Posts Tagged ‘arborilogical services’

Bryan White, a certified arborist with Arborilogical Services, Inc., was recently interviewed by NBC DFW.

For all your tree needs Neil Sperry recommends Arborilogical Services, Inc.

As the cooler fall weather moves in and changes our landscapes from summer green to shades of yellow, gold, and orange; you may begin to see one persistent pest that refuses to give up the green.  In fact, it refuses to give up at all.  Under the cloak of your trees’ leaves, mistletoe has found itself a home.  Whether it be on the humble Hackberry or your prized Texas Red Oak, it has been growing—pulling its moisture from the host.

Mistletoe In Your Yard

One of nature’s most harmful “bird gifts”, mistletoe seeds, move from one landscape to another looking for that perfect arboreal environment.  The two and three year old wood on Cedar Elms and Hackberry trees are prime real estate, but a few other local species will do in a pinch.  Once the location is right, the seed germinates and a strange, opportunistic root-like structure finds an opening in the bark and taps in to the tree’s vascular system.  Mistletoe becomes a tree squatter, ready to take the neighborhood.

Invasive Mistletoe

Winter is the best time to kick this bum out.  While it is safe to remove mistletoe any time of the year, it is a simple matter of economics that the winter months are the best.  With no leaves to hide behind, mistletoe is highly visible, so your time or your money is put to its most efficient use during the dormant season.

As previously noted, new infestations are usually found on wood that is a few years old.  In these cases, removal can be as simple as pruning the branch about a foot below the infection site.  The pruning can be done in such a way as not to affect the aesthetic of the tree.  Older infections may now be on limbs or branches that cannot be removed without damaging the structural integrity of the tree.  If that is the case, the mistletoe can be scraped off to the bark.  However, keep in mind the site is still infected and the mistletoe will sprout new leaves, and the process should be repeated before the mistletoe plant begins to produce seed—that is usually 2-3 years.

While mistletoe rarely kills its host (because doing so it would kill itself), old infection sites can diminish a tree’s structural integrity—causing limbs to fail.  It is important to remove new infection sites and manage those sites that cannot be removed.  Contact your arborist if you need more information on managing mistletoe.  A program can be designed to help meet the specific needs of your trees.

As seen in: Dallas City Hall Highlights
Related DallasNews.com Story

As part of the Dallas Mavericks Guard the Planet initiative, the Mavs launched Trees for Wins and committed to plant one tree in Reverchon Park for every Mavs win this season. For the Mavs 50 wins to date, 50 trees were recently planted by players Eduardo Najera and DeShawn Stevenson.  The trees will be cared for by the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department and Arborilogical Services, The Experts Your Trees Deserve.

“We are proud to share the park as our backyard with the Mavs and we want to thank the Mavericks for this beautiful gesture of planting trees,” said Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children President J.C. Montgomery, Jr.

“The Mavs support for this project expresses their corporate leadership as well as their sound principles in being stewards of our urban forest,” said Arborilogical Services, The Experts Your Trees Deserve President Steve Houser. Reverchon Park offers many leisure and recreational programs as well as baseball fields, basketball and tennis courts and an accessible children’s playground.