Advice from A Year Round Tree Expert

Autumn is a time of change. It is certainly beautiful as the season brings with it a change of color to all of the region’s trees. Even our fellow Maryland bloggers have been struck with the beauty, “ahh…fall on the East Coast! It is the time of year in Maryland when trees are literally raining leaves,” wrote the bird couple in their most recent post.

The fall colors are an effect of the trees stopping their production of a chemical call chlorophyll, which makes their leaves the normal green that we see during spring and summer. When the temperature drops and the days become shorter, the trees put their energy into reestablishing their roots for the winter. When they stop making chlorophyll to do this, the leaves begin to die. This wilting, however, is what we see in the beautiful colors that make us all stop and marvel.

Autumn also brings us allergies. In the Maryland area we usually have an abundance of ragweed pollen and mold spores because the ragweed plant matures in late summer and early fall and then releases it’s seeds. The windy and dry climate of fall also make it easier for the pollen seeds to travel. And fall is the peak time for mold as well. ” Baltimore, Richmond and Washington, D.C., all fall within the top 100 most challenging places to live with allergies,” writes the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Autumn is also a good time to plant, a subject that we have been covering a lot lately because of Maryland’s 50,000 tree project.

There are a lot of good reasons that people should plant in the fall. The soil is warm after baking all summer in the high temperatures and the trees naturally switch into winter-is-coming mode and are digging in their roots.

One aspect of autumn that is just as important and is often overlooked, however, is taking time to prune trees. Tree trimming can make autumn leaf cleanup easier because the trees are thinned out so that there are not as much leaves that will end up falling to the ground. It is also the best time to do it, besides making it easier for you to rake, because it is easier for the tree experts to see through the branches and make the best possible look for the tree by taking in its entire shape. And most importantly, as winter is just around the corner, it takes the danger out of falling tree branches that are more likely to occur during bad weather in the colder months ahead.

According to the National Arborist Association, “pruning trees involves removing damaged, dead or structurally weak limbs, which will improve a tree’s health and reduce the chances of personal or property damage caused by falling limbs.”

If you have any questions or need help with your trees give Steve, your local tree expert, a call!

410-335-8675

Sources:

http://www.birdwatchingblog.net/2009/11/07/the-creation-of-a-thousand-forests/

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/s_649551.html

http://eyeknowhow.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-safely-cut-down-tree.html

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090914/NEWS01/709149944/0/FRONTPAGE

http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/522667.html?nav=738

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2009/10/attack_of_the_autumn_allergies.html?hpid=dynamiclead

The Bay and the land that make up it’s watershed are expected to receive $50 million in funds from the federal government this fall; which means more help for tree planting too!

So how exactly do trees effect the Chesapeake Bay?

It’s no new find that trees in Maryland effect the Chesapeake Bay because our state as well as parts of 5 others (DE, NY, PA, VA, WV) and DC make up what is called the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This means that more than 100,000 streams or rivers flow into the bay from these areas and that their trees have a direct connection with these waterways which eventually connect back to the bay.

A big tree within the Chesapeake Bay watershed can eliminate 5,000 gallons of storm water runoff (which can contain pesticides, gasoline and other pollution) that would normally flow into the streams and rivers that flow back to the Chesapeake Bay.

Of course trees planted directly along the bank of the Chesapeake Bay or one of its tributaries have an even more important role. They protect the soil from eroding with their roots as well as the protect with their leaves, by softening the rain and allowing smaller plants to grow – creating even more protection from erosion! The trees’ roots filter the rainwater and their leaves filter dust, smoke and pollen. They can also offer shelter to fish within roots that are along the banks.

Sources:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.trails02nov02,0,5378720.story

http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/2009/05/pretty_view_of_the_chesapeake.html

http://www.hometownglenburnie.com/news/mdgazette/2009/04/15-13/Ask+a+scientist.html

http://www.chesapeakebay.net/wshed.htm