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February 2, 2010

Critters Getting on Your House Through the Trees?

Racoons, squirrels, rats, you name it. If it can climb, it wants in your house. I frequently get called out to bid a tree trimming jobs where the only goal is to cut the tree back far enough so that wild life can’t use it to get on the roof. Take my recommendation and don’t butcher up your trees in an overzealous attempt to keep everything away from your roof.austinmain.jpg For starters, call a wildlife / rodent control service and consult with them. Arborists or tree trimmers are not the best people to talk to about controlling wildlife. I like to refer people to Austin Wildlife Pro.

To keep Raccoons out of your attic you only need a small amount of clearance. Raccoons are somewhat fat and clumsy;you won’t catch them doing many acrobatic tricks. I’ve watched a squirrel with my own two eyes scale a brick wall, so no amount of tree pruning is really going to solve that problem.

January 21, 2010

Fall Color on Live Oak Trees? Senescence.

Live Oaks are semi-evergreen;so, why am I writing about fall color on a live oak? Sometimes live oaks will produce fall color. But, usually not in the fall. When it happens it’s in the winter. I was somewhere between Hamilton Pool and Johnson City driving between jobs when I ran across these shining examples.

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January 4, 2010

The Waller Creek Project

The City of Austin has been planning for some time now to do a major restoration to Waller creek. If you are not familiar with this creek, it is one of the major tributaries that funnel into Lady Bird Lake on the east side of downtown, mostly along Red River, just west of IH-35. Waterloo Park is the main city park where you can check out the creek.
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December 31, 2009

Tree Climbers’ Training – Fall ’06

Back in October we did a 4 day company training event. Jose Mercado of Mercado Horticultural Training Service came down from California as our instructor. Jose is an ISA Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker, and he is bilingual.

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December 4, 2009

All About Arizona Ash Trees

Arizona ash is referred to as “Arizona trash”by many people. Personally, I don’t really agree with this attitude. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t perfect trees, but ash can grow into large trees quickly and provide significant shade from the hot summer sun that is much needed in Texas.

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October 4, 2009

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-04

  • http://bestc.am/muiK6 Unidentified fungus. See this a lot on live oaks that have a portion of trunk abruptly die. This one had girdling root #
  • http://bestc.am/jV6Ua Needed a concrete pier near this tree, so we used airspade to look for tree roots before construction workers dig. #

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July 3, 2009

All About Bradford Pears

Bradford pear trees have become a popular addition to the urban landscape. Although the Bradford pear is a hardy tree consistently producing showy flowers in the spring and some fall color, the tree is not without its fair share of problems. The trees have a relatively short life span due to structural integrity issues, they are susceptible to a few disease issues and they can be overbearing on landscapes with limited space.

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April 26, 2009

Texas tree climbing competition in Austin, May 28-30, 2009

Primitive people or modern monkeys? Come to Go Valle Park in Austin on May 28, 29 and 30 to find out for yourself.

Seriously, the best tree workers from around the state will be gathering to share climbing techniques and see how their skills match up. The winner of this chapter events wins a slew of prizes included a paid trip to the international competition being help in Rhode Island this year.This is one the the biggest events of the year for the Texas chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). The ISA is the organization responsible for certifying arborists.
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