With emerald ash borer (EAB) growing within Sioux Falls and spreading to surrounding communities, I field a lot of questions about EAB. This article is going to cover those common questions about the pest, the treatments to protect ash trees, and EAB management and spread. How can I tell my ash tree is infested? It can be very difficult to tell if an ash tree is truly infested. Even for a very qualified arborist, the signs of emerald ash borer may be too small to notice without a thorough canopy inspection and branch sampling. Once signs are obvious to a qualified arborist or to a tree owner ..read more

Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered in Sioux Falls in May, 2018. Six years later, how much has the known population spread and what can we expect in the years ahead? Background Biology Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a small insect that attacks trees in the ash (Fraxinus spp.) genera. This includes such trees like green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and black ash (Fraxinus nigra), which are native to North America. This will be such a devastating issue for ash because emerald ash borer (EAB) is non-native to North America. Native ash have not evolv ..read more

When grown in an urban setting, trees rarely achieve their full size and stay healthy without a lot of specialized care and planning. Unfortunately, most tree care practices are reactive rather than proactive. Homeowners tend to only call arborists for help after they notice a problem with their trees that they would like the arborist to fix. However, treatments to resolve health problems with trees aren’t always easy, cheap, or successful. In general, preventing a problem from afflicting a tree is much easier than correcting a problem after it occurs. Most common tree issues are easily preven ..read more

Here we are in early February and its 50 degrees in Sioux Falls and as brown as a paper bag outside. I’ll admit, it is certainly comfortable be outside in weather like this. But for our trees and other plants, it is not ideal. We need moisture. We could use some snow, and a lot of it! I know its a pain to deal with, but a large reason why our conifers (evergreens) and other trees are struggling around the region, has a lot to do with the fact that we have seen many mild winters recently. Especially winters with little to no snow (or at least no snow until later in winter). Snow acts as a great ..read more

There is a lot to consider when deciding to prune a tree. Tree pruning can provide a lot of benefits to us and the tree. But it can also be a major contributor to tree health decline, decay, or future problems if not performed correctly. This article will cover the basics about tree pruning and some links to other important articles involving when and how often to prune. Pruning Vs. Trimming First, I want to cover the semantics between these two words and why they are important to proper tree health care and structure. Pruning – removing branches from a tree or other plant using approved ..read more

Pruning a tree requires a plan; a detailed plan of exactly what branches will be removed and for what reason. Pruning for the sake of pruning does not help your tree. I regularly come across many trees that were severely damaged from poor pruning. This article will cover some of the common bad tree pruning I see and why they are bad for your trees. Trunk Cleaning I made up this term because I don’t think it has a name. It is when a mature tree has all the lower and interior small branches cut off the trunk. The owner wants the trunk to look clean and free of leaves and small branches along the ..read more

Watering trees is one of the most critical parts of establishing or maintaining healthy trees. But, if not done carefully, it can also be something that can cause health related or tree establishment problems. This article is going to highlight some of the more important tips when watering trees. Watering Trees: How often? The frequency of watering trees is very important. It is important to remember that your trees are not anything like your lawn when it comes to water. Trees prefer, and do best, with large amounts of water that deeply saturates the entire soil profile up to it being soggy (i ..read more

Service Changes Business Partnership We have now partnered with Action Lawn and Action Tree Service. We have worked out an agreement where they will be providing most basic plant health care services for my customers. Those services will be under my direct control. Everything my customers have experienced with spraying or treatment services in the past will be exactly the same, except I won’t be doing the work. Action will be using my science based protocols. I will be also providing consulting, training, education, and oversight to Action’s employees and treatments, so they can better serve t ..read more

Sioux Falls Sam Kezar, owner of Aspen Arboriculture Solutions, has recently received the designation of Registered Consulting Arborist® (RCA) #705 through the American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA). A Registered Consulting Arborist, “has demonstrated higher skills in certain technical areas related to trees and tree care, providing objective, independent opinions, with training for higher communication, presentation, and/or report writing skills.” Holding the RCA title means that Sam is, “committed to providing excellence and has achieved a high level of experience, knowledge, an ..read more

You have probably heard me talk about our naturally high soil pH at some point or another. This can be a problem for many of our trees in Sioux Falls. It is a principle reason this is called the prairie along with our natural weather patterns. Understanding pH pH is the measure of the concentration of Hydrogen Ions (H+) in a solution. The more Hydrogen the more acidic; the less H+, the more alkaline. pH is also a logarithmic measurement scale. It goes from 0 to 14 with 7 being neutral. What that means, is the amount of H+ ions in the solution or not in the solution, doubles (or 10 fold in ..read more