Arboriculture

Soil health and natural plant health care. Natural, organic, and minimal-risk pesticides will be discussed.

Herbicides represent important tools to manage unwanted plants (weeds) in Landscapes and Nurseries. Herbicides are especially efficient and efficacious in lieu of physical means. Unfortunately, mistakes do happen. And when herbicide mistakes happen, they often present HUGE problems for our industry. Mistakes may occur from supplier advice, our failure to thoroughly read and understand herbicide labels, notoriously confusing labels, uncontrollable variables such as weather, and misapplication, among other contributors.

It's been said by some that 80% of tree problems are the result of belowground issues. That's a startling statement, but is it true?

A Board Certified Arborist will examine the fundamentals of soils, water, roots, nutrients, and microbes with the goal of understanding how significant they are to tree health and survival.

The science of Arboriculture is crucial to understand to grow and maintain healthy, safe trees. The amount of research is increasing at a rapid pace, and is hard to keep up with.

A Board Certified Arborist will share some of the most important research to increase our understanding of what trees need and how they respond.

In his role as Michigan’s Plant Doctor, aka “The Tree Doctor”, Dr. Dave is called upon every year by Nurserypersons, Arborists, Landscapers, Suppliers and the Public to solve perplexing plant problems in the landscape and nursery. These plant problems range from pests to diseases and from environmental issues to dilemmas from cultural inputs. In this interesting session, a variety of problem-solving scenarios will be presented in his interesting story-telling style that will not likely lull you to sleep.

In recent years, it has become a growing priority to establish and maintain resilient urban forests. This has been motivated, in part, by significant tree loss following varied pest and pathogen infestations, and in part due to concerns regarding urban tree survival in changing climatic conditions. Plans for urban forest resilience are rooted in principles of urban forest biodiversity, begin with comprehensive inventories of urban tree cover, and are often laid out in urban forest management guidance documents.

Oak Wilt continues to spread in Michigan. The disease has infiltrated some communities so insidiously that it has become almost impossible to stop. Property owners are so confused with the array of management options and the cost estimates that they become indecisive about how to proceed. Community associations often become gridlocked.  In these situations, the disease continues to spread and becomes far more difficult and costly to manage. Furthermore, mismanagement is not uncommon, leading to more costs and disease advancement.

Container-grown trees continue to increase in popularity due to their light weight and ease of handling. However, the effects of circling roots on tree health and establishment are a major concern when planting container-grown trees. Since 2012, personnel in my lab have conducted a series of trials to determine the impact of various approaches to mitigating circling roots at planting including slicing, shaving, and even bare-rooting.