At Least The 12th Lawn Thread

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

 

 

Any idea what these spots are on my autumn blaze red maple I planted last year?

 

Also, any reason why I can’t notice any new growth? Is the same size as when I got it last year. It looks fairly healthy though 

[IrishRob17]

42 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

 

 

Any idea what these spots are on my autumn blaze red maple I planted last year?

 

Also, any reason why I can’t notice any new growth? Is the same size as when I got it last year. It looks fairly healthy though 

I have the same spots on my same tree type this year and last, would to see if someone knows for sure what it is and how to treat. I have had nice growth though last year and this year. 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

1 minute ago, IrishRob17 said:

I have the same spots on my same tree type this year and last, would to see if someone knows for sure what it is and how to treat. I have had nice growth though last year and this year. 

Any idea when the primary growth period is for the tree? Now or later in the summer?

[dendrite]

I get them during summer on all of my red maples. It’s some kind of fungus. It doesn’t hurt the tree…just brown spots on the leaves. I think it’s called maple leaf tar spot. 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

4 minutes ago, dendrite said:

I get them during summer on all of my red maples. It’s some kind of fungus. It doesn’t hurt the tree…just brown spots on the leaves. I think it’s called maple leaf tar spot. 

Thanks.... you wouldn’t happen to know when the peak growth is for them would you? Like I said, I can’t see any growth really.

[dendrite]

43 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

Thanks.... you wouldn’t happen to know when the peak growth is for them would you? Like I said, I can’t see any growth really.

You mean new growth? It should have put out quite a bit by now. Did you plant it last year? Was it potted or bare root? If it was planted before last year, did you fertilize? With most of my potted trees…year 1 I hope they survive, year 2 they start to get their root footing, and year 3 they start to take off with their top growth. 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

4 minutes ago, dendrite said:

You mean new growth? It should have put out quite a bit by now. Did you plant it last year? Was it potted or bare root? If it was planted before last year, did you fertilize? With most of my potted trees…year 1 I hope they survive, year 2 they start to get their root footing, and year 3 they start to take off with their top growth. 

It was potted when it arrived. This is the one I ordered from fast growing trees. I planted it in late July early august last year.

I mean, it looks pretty good... the tree is “full” I just can’t make out any new growth.. I’ll take a full pic tomorrow. I’m surprised because the cherry trees and pine tree I have, have put out very obvious new growth, especially in the last couple weeks.

[DavisStraight]

29 minutes ago, dendrite said:

You mean new growth? It should have put out quite a bit by now. Did you plant it last year? Was it potted or bare root? If it was planted before last year, did you fertilize? With most of my potted trees…year 1 I hope they survive, year 2 they start to get their root footing, and year 3 they start to take off with their top growth. 

First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap.

[IrishRob17]

9 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

Any idea when the primary growth period is for the tree? Now or later in the summer?

It has a bunch of growth now and I fertilized last month. 

[dendrite]

Wreckin up the lawn thread with long grass and letting clover go to seed.

 

 

[tamarack]

11 hours ago, dendrite said:

I get them during summer on all of my red maples. It’s some kind of fungus. It doesn’t hurt the tree…just brown spots on the leaves. I think it’s called maple leaf tar spot. 

Yup - tar spot fungus.  It's especially prevalent on Norway maple though it's a visual issue that doesn't really harm the tree (unfortunately in the case of that species.)  It's less of a problem with other maples and I don't know if it affects non-maple species.  
And I really like the "sleep/creep/leap" description.  Only tree I've planted that didn't follow that pattern was Reliance peach, and peach trees are notably precocious.  Mine would double in size each summer then get killed back each winter until 2001-02 when it never got near -20.  That summer brought no dieback and a hundred-plus wonderful peaches.  Then Jan-Feb-Mar 2003 brought a dozen mornings of -20 to -29 and the tree was cooked, permanently.  (The variety is hardy to zone 5 and my frost pocket is 4B.  We were fortunate to get that one crop.)

[dendrite]

15 minutes ago, tamarack said:

Yup - tar spot fungus.  It's especially prevalent on Norway maple though it's a visual issue that doesn't really harm the tree (unfortunately in the case of that species.)  It's less of a problem with other maples and I don't know if it affects non-maple species.  
And I really like the "sleep/creep/leap" description.  Only tree I've planted that didn't follow that pattern was Reliance peach, and peach trees are notably precocious.  Mine would double in size each summer then get killed back each winter until 2001-02 when it never got near -20.  That summer brought no dieback and a hundred-plus wonderful peaches.  Then Jan-Feb-Mar 2003 brought a dozen mornings of -20 to -29 and the tree was cooked, permanently.  (The variety is hardy to zone 5 and my frost pocket is 4B.  We were fortunate to get that one crop.)

