Give Your Trees a Breath of Fresh Air

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Give Your Trees a Breath of Fresh Air

Backyard Wisdom - March/ April 2018
by: Gilbert A Smith, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist
photo credits: Gilbert A Smith and Lesley Bruce Smith
    
Give your trees a breath of fresh air? Normally we think the other way around, that trees give us a breath of fresh air, and they do. Without trees we would soon choke on our Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and die from lack of Oxygen (O2). Thank you trees! But did you know that tree roots breathe just like we do, “in with the O2 and out with the CO2”? Now you can amaze your friends with this myth busting fact. Try it out on your most knowledgable gardening friends. You'll be surprised by how few people, even landscapers, know this.

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Spring Reminder

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Spring Reminder

Mother Nature’s Moment, April 2018
by: Lesley Bruce Smith, ISA Certified Arborist

We all wait, not so patiently, for the warmer weather and spring time flowers. It is certainly one of our favorite times of year. The trees and shrubs are ready to explode, having worked very hard last summer, when the sunlight was at its zenith, creating all the buds that are full of sugars and about to burst out into flowers, leaves and eventually fruit. The key here is to remember that this year’s flowers and leaves were created last year, so if autumn or spring clean-up includes “shearing” the outside of the  shrubs, most of the flowers will go away. A sad thing that we see repeated EVERY year.

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