Birch trees can be a beautiful and productive asset on many landscapes. However, like most landscape plants, species have varying nutrient, light and moisture requirements and will only thrive on the right site with adequate care. For the most part birch species have interesting and attractive bark colors and textures ranging from pure white to mahogany…
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Though we may not be able to fathom a time when the ground is fully thawed and we need to worry about drought, irrigation is fundamental to the health and success of your landscape plants. In ground irrigation systems already in place should be checked for proper functioning and repaired where and if necessary, while…
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While it may be nicer to go without knowing this, especially as this bitter winter drags on, apparently spring is getting shorter, by 30 seconds to a minute, each year. According to scientists at the National Weather Service (NWS) and Gavin Schmidt, Director with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, when the Earth’s axis reaches…
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Spring has sprung…or so the calendar says, perhaps it should inform the thermometer. Either way, eventually the thaw will come, mud will abound and we will already be behind schedule with our landscaping and gardening tasks. Here is a quick checklist of things you could aim to accomplish before the season is actually upon us,…
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Officials with the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) are puzzled over a seemingly new disease affecting ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) in the region. They are discouraging culling trees with discolored needles until they can determine the underlying cause of the disease; this may mean waiting until June when the ponderosa pines produce new needles. According…
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While it may be out of sight, out of mind, damage is being incurred by high foot or vehicle traffic on your landscape throughout the winter, but is especially concerning now when soils are beginning to thaw. Soil conditions currently range from still being frozen, to being partially thawed and some areas are both frozen…
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Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, is an invasive species affecting forested lands and their ecotones throughout the northeast. Agencies of Western New York state, including The Buffalo Audubon Society, Western New York Land Conservancy, Friends of Reinstein Woods and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have joined forces to improve habitats of three natural areas…
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Researchers at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the University of Western Sidney have recently discovered that trees do more than just move water up and down, water can be moved laterally and even be stored within tree tissues. While traditionally we assumed that trees maintained two distinct systems, xylem and phloem, for the…
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Agriculture plays an essential role in every person’s life each day, yet many of us do not know or appreciate how our food is produced. As part of a nationwide effort to educate people about the immense effort which goes into growing food and the importance of agriculture in our daily lives, The American Council…
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March 21, 2015 has officially been declared the International Day of Forests, by the United Nations General Assembly. As the most biologically diverse, terrestrial ecosystems forests provide habitat and food for wildlife, act as a sink for carbon, help improve and protect water quality and provide jobs and shelter for communities around the world. Forests…
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