The Asian long-horned beetle, a species of beetles that originates from Asia, has made an appearance in Bedford, Massachusetts. The beetle was first sighted in the Massachusetts area back in 2008. However, despite this sighting, it is very rare for the beetle to be present in Massachusetts. It has been linked mostly to New York and the Chicago area. It is believed that the beetle made its way to America on a cargo shipment from China years ago. It was first spotted in New York in 1996. This isn’t the first time the beetle has been in Massachusetts before, it killed 18,000 trees in Worcester.
The beetle’s favorite type of tree is maple, however, it will go after hardwood trees including the birch and elm trees. The beetle is a huge threat to the nursery and development of these types of trees. Also, it can be a threat to ruin state forests, state parks and state trees. These beetles are usually seen from the late spring to the fall depending on what the weather is like. The problem with these beetles is that there is no chemical way to control these pests. They have very few natural predators in America, being indigenous to Asia. Officials are adamant that if you see this pest, to report it at once. Once they locate them, they will have to cut down all infected trees, chip them and burn them. This is a preventative way to stop the beetle. They are trying to prevent what happened in Worcester from happening in Bedford.
Q. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year, how do I protect my house from rodent activity?
Answer: As colder months come up on us, rodents will seek into warmer areas. It is important you examine potential avenues of entry around your house to exclude these commensal creatures. Openings around garage doors, pipe chasings and foundation cracks can provide access. Seal these openings! Establishing bird houses or feeding bread to birds within 25 feet of your home will attract rodent activity. Do not store bird feed, dry dog food or any other type of feed in bags. Transfer the contents of these products into plastic storage bins if kept under your sinks or in basement areas.
As winter nears, your home needs the protection of a full service pest solutions program.
Q. How do I best prepare my plants, arbors and shrubs for the blustery winter months ahead?
Answer: Winter temperatures and weather can wreak havoc on your arbors. Deep root fertilization aerates the soil and constructs a pathway of vitamins and nutrients directly to your arbor’s root system. Your trees and shrubs will retain these essential nutrients in its root system, pulling it from them when required, for early spring growth.
Q .What are the benefits of lime applications to my lawn?
Answer: Weeds grow best in acidic soil while grass benefits from a neutral base. Lime neutralizes the soil ph and mitigates any adverse reactions to organic fertilizer. Making a long story short, healthy soil leads to healthy grass. Healthy grass combats weed development. You cannot get any greener than that!
“There’s no weapon like experience.” JP McHale Pest Management Inc. is a family owned and operated pest management company since 1971, we are one of the top 50 largest pest control companies in the United States. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about the services we offer.
Alberta, one of the ten provinces in Canada, is receiving $10 million from the federal government in order to help contain the outbreak of mountain pine beetles. The beetle’s carry a fungus that causes the pine trees to turn red and eventually kills them. The province has already committed $25 million on the problem in the past year and $200 million since 2006.
According to Conservative MP Rob Merrifield, the outbreak “came in on a thermal or in the jet streams in July, which infested our forests in a way in these last 90 days that was unexpected. It has thrown urgency into … the issue of the pine beetle in Alberta, and because of that, we have to accelerate what we do to be able to deal with it.” Merrifield also explained that the outbreak is threatening Alberta’s $9 billion forest industry and the 38,000 jobs in it.
The mountain pine beetles have already harmed thousands of acres of forest in British Columbia. According to Ted Morton, minister of sustainable resource development for Alberta, “British Columbia has lost half of its marketable pine.”
1. Why should I aerate my lawn at this time of the year?
This is the optimum time to set your lawn up for success next spring. Aerating your lawnscape will relieve soil compaction and break down the barrier of thatch resting between soil and new grass seedlings. This exercise will make soil more receptive to water, and essential nutrients, simultaneously expanding root growth.
2. What is the most effective way to prevent wind burn or halt winter damage to my evergreen trees?
Applying an anti-dessicant application to your conifer trees will give the needles a healthy shine, while assisting your arbors in retaining important moisture levels. This environmentally sound, wax based product, seamlessly melts off in spring when your plants are ready to commence the growing season.
