice.
Happy Arborday!

Well it’s Arbor Day today! Many of my hardworking municipal arborist friends are going to be hard at work planting trees but here at ITP, it’s a paid holiday for the team and has been from some years now.
Some of us will be testing the new rescue dummy and playing in a big oak tree today, some will enjoy a much deserved day of leisure.
Either way, hug your local arborist today or at least hug a tree!
And to all you wonderful Treeople who take care of trees day in and day out we love ya! Thanks for helping keep our cities green and livable!

What a great day! Lots of wonderful learning, conversation and the local tree community coming together for the good of the trees, also when I got home I found a box with my new throwline in it!
Happy Friday Treeople!

Time to help teach a class on pruning to the ANSI standards to some local arbs putting effort into their professional development!
Thanks to Kevin Van Brunt of Eden Tree Works, Chase Andersen from my team, Vermeer Mountain West and Meridan Parks Department for putting this event on!
Chase and I will be teaching a class soon on Writing Pruning Specifications which will bookend this one quite well.
Quality prescription pruning requires knowledgeable prescribers and practitioners to achieve proper objectives and pruning specifications!
And that results in better trees in the long run!
Never stop learning Treeople!

Joining a group of top notch local arbs for a day of service at the World Center for Birds of Prey today. The rain has started but we keep pushing!
I feels good to give back!
Props to Justin Seelig owner of Double J tree service for planning and hosting these events!