If you are looking for a new holiday tradition that is great for the environment, how about using a live tree instead of a fresh cut tree? Stein Professional Tree Care Service Company advocates trying a live tree in your home this holiday. The live tree care is a little different from what you would provide a cut tree, but at the end of the season, you will have a brand addition to your landscape.
Our area has had a very wet summer season. The precipitation is great for our lawns and our thirsty landscapes are thriving. And though trees need water too, too much water can cause damage or create conditions where they are at risk of uprooting. Having a tree care evaluation could be a proactive measure that saves your tree—or your property!
Local, tree enthusiasts may already be familiar with the Pennsylvania State Tree, the Eastern Hemlock. For residents who are unaware, the tree care service specialists at Stein give details about this slow growing evergreen. Stein Tree Service provides services to many areas in Pennsylvania, in addition to Delaware and Maryland. Our certified arborists are passionate about trees and enjoy informing residents about the native trees in our area.
Trees are an important and integral part of the landscapes as they provide much-needed shade and beauty to homes throughout the Northeast. They also help filter the air to give our community a fresher and cleaner environment. However, as with all living things, our trees require care, including proper tree trimming and pruning, if they are to stay looking and functioning great for many, many years to come. Oak wilt is one disease that is very harmful to local trees, and that homeowners should be aware of. If a tree is diagnosed with oak wilt, tree removal may be necessary to prevent spread to surrounding trees.
Leyland Cypress trees make a fantastic addition to any northeasterner’s home. These beautiful evergreens are fast and hardy growers that quickly mature into tall and wide trees that add a pleasing touch to just about any yard or landscape. Many Delaware residents will use them either as accent trees to break up the landscape or plant them in a row to create a type of living privacy wall or barrier. In short, there are a lot of ways to incorporate Leyland Cypress trees into your landscaping layout and, in general, they are guaranteed to thrive in most climate conditions with proper tree care — except when their local area experiences sudden and extreme temperature fluctuations such as we had this past winter.
Delaware is simply stunning in the summer and autumn months. This state and its neighbors enjoy warm temperatures that beckon residents and visitors to go outside and explore the many beautiful natural recreational areas we have here. However, the outdoors has its inherent risks and as tree care professionals, we recognize that one of those risks is tick bites.
Ticks are dangerous creatures that are more than just nuisances. Due to their parasitic nature, ticks are known for carrying and transmitting several serious diseases that can leave a person with long-term ailments and, in some cases, can be fatal.
According to the CDC, the worst of these diseases and the ones that Delaware residents are susceptible to include:
Lyme disease. Left untreated, Lyme disease frequently causes an array of flu-like symptoms, including fever, fatigue, chills, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and joint aches. Generally, a quick round of antibiotics will clear up these symptoms but for some people, those symptoms can persist for months and, in a few rare cases, even years.
Alpha-gal allergy (aka red meat allergy). This frustrating disease originated from the Lone Star tick, a tick that once remained primarily in the Great Plains region but has steadily made its way as far north and east as Delaware. When a person is bitten by this tick, they may have a sugar called the alpha-gal transferred into their immune system. This alpha-gal sugar causes the person to suffer food allergy symptoms when consuming red meat. The recovery period can be anywhere from 8 months to 5 years.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Also most commonly carried by the Lone Star tick, this disease causes aggressive fever-like symptoms that can be life-threatening if not quickly and properly treated.
Ticks are relatively small and can be easy to miss, especially as they will commonly latch onto creases like underneath armpits, at the crease beneath your waistband, and in the fold behind your knee. They are also especially good at finding hidden places on your dogs, cats, and other furry friends. Because most of these diseases occur when ticks have stayed latched onto a person for at least 24 hours, prevention and quick removal are the two primary methods of protecting yourself and your family from disease.
Use DEET-labelled insect repellant on both clothes and skin before going out into wooded areas or areas with high grasses as these are the places ticks are most likely to be found. Additionally, make sure any outdoor pets are on a reputable tick-prevention pill like Bravecto before venturing out. Finally, always do a tick check in the shower once you return from a day in grassy or woody areas.
Stein Tree is the oldest independently owned tree care company in Delaware. We care about the residents of our community and we are passionate about the health of the plants and trees in our landscapes. For information about how to properly care for your trees, or for tree care services, such as tree removal, trimming and pruning or insect management, contact us today. We offer free consultations.
We all love trees, and for true tree enthusiasts, or those just curious about our Delaware State Tree, local tree care service company Stein Tree, discusses the American Holly.
Although trees are beautiful, provide shade, oxygen and homes for wildlife, they can pose problems without proper maintenance. This is true on residential properties as well as commercial or municipal properties. Proper tree trimming and pruning is essential for several reasons.
As many trees are the tallest structures in a landscape, they naturally become targets for lightning to strike. While not all trees are equally susceptible to lightning, vulnerable trees are everywhere— they populate our yards and line our streets. Lightning poses risks to the trees, as well as to surrounding property and buildings. Stein offers a look at some preventive measures and post-damage assessments which can be conducted to care for your trees and ensure the safety of the community.
So, does a tree die when struck by lightning? Sometimes, but if the damage is minimal or only occurs to a small portion of the tree, saving the tree could be possible with the right care. Stein offers tips on prevention and care of trees that have already been struck by lightning.
Even before a lightning strike occurs, you may want to consider a consultation with a professional tree service company. Depending on how vulnerable your trees are to lightning, a professional may suggest a lightning protection system, which reduces the risk of damage from a strike. As lightning poses risks to nearby buildings as well as individual trees, these lightning protection systems minimize the risk of a side-flash to adjacent structures. A tree care specialist from Stein Tree can inspect your tree to determine whether or not one of these systems should be implemented.
For less dire situations, a professional may simply suggest water management and other forms of maintenance to monitor your trees. While water levels can be adjusted at any time according to rainfall, pruning may be recommended only after waiting post-lighting strike to see whether the tree can recover from the stress. If the tree is healthy enough and removal unnecessary, a professional may suggest pruning out damaged wood and branches. Both pruning and additional watering are critical to supply needed care to your trees.
In situations where a tree is irreversibly damaged and posing an imminent risk to surrounding structures, tree removal is actually necessary. In situations such as these, you will want a professional to safely remove the structurally degraded tree. Consulting with a professional tree care company before inclement weather strikes vastly reduces the future possibility of tree removal, as problems can be spotted and systems can be implemented beforehand.
Lightning damage is better prevented than repaired. A professional tree care company can employ various tree risk assessors to determine what your trees need. Don’t wait for a tree to be struck by lightning which will compromise your tree’s functional and structural stability— contact Stein Tree for a free consultation today!
As warm weather arrives and trees begin to blossom and bloom, homeowners often begin to think about hiring someone to inspect and care for them. Who should that someone be? Many landscape companies offer tree care services, however, an arborist is the right person for the job if you want someone with a lot of knowledge who is passionate about the tree’s overall health, rather than just focusing on aesthetics. Today Stein Tree answers the question: What does an arborist do?