Month: April 2020

It’s frustrating when you begin to mow your lawn, only to discover that grass is sticking to the deck.

Located underneath the main part of a lawnmower, the deck is a large and open area where the blade spins. Normally, a lawnmower will dispense the cut grass in a removable bag or out the mulching chamber. There are times, however, when grass may build up inside the deck.

So, how do you prevent grass from sticking to the deck of your lawnmower?

Clean It

If your lawnmower’s deck is clogged with grass, you’ll need to clean it.

With the motor turned off and the spark plug removed, carefully lift your lawnmower and turn it on its side. Next, use a plastic scraping tool to remove the grass in and around the deck.

For stubborn grass, you may need to use an air compressor. A few blasts of pressurized air should dislodge hardened grass.

Of course, you shouldn’t use water to clean the deck. Exposing the underside of your lawnmower to water may cause it to rust.

Therefore, if you’re struggling to clean it, use an air compressor.

Coat With Vegetable Oil

It may sound unusual, but coating the deck of your lawnmower with vegetable oil can protect it from stuck grass.

Like most oils, vegetable oil is a lubricant. When applied to a mower deck, it creates a nonstick surface that prevents the accumulation of grass.

After cleaning your lawnmower’s deck, wipe it down with a few paper towels soaked in vegetable oil.

When finished, you should then be able to use your lawnmower without grass sticking to the deck.

Mow During the Day

Wait until the midday hours to mow your lawn.

Some homeowners prefer mowing their lawn during the morning or evening hours when it’s cool. If the sun isn’t out, though, your lawn will likely be covered in moisture.

And when you mow it, the wet grass will stick to your lawnmower’s deck where it clumps into large balls.

Make Narrower Passes

Finally, you can prevent grass from sticking to your lawnmower’s deck by making narrower passes.

In other words, don’t try to mow the entire length of the deck. Instead, make passes that cover about half of the deck.

With less grass entering it, your lawnmower’s deck should remain relatively clean. And if it gets clogged, you can always turn it over for a quick cleaning.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

The post How to Prevent Grass From Sticking to Your Mower Deck appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.

Did you know in New Jersey it is now a law that if you have work done on your trees, the company must be registered with the State Board of Tree Experts? Here is why it’s a rule and why it’s a good thing for home and business owners throughout the state.

Safety First When Choosing a Tree Care Specialist

There are many risks associated with removing or trimming a tree. For starters, any false moves by someone who is not properly trained and licensed, could result in injury to him or herself and others, as well as other property damage. This could affect an entire neighborhood and not just a single property,  since often times, work on trees is done near power lines. As such, not only could a novice injure him or herself, he or she could also knock the power out of the entire neighborhood.

What’s more, a tree care operator who is not registered is unlikely to have the best tools and equipment to get the job done correctly, which further increases the risk.

Reasons to Choose a Licensed Tree Care Operator

When choosing who should work on the trees on your property, you want to go with a company who has extensive experience and tree care serves as their “main job” and not just an ancillary service they provide. For example, humans still haven’t figured out how to control gravity; once the tree begins its fall, there is no control of where it will go, which is why you want a true expert making judgements that could be the difference between a safe, seamless landing for a tree or branches, or one where someone tragically gets hurt or the power goes out. As such, you should only work with licensed and experienced tree care operators.

How To Be Sure You’re Hiring the Right Tree Care Operator in New Jersey

If you’re in New Jersey, you can check the New Jersey Board of Tree Experts directory here to make sure you’re working with a safe, reputable and licensed company.

If you’re in the Wayne, NJ area and need a reputable tree care operator, contact Big Foot Tree Service today.

This post first appeared on https://www.bigfoottreeservice.com

That fungus growing on your tree could kill it and turn it into an extreme hazard. By knowing how to deal with tree fungi, you can help your tree thrive for decades.

72tree.com gathered information on identifying harmful tree fungi, how to get rid of it, and what you can do to prevent it.

How To Treat Tree Fungus

Before you start dowsing your tree with fungicides and other chemical mixtures, you need to identify what type of fungus is growing on your tree and if it can be removed safely.

Mushroom Conks – If you have mushroom conks growing out of your tree trunk, it is a sign that the fungi at work have already penetrated the tree’s defenses and are decaying the heartwood of the tree.

For these mushroom conks to appear, there must be decaying wood within the tree to feed the fungus. This type of inner decay is known as heart rot.