Yeah I’m seeing really good leaps with my planted chestnuts this year. It’s been sleep, creep, leap for them and all of my trees too. My exception may be my hickories, but those are really slow growing the first few years. The chestnuts I planted directly from seed experience none of that though. They put that tap root right down and put on about 6-12” of growth year 1 and then take off year 2. So direct seeding is definitely the way to go with nut trees if possible. I think after next year those trees will already be caught up to the size of my potted ones that were a couple years old when I planted them the year before I direct seeded. 

[dendrite]

And oh yeah…**** chipmunks. 

[dendrite]

Bamboo in the background shooting for the moon. That’s the phyllostachys aureosulcata ‘spectabilis’. To the left is the phyllostachys nuda which is a little shorter, but upsized well from last year. The phyllostachys parvifolia isn’t in the image. It’s later shooting, but is putting out  some huge shoots…should be some 15 footers this year. 

Spectabilis

 

Parvifolia…these shoots frequently come out at an angle which is annoying so I wire tie them to straighten them out. It’s worth the effort because the culms get so tall and wide. 

 

The chickens are doing a pretty good job of chewing away at any rhizomes or shoots that try to grow outside of their cages although my phyllostachys atrovaginata (incense bamboo) has been annoyingly aggressive. It’s been spreading more “out” than “up” and I had to dig up a bunch of spreading rhizomes from them. I may completely pull those out come fall and plant a cold hardy banana (musa basjoo) in the spring or some kind of dwarf deciduous fruit tree that I can keep pruning back to provide shade in the run (and eventually fruit). 

[tamarack]

5 minutes ago, dendrite said:

Yeah I’m seeing really good leaps with my planted chestnuts this year. It’s been sleep, creep, leap for them and all of my trees too. My exception may be my hickories, but those are really slow growing the first few years. The chestnuts I planted directly from seed experience none of that though. They put that tap root right down and put on about 6-12” of growth year 1 and then take off year 2. So direct seeding is definitely the way to go with nut trees if possible. I think after next year those trees will already be caught up to the size of my potted ones that were a couple years old when I planted them the year before I direct seeded. 

My results in fall-planting of red oak acorns have been abysmal, both at the state lot near Merrymeeting Bay (6-8 miles from Pit 2) and on my woodlot.  Between squirrels pre-emergence and deer afterwards, few of the 2,000 or so total nuts in those 2 plantings have made it past deer-browse height.  (Note:  I did the water test on those acorns, discarding all the floaters.)  30+ years ago a co-worker gathered some acorns on the state's Dodge Point lot in Newcastle (midcoast) and planted them on the Scraggly Lake unit just northeast of Baxter Park.  There were essentially no oaks on that 10,000-acre tract and the plantings were on the site of a 1-2 acre fire so great site prep.  No deer at Scraggly had ever encountered oak for many decades but they knew a good thing when they smelled it and pretty much wiped out the new seedlings.

[dendrite]

1 minute ago, tamarack said:

My results in fall-planting of red oak acorns have been abysmal, both at the state lot near Merrymeeting Bay (6-8 miles from Pit 2) and on my woodlot.  Between squirrels pre-emergence and deer afterwards, few of the 2,000 or so total nuts in those 2 plantings have made it past deer-browse height.  (Note:  I did the water test on those acorns, discarding all the floaters.)  30+ years ago a co-worker gathered some acorns on the state's Dodge Point lot in Newcastle (midcoast) and planted them on the Scraggly Lake unit just northeast of Baxter Park.  There were essentially no oaks on that 10,000-acre tract and the plantings were on the site of a 1-2 acre fire so great site prep.  No deer at Scraggly had ever encountered oak for many decades but they knew a good thing when they smelled it and pretty much wiped out the new seedlings.

I hear ya on the squirrels, chippies, and voles. All of my direct seeded chestnuts have 1/2” hardware cloth cages the first year and I put some flashing a few inches in the ground around them to keep the diggers away. Year 2 I upgrade to regular 2x4” 5ft high cages to protect from the deer. This guy is in year 2 and seems to be liking being somewhat close to the back woods…maybe the roots are mixing and mingling with established oak/beech roots and contributing some mycorrhizal fungi?

[tamarack]

In the early 90s we planted some 15-20" tall American chestnut seedlings from the Foundation, 10 at Hebron near some 1962 chestnuts (blighted/regrown repeatedly) and at Topsham near a large (15"x55') unrequited female chestnut that was producing hordes of sterile husks.  Each tree was within a 2x4" by 4' cage and the deer only browsed a bit when the trees topped the cage.  In the late 90s the Foundation pioneered a road (flat well-drained soil so easy access) to the lady chestnut to do controlled pollination, repeating it for 3 years.  They also cut a few pine and red maple to give that tree more room.  The biggest of the Topsham plantings reached 2.5" diameter and 25' tall before the blight got them in the mid 20-teens - some smaller chestnuts have avoided the blight - and the big female is gone as well.  The Hebron plantings have disappeared, whether from deer, blight or shade I don't know. 

