Rick Spurgeon’s Post

Here are the same three lindens from the last post. Sometimes, a little patience is all that's needed.

"Can you save my tree? It has no leaves." This time of year, I received lots of these calls as a municipal arborist. I still do from concerned folks everywhere. People don't like just waiting a few more days. They want someone to actively fix their tree. So, I often said I'd take a look within a few days and suddenly their tree was good to go. Take a look at these three lindens. Same linden, same spot, same day. We're all individuals on our own schedule. Just be a little patient. Even the distant tree has half-expanded leaves today.

Recently, I had a fun afternoon talking about Kansas Champion Trees with a Kansas City Star reporter. If you don't know, a champ is the largest known tree of a given species within certain boundaries, like the State of Kansas. This is the largest green ash in Kansas. It happens to be in the oldest park in Olathe where I was the original municipal forester. Twice in my career at Olathe, a design person determined that tree must be removed. They didn't understand its value and only considered the paper in front of them. The reporter wanted to spend some time with me for her article as she noticed my name on 33 listed champion trees as the nominator. As part of my tree fascination, I always watch for interesting trees and have located many champions over the years. Maybe you can take a tour of your local champion trees. Older trees often have many things to pass along to you, if you'll just give those a chance. Planting quality trees today the right way will give your tree a chance to be a champion someday.

My Grandpa thought topping trees was the correct way to prune because that was the way it was. It took a long time for long-term tree health to be considered. It just was easy to 'prune' that way but shortened the life of the tree and caused it to look ugly in the meantime. Same here: shorter life and usually pitiful looking but is convenient for us. Just because we can't see the roots doesn't mean those are not important. Tory, thanks for moving us down the road one more step. You get a great tree for many years to come by starting with a well-grown tree and then planting it the right way.

Recently, I spent a few days with Neal Kinsey of Kinsey Ag. He can take a detailed soil test (not the standard NPK tests) for an area he'd never seen and tell you amazing things about it. Would the mud stick to your boots, if fungal diseases were a constant problem, and whether growth was stunted, or if the trees grew wonderfully. He could also give you specifics about how to correct any difficulties. Basically, by using correct base saturation and other factors, you can build a great soil workplace for microorganisms. Microbes are what Mother Nature uses to drive our world. You could save yourself a lot of work and money by making the microbes happy in your yard, garden or farm, all while you're growing more delicious food. Here he is showing a couple of my favorite people how to improve this garden spot, after earlier helping us grow stronger trees even faster. Better soil health helps from every angle.

The most interesting folks are the ones who are always learning. Recently, I was thrilled to be able to spend a little time with Dr. Jason Griffin, Woody Ornamental Specialist at the John Pair Horticulture Center. He is very observant and knowledgeable. Industrial hemp may not be a tree, but soil health applies to everything. I can't wait to learn more from him.

I enjoyed my day today with long-time friend and mentor, Tim McDonnell of the Kansas Forest Service. The guy really knows his trees from one end to the other. In particular, we spent time in the John Pair research facility conifer trials. Here we are in front of a Meyeri spruce. All those have done very well in the recent heat and dry spell. A couple of others have performed well, too. Thanks, Tim.

WHY WOULD YOU DAMAGE A CONTAINERIZED PLANT AT THE LAST STEP before you plant it by using the plant as a handle or breaking the roots? Here are a couple of easy ways to treat your plant right. The industry is discovering that there are much better alternatives than containers and old-style grow bags for trees or larger plants, so size shouldn't affect these easy hacks for the containers you are planting.

No, I don't think the burlap on a B&B tree is much of a barrier to root growth. But, for three other reasons, the burlap should be removed to below ground level EVERY time a tree is planted. You may argue that it is tough to remove when in the hole or that the root ball loses support if you remove it while outside the hole. There is a quick and easy way to bypass both of those difficulties. More on that to come. Right now, check out the video for the three reasons and let me know your thoughts. A healthy tree is a happy tree - and so are the people who see it for years to come. Beth Kornegay made this video possible. She did some great work. It should be on the PlantRightNotWrong.com website soon.