When mushrooms grow from the root flare or in abundance on surface roots, you can be certain that the root system of the tree has been compromised and requires immediate attention.

Treatment: Do not try to remove mushroom conks from a tree, you may inadvertently release billions of spores that can infect surrounding trees and plants. Call a professional tree service to evaluate the extent of the damage to the tree and recommend a course of action.

Lichens – A lichen, or lichenized fungus, is two organisms functioning as one. Lichens comprise a fungus in a symbiotic relationship with an alga and typically appear as a flat rounded leafy structure attached to the bark of a tree.

Lichens may appear harmful but are superficial, cosmetic eyesores at best. These organisms do not possess roots and rarely cause any damage to the organism they attach themselves to.

Treatment: If you wish, most lichen species can be eliminated from a tree with a mixture of 6 tablespoons of liquid copper sulfate mixed with 1 gallon of water applied during the tree’s dormant season. When applying this mixture, cover the lichen to the point of runoff.

Before using chemicals to control lichens, read the instructions printed on the label. By following the manufacturer’s recommended directions, you can increase the chemical’s effectiveness while preventing injury to the tree.

Fire Blight – Fire Blight can be caused by bacterial and/or fungal infections. It causes twigs and branches to appear water-soaked, then dark, and finally dry and cracked. Twigs and branches die from the terminal end and take on a burned appearance. Branches may bend or curl, commonly referred to as “shepherd’s crook.” As leaves and fruit die, they remain on the branches.

Treatment: Prune out infected branches (at least 8 inches below the damage) during the spring and summer. Do not prune while the branches are wet, as blight is highly transmissible via splashing water. Sterilize all pruning equipment before and after use on an infected tree.

Chemical control of blight is not always effective and should be used as a preventative measure in healthy trees.

Read more about fire blight prevention at 72tree.com/preventing-fire-blight-tree-disease/

Cankers – Cankers are dead, fungus-infected portions of tree bark on the branches or the trunk. They may appear as dark, open, seething wounds, or sunken, darkened, “wet” areas of bark. Most plant pathogens cannot penetrate tree bark directly. Still, they will colonize bark wounded by wildlife, poor maintenance, or mechanical injury.

Canker diseases can cause extensive damage to trees when they kill enough of the bark to girdle a branch or trunk. The fungus causing the canker is also capable of spreading throughout the tree, by way of the xylem and phloem, eventually appearing in other areas of the tree.

Treatment: For cankers found on twigs, and branches, prune the affected twig or branch from the tree. While normal pruning activities should be restricted to the tree’s dormant season, cankers are considered urgent. They can be pruned off the tree at any time of the year.

Note: Sterilize your pruning equipment before and after use on an infected tree. By doing so, you can prevent introducing another pathogen to the already sickened tree, and carrying the illness to another healthy tree.

For small cankers on tree trunks, tracing may help to reduce damage and slow its spread. Cut outside the cankered area into healthy bark, shaping the cut as an ellipse (this will allow the tree to compartmentalize the entire wound over time). Care should be taken to avoid infection of the fresh wound with canker or other pathogens.

For larger cankers on the trunk of a tree, call a professional tree service to evaluate the extent of the damage and recommend a course of action to either treat and save the tree or remove it.

Read more about heart rot and other diseases at 72tree.com/5-tree-pests-diseases-avoid-spring/

Tree Fungus Prevention

Trees have evolved over thousands of years to protect themselves against illness and infestations. They are highly efficient at protecting themselves when they are healthy and thriving. You can aide your tree by:

• Carefully apply fungicides during dry weather and before fungal growth
• Making sure pruning activities are done timely and with sterilized equipment
• Promoting its health throughout the growing season
• Using insecticides to prevent insect infestations
• Removing suckers from surface roots
• Preventing soil compaction on or around the root plate
• Immediately addressing storm damage
• Addressing or removing troubled trees from or around your property

Tip: You can help trees fight fungal attacks and heal themselves by promoting their health. These are some of the things you can do to improve the health of your tree:

• Seasonal Pruning
• Annual Tree Inspections
• Organic Mulch
• Deep Watering (without overwatering)
• Fertilization
• Protect Surface Roots and Trunk from Damage

The importance of an annual tree inspection cannot be overstated. Detecting problems in their beginning stages helps you eliminate the existing problems and prevent potential issues throughout the growing season.