3. How do I best prepare my plants, arbors and shrubs for the blistering winter months ahead?
Winter temperatures and weather can wreak havoc on your arbors. Deep root fertilization aerates the soil and constructs a pathway of vitamins and nutrients directly to your arbor’s root system. Your trees and shrubs will retain these essential nutrients, in its root system, pulling from them when required, for early spring growth.
4. Describe the benefits associated with Lime applications to my lawn.
Weeds grow best in acidic soil while grass benefits from a neutral base. Lime neutralizes the soil ph and mitigates any adverse reactions to organic fertilizer applications. Neutral soil optimizes the effects of organic fertilizer. Making a long story short, healthy soil leads to healthy grass. Health grass combats weed development. You cannot get any greener than that!
5. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year. How do I protect my house from rodent activity?
As cooler months come upon us rodents will seek entry into warmer areas. It is important you examine potential avenues of entry around your house to exclude these commensal creatures. Openings around garage doors, pipe chasings and foundation cracks can provide access. Seal these openings! Establishing bird houses or feeding bread to birds within 25 feet of your home will attract rodent activity. Do not store bird feed, dry dog food or any other type of feed in bags. Transfer the contents of these products into plastic storage bins if kept under your sink or in basement areas.
Please contact us if you are interested in any of our services. We service New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Every fall you your family goes through the same routine, and let’s just say it’s not one that many enjoy. Of course this routine is one of the least popular chores; raking leaves have given blisters from the 7 year old boy to the 65 year old grandfather. While we all love the colors of the Northeast during autumn months, we for sure do not enjoy the work that is endured picking them up. Yet, the question that is often overlooked is; why do the leaves actually fall off the trees?
The leaves of the tree are there for nutritional purposes as well as to collect some water. When the cool are of late autumn and early winter arrive the leaves are open to the dry weather of these months. With dry air the leaves cannot contain the moisture inside of them since they are flat, thin and susceptible to harsh outdoor weather. In order for the tree to make it through the winter it must have its water and nutrition supply stored in other places. To keep away from the cool dry air the tree moves its water and nutritional supplies towards the trunk leaving the leaves without any of the two. This allows the tree to live through another winter and ready to blossom the next spring. A downside of the tree’s adapted defensive mechanism is how brittle some of the outward branches become. Since the water is brought closer to the trunk, the branches become more brittle. Any type of snow or ice accumulation can send these strong healthy branches of the summer crashing down to the lonely life-less ground below.
There you have it, the reasons why trees loose their leaves in the fall.
As winter creeps up on us here in New York, there are many different things that as homeowners we have to and should do to maintain the plant life on our property. In recent times the spraying of antidesiccants on shrubs, evergreens, and some broadleaf plant life has really caught on to the general public. What happens in the winter time is that plant life will tend to dry out because of the lack of moisture and the cold. Antidesiccants help plant life by sealing the plant’s stomata (a plants sweat pores) therefore creating a waterproof sealant. Antidesiccants are sprayed on your plants and trees creating almost a waxy covering that sticks to the leaves and needles and locks in moisture for a healthier winter season.
The process of applying antidesiccants to your plant life is actually quite simple. Our technictions will spray the waxy coating on your choice of evergreens, shrubs and as well as plants. The spray is at first a white waxy-like substance but after just a short time it dries and becomes clear. Some use antideiccants right before gathering cuttings from the flowers. Spray about an hour before hand then cut, this will lock in moisture and it tends to root surprisingly well afterwards. Others actually use the spray more often than others, spraying antidesiccants once a season or so. The growth on your trees, especially broadleaf evergreens, will be more apparent in the spring.
JP McHale Pest Management’s Tree and Turf Department offers an anti-desiccant tree and shrub service. Please visit our Tree and Turf Department’s page or contact us now for a free evaluation of your property.
