PLANT HEALTH

Spring Fertilization

WHY FERTILIZE ANNUALLY?

When plants are in periods of active growth and blooming cycles their nutrient requirements increase. While the Summer season is a less active growth period, your plantings still require sufficient nutrient levels to maintain their health and vigor. In addition, consideration must be given to the different types of plants (trees, annuals, perrenials etc;). This is especially important in residential landscapes where numerous plantings require nutrients from the same area of soil. If your plants do not have proper nutrient levels growth can be stunted, blooming reduced and overall plant vigor can suffer. Further, low nutrient levels can cause plantings to be more vulnerable to damage from insects and disease.

For the most part, our Front Range soils are poor. They consist mostly of clay and are drastically lacking in available nutrient content. The result is that our trees and plants struggle. Our plant health care specialist will monitor your plants for pests and make any needed spray applications. To ensure your plantings receive the proper nutrient levels at all times we offer a fertilization program devised to meet all of your plants nutrient requirements while at a low relative cost. By using formulations of different products we reduce the labor cost by applying all of the fertilization your plantings will require for the Spring and Summer season in one efficient visit.

PEST MANAGEMENT

Early detection of tree diseases also is important, especially in ornamental plants where small amounts of damage
can have serious effects on tree beauty. These problems can be attributed to many causes including pests. Because timing is important both in limiting damage to infected trees and in treating the diseases, looking for or“scouting” for tree diseases is critical.
Good pest management incorporates many techniques and strategies such as monitoring, record keeping, early detection, identification, and diagnosis followed by appropriate treatments.

SOIL INJECTIONS

Our treatments always take the surrounding environment into consideration.  When ponds, fish or other unique variables are present, we will recommend soil injection to protect your special environment.
Whenever possible, we use soil or sometimes trunk injections to avoid foliar sprays. Soil injection is economical because one treatment usually lasts the entire season. Soli injections can take up to 60 days to be fully effective. Also, several waterings may be needed after application to initiate uptake. Because of this, we most often do soil applications in early spring or fall. When necessary, our experts can add other faster acting agents.

PRODUCTS AND SAFETY

We always use the safest, most effective products available. All products are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) and approved by the Colorado State Agricultural Department.These may include horticultural oils, insecticidal soap, and natural biologicals.

CHEMICALS CATEGORIZED BY US EPA AS LIST-1: INERTS INGREDIENTS OF TOXICOLOGICAL CONCERN

Pursuant to Section 11 of "An Act Protecting Children and Families from Harmful Pesticides," pesticide products containing "List-1: Inert ingredients of Toxicological Concern" or any equivalent categorization by the U.S. EPA are not eligible for use on the outdoor grounds of any school, day care center or school age childcare program.

Pesticide products containing an inert ingredient categorized in "List 1: Inert Ingredients of Toxicological Concern" are required to place the chemical's common name on the front of the pesticide product label. Therefore, pesticide products containing "List-1" inert ingredients can be readily identified by the product user simply by reading the front of the product label.

According to U.S. EPA, there are currently approximately 160 products that contain one of eight remaining List-1 inert ingredients. The following table lists the common names of these inert ingredients. EPA also maintains the "List-1: Inerts of Toxicological Concern" on the internet at the following web address: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/index.htm

Please note that the list maintained by US EPA does not contain the eighth inert ingredient, Malachite Green. EPA chooses not to list Malachite Green due to the fact that use of this eighth remaining List-1 inert ingredient will cease once the existing stocks of pesticides containing it are depleted.

Often, however, synthetic pyrethroids and other more traditional treatments are needed for comprehensive control.
In fact, we have found that after two or three consecutive years of treatment, there is enough residual carried over that treatments are reduced to every other year.

Summer and Winter care is required if you want your lawn to prosper and offer the maximum beauty that it has to offer. A Touch of Class Tree Service offers various monitoring programs to determine types of required treatments. We have several popular, seasonally timed programs, which include visits to your property to inspect plant material and to make appropriate, on the spot treatments. The following list provides some of the services that we both can perform the ensure your special plantings.

Early dection is key to protecting  and damage protection. A Touch of Class Tree Service will provide preventative treatments that are typically applied before damage occurs to your trees, shrubs, and lawn.