Killing Tree Fungus

In this article, you discovered the different fungi that can attack and harm your tree, how to treat it, and prevent it.

By taking swift action to remove fungus-infected parts of a tree and use measures to stop future infections, you are extending the life of your tree, and preventing it from becoming a threat to your property and wellbeing.

When you ignore the signs of fungal infections on your tree, you risk the tree dying and causing catastrophic damages when it eventually succumbs and falls.

Sources:
herbarium.usu.edu/fun-with-fungi/lichens
plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/treecankers.pdf
vegcropshotline.org/article/10-useful-rules-for-fungicide-application/
extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C871&title=Fireblight:%20Symptoms,%20Causes,%20and%20Treatment

This article was first published on: http://www.72tree.com/how-to-get-rid-of-tree-fungi/

Keep your tree from becoming an extreme threat to your property and landscape when it is infected by Hypoxylon canker. When you know how to identify and treat this disease, you might save your tree.

toddsmariettatreeservices.com gathered information about the definition, identification, treatment, and prevention of Hypoxylon canker.

Hypoxylon Atropunctatum Disease Definition

Hypoxylon atropunctatum is the former, more widely-known name of Biscogniauxia canker or dieback. This disease is a frequent contributor to the decline, decay, and death in a wide range of tree species.

Biscogniauxia fungi are an opportunistic species that do not affect healthy, thriving trees. When a tree is under hydraulic (water), root disease, physical damage, or soil compaction induced stress, these fungi can quickly colonize the host tree.

Once the disease has colonized a tree and produces fruiting structures, it is a signal that the tree is in rapid decline, if not already dead. This is especially true when the infection is located in the trunk.

Identification of Hypoxylon Canker Disease

The following symptoms are indicative of a tree in declining health that may signal the presence of Hypoxylon atropunctatum (Biscogniauxia canker):

• Chlorosis of the tree’s foliage
• Reduced twig growth and smaller leaf growth
• Dead or browned leaves remain attached
• Dead branches or limbs
• Thinning canopy
• Water sprouts growing from the trunk, large limbs, or roots
• White, decayed sapwood in cankered areas of the tree
• Patches of outer bark sloughing off of the branches or trunk

The following are signs to positively identify the fungus:

Early Growth Stages – Looking at cankered areas on a tree, you will see a dark red to brown or olive-green fungal tissue (stroma) over those areas.

Later Growth Stages – Flaking grey surface that reveals a brown to black crusty material with the impression that the area had burned.

Advanced Growth Stages – Small infected patches that eventually merge together to form strips of infected material along the trunk and limbs of the tree.

As the fungus moves through the growth stages, sections of the infected tree’s bark will pop or fall off, revealing a fungal mat where the tree’s cambium should be.

The following tree species can serve as host to Hypoxylon canker disease:

• Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
• Bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)
• Black poplar hybrids (Populus nigra)
• Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera)
• European aspen (Populus tremula)
• Violet Willow (Salix daphnoides)
• Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
• White poplar (Populus alba)
• Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana)
• Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
• Blackjack Oak (Quercus marilandica)
• Post Oak (Quercus stellata)
• American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Note: Hypoxylon canker has three primary species that can infect a variety of shade trees. Hypoxylon atropunctatum is commonly found on oak species, Hypoxylon mammatum attacks mostly aspen trees and Hypoxylon tinctor primarily infects sycamore trees. If none of the above trees and species are yours, these are other tree diseases and treatment instructions toddsmariettatreeservices.com/5-marietta-ga-tree-diseases-identification-treatment/

Treatment of Hypoxylon Canker Disease

There are no known fungicides that can prevent or cure Hypoxylon canker. It is important to remember the opportunistic trait of this fungus. When it can thrive on its host, that tree’s health is compromised or in decline. The following will help you chose an appropriate course of action:

Hypoxylon Canker on Limbs and Branches – When this disease has infected the limbs and branches (not the trunk) of a tree:

• Those limbs and branches should be carefully pruned from the tree.
• Prune infected limbs and branches in sections if needed to minimize disturbing infected areas.
• Wood infected by any species of fungi should be handled as highly transmissible to surrounding trees.
• Do not run these limbs and branches through a wood chipper.
• This wood can be burned.