[dendrite]

8 minutes ago, tamarack said:

In the early 90s we planted some 15-20" tall American chestnut seedlings from the Foundation, 10 at Hebron near some 1962 chestnuts (blighted/regrown repeatedly) and at Topsham near a large (15"x55') unrequited female chestnut that was producing hordes of sterile husks.  Each tree was within a 2x4" by 4' cage and the deer only browsed a bit when the trees topped the cage.  In the late 90s the Foundation pioneered a road (flat well-drained soil so easy access) to the lady chestnut to do controlled pollination, repeating it for 3 years.  They also cut a few pine and red maple to give that tree more room.  The biggest of the Topsham plantings reached 2.5" diameter and 25' tall before the blight got them in the mid 20-teens - some smaller chestnuts have avoided the blight - and the big female is gone as well.  The Hebron plantings have disappeared, whether from deer, blight or shade I don't know. 

I have one out in the back woods that is in that 2.5-3" diameter range that is starting to develop furrows near the bottom. It's probably a 30-40ft tall tree now. I'm worried it's getting to that point now where blight will become an issue. I may try the mud pack treatment on the bark if gets to that point. I wanted that tree at maturity for if/when the Darling GMO trees become available so I can get some blight resistant nuts with genetic diversity.

https://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/chestnut/breeding/mudpacking

[backedgeapproaching]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Yup - tar spot fungus.  It's especially prevalent on Norway maple though it's a visual issue that doesn't really harm the tree (unfortunately in the case of that species.)  It's less of a problem with other maples and I don't know if it affects non-maple species.  
And I really like the "sleep/creep/leap" description.  Only tree I've planted that didn't follow that pattern was Reliance peach, and peach trees are notably precocious.  Mine would double in size each summer then get killed back each winter until 2001-02 when it never got near -20.  That summer brought no dieback and a hundred-plus wonderful peaches.  Then Jan-Feb-Mar 2003 brought a dozen mornings of -20 to -29 and the tree was cooked, permanently.  (The variety is hardy to zone 5 and my frost pocket is 4B.  We were fortunate to get that one crop.)

My 3 heritage river birch I planted in 2018 have grown like damn weeds. But I know that is a  known characteristic of it and soft wood trees.. Planted at 8ft in 2018 and now prob over 20'.

The 2 Triflorum Maples I planted late summer last year did nothing at all last summer and pretty much nothing so far this year either as far as growth.

[tamarack]

9 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

My 3 heritage river birch I planted in 2018 have grown like damn weeds. But I know that is a  known characteristic of it and soft wood trees.. Planted at 8ft in 2018 and now prob over 20'.

The 2 Triflorum Maples I planted late summer last year did nothing at all last summer and pretty much nothing so far this year either as far as growth.

Some trees do grow like crazy.  A few weeks after moving here in mid-May 1998, I transplanted a 2' tall fir from the dog-trolley area (he'd damaged the tree somewhat) to our front lawn.  The tree is now 38' tall and 13-14" diameter at the conventional (diameter breast height) 4.5'/1.4m above ground.  Would be nearly impossible (and a pitch bath) to fight my way thru branches to the bole and actually measure it.  Branch span at the base nears 20'.
If you know someone/some town that wants a BIG Christmas tree, give me a shout out.  

[dendrite]

Ash tree at work. I assume this is early EAB?

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Ash tree at work. I assume this is early EAB?

Could be, though there are other bark-resident insects that the woodpeckers enjoy.  You're not far north from the confirmed EAP populations in NH.  That tree looks like a female, the worst kind to lose if we wish to keep ash in the forest.

[dendrite]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Could be, though there are other bark-resident insects that the woodpeckers enjoy.  You're not far north from the confirmed EAP populations in NH.  That tree looks like a female, the worst kind to lose if we wish to keep ash in the forest.

Not sure how you tell, but that's the tree I collect seed from every season...tons of them. Can you tell quickly off hand if that's green or white?

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Not sure how you tell, but that's the tree I collect seed from every season...tons of them. Can you tell quickly off hand if that's green or white?

Female white ash (there are very few green ash in New England outside of planted specimen trees) tend to have deeper furrows in their bark than male trees.  Those planted green ash around here tend to have less deeply furrowed bark than white ash of similar size, but open-grown street trees usually have bark a bit different than forest grown ones, no matter the species.  In the pre-EAB forest, green ash was a larger component of the ash population in the Midwest than in New England.

[Brian5671]

Most of the large ash trees around here are dead.  

[Nikoss427]

I just had a big ash on the edge of my property treated for EAB. The arborist said the tree is in good health, and it is fully leafed out. He drilled holes at the base and the tree drew up the insecticide. It's an every 2 year process but it's nice to save such a nice specimen with so many dying all around. It's a cool process to watch as well 

[Ginx snewx]

For some reason my Hostas are giant this year and the mint just exploded.

[CoastalWx]

Munks gone wild  this year. Must eviscerate.

[Ginx snewx]

The last Gypsy moth dead oak in the front yard is history.  One more in the back and several in the woods I am not touching. This one was 85+ years old. Sad

[CoastalWx]

We lawn. The rain has been helpful.