Can strategic landscaping really lower your energy use (and bill)?  According to My Florida Home Energy (from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services)  homeowners can save money by planting deciduous trees, which provide shade in the summer months but drop their leaves in the cooler months, allowing the sun to still provide heat to the home.   Sound worth your time? Here are our best shade tree tips for cooling your home and lowering your energy bill.  Choosing the Right Shade Trees  When looking to provide shade for your home, the type of trees you ..read more

Tallahassee is known for its canopy roads, historic college campuses and natural scenic beauty. The highlight of that beauty is perhaps the variety of beautiful trees – many of which carry decades of meaning and tradition for the community. How well do you know the natural landscapes of the capital city? Here’s a guide to Tallahassee’s most scenic trees – both individual and in groups – and where you can find them.  1. The Lichgate Oak  When you reference, “Tallahassee trees,” most residents immediately picture the famous Lichgate Oak. Estimated to be over 300 years old, it’s one of ..read more

Some trees can’t fully “bloom where they are planted” due to crowding, lack of proper sunlight and hydration, or even planned construction where the tree currently lives. Thankfully, there are options for preserving a favorite tree under any of these conditions. One of the best ways to keep your tree alive and thriving is by transporting it with a tree spade. Here’s how a tree spade works – and why you’re probably best leaving its operation to the professionals.  What is a Tree Spade?  As a tool, tree spades have been around in some form since as early as 1961, and make moving trees ..read more

We need bees for pollinating our garden, our flowers and the majority of the world’s food crop. The decline in bee populations is an ongoing concern, with questions being posed on how to reverse the trend. We can each do our part, beginning with providing our busy little friends with the best trees for bees in our own yards. Everyone wins – the bees gain pollen and nectar and we gain beautiful flowering trees to enjoy! A Bit About Bees There is an amazing amount of information available about the 4,000 different bees in America and the other 16,000 worldwide. In the interest of time and eye st ..read more

People joke about the weather in Tallahassee being unpredictable. However, when summer comes around, we can almost predict severe weather warnings will be followed by storm damage with trees down in some part of Tallahassee. There are measures we can take to minimize storm damage to our trees as well as best practices after damage occurs. No plan is foolproof, but we wanted to share many of the things we have found helpful when dealing with our predictably unpredictable weather in Tallahassee. Preparing Trees for Summer Storms in TallahasseeStart Preparing Early by Watering Younger Trees Deepl ..read more

Magnolia trees are a popular choice for landscaping in Tallahassee due to their beautiful flowers, glossy foliage and ability to tolerate our hot, humid summers in zone 8b. From the classic Southern Magnolia to the compact Teddy Bear, magnolias make a beautiful addition to any landscape. After reading through the varieties, picking just one may prove impossible. If you have enough sunny yard space, consider adding two or more for a truly magnificent magnolia experience! Magnificent Magnolia Varieties Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora): One of the most classic of southern trees, the nativ ..read more

Mulch is a popular way to spruce up flower beds and define the area between lawn and garden. It’s also used as a buffer, keeping moisture in soil longer instead of the sun baking the uncovered dirt dry. Mulching young trees certainly tidies up the area and helps hydration, but there are other benefits as well. Read on for more information on choosing the perfect mulch and best practices in application. Why Mulch Your Young Trees Mulching a young tree is beneficial because it helps retain moisture in the soil, regulate soil temperature, suppress weed growth and provides a source of nutrients as ..read more

  Searching for the perfect fertilizer for trees and shrubs to thrive can be confusing when faced with different numbers on containers like 10-15-10 or 10-5-4. Maybe it’s safer to go with the bag made for specific trees such as palms, but then you wonder if it would harm the crape myrtle in the middle of the planting bed. The good news is once you have the basics down, the numbers make sense and you can concentrate on the optimal fertilizing practices that keep your Tallahassee trees and shrubs thriving. What the Fertilizer Numbers Mean The numbers on fertilizer represent the fertilizer ..read more

How do I trim my crape myrtles? Is that a water oak or white oak in the front yard? Which palm trees will take the cold temps we get in Tallahassee? We have been answering these questions and more in our blogs on MillersTreeSrv.com. In case you missed the blog about this being the best time of year to plant camellias, it’s included in our TOP 5 of 2022! (See our thank you discount at the end of this blog!) Proper Pruning of Crape Myrtles  Crape myrtle trees are a popular landscape staple in the Big Bend area. Vibrant blooms combined with interesting bark patterns make this deciduous tree ..read more

  Searching for the perfect fertilizer for trees and shrubs to thrive can be confusing when faced with different numbers on containers like 10-15-10 or 10-5-4. Maybe it’s safer to go with the bag made for specific trees such as palms, but then you wonder if it would harm the crape myrtle in the middle of the planting bed. The good news is once you have the basics down, the numbers make sense and you can concentrate on the optimal fertilizing practices that keep your Tallahassee trees and shrubs thriving. What the Fertilizer Numbers Mean The numbers on fertilizer represent the fertilizer ..read more