Hypoxylon Canker on Tree Trunks – When this disease has infected the tree trunk, there is nothing you can do to prevent the decline and eventual death of the tree:

• Hire a professional tree service to carefully remove the tree.
• Do not run a Hypoxylon canker infected tree through a wood chipper.
• This wood can be burned.

Hypoxylon canker thriving on a tree is a clear indication that the tree was already in distress.

Prevention of Hypoxylon Canker Disease

Hypoxylon canker may already be present on your tree, waiting for the tree’s defenses to weaken. Some ways to prevent this disease from developing include:

• Remove any trees that have developed cankers on their trunks. As these trees die, they become an extreme hazard to property, people, and surrounding trees.
• Prune branches and limbs with cankers before they reach the trunk.
• If 25% of the tree’s crown will be lost from pruning, consult a professional tree service to evaluate the condition of the tree and recommend a course of action.
• Avoid planting poplar, willow, oak, and aspen near trees with Hypoxylon infections until those trees have been removed.
• Mulch your trees.
• Water your trees and provide frequent deep waterings during periods of extreme heat and drought.
• Perform annual soil tests and adjust your use of fertilizer to provide the appropriate nutrients for the tree.
• Seasonally prune your trees to promote new and healthy growth.
• Immediately treat any signs of insect infestations.

Prevention of Hypoxylon or Biscogniauxia canker can only be achieved by promoting the health of the tree. This approach allows the tree to employ its natural defenses to suppress the growth/development of this opportunistic fungus.

Hypoxylon Canker Disease

In this article, you discovered the definition of Hypoxylon canker disease, how to identify it, treat it, and prevent it from developing on your tree.

By taking immediate action to halt the progression of Hypoxylon canker, you can potentially save your tree from certain death.

When you fail to take measures against this disease, you are condemning your tree to certain death and promoting the spread of this fungal assassin.

Sources:
missouribotanicalgarden.org
extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/hypoxylon-canker
agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/landscaping/hypoxylon-canker-of-oaks/
edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR40700.pdf

The post Hypoxylon Canker Disease on Oak and Shade Trees (Biscogniauxia Canker) appeared first on http://www.toddsmariettatreeservices.com.

Can’t decide whether to seed your lawn with Fescue or Bermuda?

Although there are dozens of varieties of lawn grasses, Fescue and Bermuda are among the most popular.

They both produce a clean, uniform-looking lawn that can enhance your home’s curb appeal. Fescue and Bermuda aren’t the same, however.

While similar in appearance, there are some key differences between them that shouldn’t be ignored.

What Is Fescue?

Fescue is a turfgrass that’s characterized by ultra-fine leaves.

When compared to Bermuda, Fescue has thinner blades of grass. As it grows, Fescue’s ultra-fine blades will help to fill your lawn. If there’s an area of your lawn with little or no grass, seeding it with fescue is a surefire way to treat it.

It’s also worth mentioning that Fescue is more tolerant of cold temperatures than Bermuda. Fescue grows in many warmer climates, including Texas, but it’s able to grow in cooler climates as well.

What Is Bermuda?

Bermuda, on the other hand, is a fast-growing variety of lawn grass that’s characterized by moderately thick leaves.

It has thicker and coarser blades of grass than its fescue counterpart. More importantly, Bermuda is considered an invasive grass because of its ability to grow and spread with minimal effort.

With its invasive nature, some homeowners view Bermuda as a nuisance.

If your lawn currently consists of a different variety of grass and Bermuda begins to take hold, it will likely create a messy-looking lawn. Rather than a single variety of your grass, your lawn will now have two varieties of grass. Of course, this isn’t a problem if you only seed your lawn with Bermuda.

When exposed to cold temperatures, Bermuda may go dormant. It’s less tolerant of cold temperatures than Fescue, which may deter some homeowners from choosing it.

The good news is that Bermuda offers a high tolerance to heat. It can withstand hot climates without dying. That’s especially important for us in Central Texas, which is why Bermuda grass is very common here.

In Conclusion

You really can’t go wrong with either Fescue or Bermuda.

Fescue has finer leaves and is more tolerant of cold temperatures, whereas Bermuda has thicker and coarser leaves and is more tolerant of hot temperatures.

Just remember to choose a variety of grass that’s appropriate for the climate, as well as soil conditions, where you live.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

The post Fescue vs Bermuda Grass: Which Is Best for Your Lawn? appeared first on Woodsman Tree Service.