Everyone loves athick green lawn. The growing season is about two months away. Once the soil temperature drops below 55 degrees, power seeding and core aeration is highly recommended.
Power seeding will make small slits in the solid and fill them with seeds. This can nearly guarantee germination, and grow grass in the weak areas of your lawn.
Aeration is also a recommended service during the growing season. During the winter and spring, your soil will become compacted, and strain the growth of grass. This will make your grass appear thinner and less healthy. Aeration is done with a machine that removes soil about the size of a cork, every 3-6 inches. This will loosen up the solid and allow “breathing room” for the grass roots.
After all lawn services it is highly recommended that you water your lawn as it is the main backbone in growing a green lawn.
Please contact JP McHale’s Tree & Turf Department so we can schedule you with our lawn and tree inspector to develop a custom plan for your property.Its Free!
This post was written by Nathaniel over at Evans Pest Management, located in San Francisco. Thanks again, Nathaniel.
Wooly aphids are one of the more stubborn insects to infest trees. Some species feed on bark or roots causing cankers and burls to develop on tree limbs. On roots, nodular masses of gall tissues may form. The species that feed on foliage cause leaves of infested trees to curl, distort, and discolor. Many species secrete honeydew which results in blackish, sooty mold on foliage or pale waxy secretions which drip copiously onto everything beneath the canopy of the infested tree. (This can be very messy!)
Wooly aphids are most commonly a problem on apple, ash, oak, and elm trees.
These tiny insects (about a tenth of an inch in length) can be more easily identified by the damage they do than by their actual appearance.
If you notice that any of the above descriptions match what appears to be happening with your trees, call for professional help immediately. Homeowners without professional equipment can do little to control such stubborn pests. There are quite a few different products that a qualified pest management professional can apply, in season and at the necessary rates. When made correctly, these applications can control wooly aphids quite effectively, whereas, left unchecked, they may eventually kill a tree or entirely ruin its aesthetic value.
Aeration can be quite a process because of the machinery required. Aeration is essential to do once a year to break up soil compaction and allow deeper soil to receive water and nutrients.
Aeration is done about once every two weeks on a golf course, and you know how good golf courses look. You don’t need to aerate your lawn that often, once or twice, beginning & end of season is very good for the soil.
Its easy to notice when turf has been aerated because you will notice small cork size plugs around the area with small hole sin the grass.
An aerator is not one of the most practical pieces of equipment to have around your home. JP McHale’s Tree and Turf department has many services in place to get you a healthy green lawn. Ask about Core Aeration and our Estate Program. This department is overseen by our Plant Pathologist, Douglas McHale who is an expert in this field.
Here are some of the other services that he has formulated:
The Asian long-horned beetle, a species of beetles that originates from Asia, has made an appearance in Bedford, Massachusetts. The beetle was first sighted in the Massachusetts area back in 2008. However, despite this sighting, it is very rare for the beetle to be present in Massachusetts. It has been linked mostly to New York and the Chicago area. It is believed that the beetle made its way to America on a cargo shipment from China years ago. It was first spotted in New York in 1996. This isn’t the first time the beetle has been in Massachusetts before, it killed 18,000 trees in Worcester.
Q. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year, how do I protect my house from rodent activity?
Alberta, one of the ten provinces in Canada, is receiving $10 million from the federal government in order to help contain the outbreak of mountain pine beetles. The beetle’s carry a fungus that causes the pine trees to turn red and eventually kills them. The province has already committed $25 million on the problem in the past year and $200 million since 2006.
1. Why should I aerate my lawn at this time of the year?
5. I hear rodent activity spikes this time of the year. How do I protect my house from rodent activity?
Every fall you your family goes through the same routine, and let’s just say it’s not one that many enjoy. Of course this routine is one of the least popular chores; raking leaves have given blisters from the 7 year old boy to the 65 year old grandfather. While we all love the colors of the Northeast during autumn months, we for sure do not enjoy the work that is endured picking them up. Yet, the question that is often overlooked is; why do the leaves actually fall off the trees?
Everyone loves a