TREE WATERING

Inadequate water (drought stress) is probably the most significant cause of plant problems in our area.

Due to the semi-arid conditions in which we live, irrigation systems, designed to satisfy the watering needs of our lawn, do not water deeply enough to accommodate the needs of our trees. Trees require deeper, longer, less frequent watering.

Rule of thumb: Water all established trees and shrubs deeply every four weeks when conditions are dry and mild. This is especially true in the fall and winter.

Use of a soil probe or soaker hose is a good way to deeply water your trees. A sprinkler can also be used if allowed to run long enough to thoroughly moisten the top 12 inches.

To test if your trees need water, dig down two inches deep and form a ball in your hand. If the soil remains clumped together, your tree does not need water, otherwise water deeply.

Mountain Pine Beetles

Mountain pine beetles (MPB) are the most important insect pest of Colorado's pine forests. MPB often kill large numbers of trees annually during outbreaks.
Trees that are not growing vigorously due to old age, crowding, poor growing conditions, drought, fire or mechanical damage, root disease and other causes are most likely to be attacked.

Trees attacked by mountain pine beetles are generally killed. Attacks may occur on individual pines or involve variable-sized groups of hosts. Normally, mountain pine beetles attack trees that are under stress due to competition with other trees, are weakened by pathogens, or are otherwise debilitated. Periodically on some hosts, large-scale outbreaks can occur and infestations can extend into stands of healthy trees.

For a long-term remedy, thin susceptible stands. Leave well-spaced, healthy trees.
For short-term controls, spray, cover, burn or peel attacked trees to kill the beetles. Preventive sprays can protect green, unattacked trees.

Mountain pine beetles develop in pines, particularly ponderosa, lodgepole, Scotch and limber pine. Bristlecone and pinyon pine are less commonly attacked. During early stages of an outbreak, attacks are limited largely to trees under stress from injury, poor site conditions, fire damage, overcrowding, root disease or old age. However, as beetle populations increase, MPB attacks may involve most large trees in the outbreak area.

We are targeting both the Denver Metro and the mountain areas for Beetle kill and IPS as well.

Signs and Symptoms of MPB Attack

Popcorn-shaped masses of resin, called "pitch tubes," on the trunk where beetle tunneling begins. Pitch tubes may be brown, pink or white (Figures 2 and 6).
Boring dust in bark crevices and on the ground immediately adjacent to the tree base.
Evidence of woodpecker feeding on trunk. Patches of bark are removed and bark flakes lie on the ground or snow below tree.
Foliage turning yellowish to reddish throughout the entire tree crown. This usually occurs eight to 10 months after a successful MPB attack.
Presence of live MPB (eggs, larvae, pupae and/or adults) as well as galleries under bark. This is the most certain indicator of infestation. A hatchet for removal of bark is needed to check trees correctly (Figures 3, 5 and 8).
Bluestained sapwood (Figure 9). Check at more than one point around the tree's circumference.

Control

Natural controls of mountain pine beetle include woodpeckers and insects such as clerid beetles that feed on adults and larvae under the bark. However, during outbreaks these natural controls often fail to prevent additional attacks.
Extreme cold temperatures also can reduce MPB populations. For winter mortality to be a significant factor, a severe freeze is necessary while the insect is in its most vulnerable stage; i.e., in the fall before the larvae have metabolized glycerols, or in late spring when the insect is molting into the pupal stage. For freezing temperatures to affect a large number of larvae during the middle of winter, temperatures of at least 30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit) must be sustained for at least five days.
Logs infested with MPB can be treated in various ways to kill developing beetles before they emerge as adults in summer.

A Touch of Class Tree Service highly recommends that a professional service perform this service rather than doing it yourself. They have the high-pressure equipment, the personal protective gear, and can get restricted-use chemicals. If you choose to spray yourself, YOU MUST follow the label exactly, and dispose of the leftover spray and rinse water according to directions. Use only insecticides that are labeled for use to protect trees from bark beetle attack. These insecticide formulations have additives that bind the active ingredient to the bark. If you hire someone to spray, they must be a licensed applicator. Make sure to ask to see their license, and request references. Also make sure to get a commitment that they will spray before July.

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