One of the things that come with fall is the bucks rubbing against the trunks of trees.  If you live in a rural area and you are finding that you have trouble with this, you want to know how to protect trees from deer. Below are some tips on how to protect your trees from deer.

How to Protect Trees from Deer – Protect Multiple Trees with Deer Fencing

Fencing is the best way you can protect trees when there are deer around. It will keep them away from the whole tree, including the leaves and branches. These are things that hungry deer may eat if they’re able to reach them. If you have a lot of trees, surround the whole area using woven-wire fencing. But so that it’s effective, you have to make sure it’s at least 6-8 feet high. Deer can jump and they are going to clear fences easily.

How to Protect Trees from Deer – Protect Your Individual Trees with Tree Guards

What if you don’t have a lot of trees that you have to worry about? You can protect individual trees using tree guards. You can make these from chicken wire. You also can buy actual tree guards made of plastic.

Some of the tree guards are made from mesh netting made of plastic. Others have been created from vinyl and they’re spirals that wrap around your trunk but will also let it grow naturally. They usually can be bought in rolls so that they can be cut to the length you need. Since they are able to be cut to the size you need, these tree guards will work on small and large trees.

Plastic pipes or tubes that were cut down on one of their sides also can be fitted around your trees are also a way that you can keep the trunks from bucks rubbing their antlers against them. These are going to be best when you have trees that are a smaller diameter. Make sure that you are choosing light-colored or white plastic, so it doesn’t produce heat from sunlight against the trunk of your tree.

These pipes and wraps are also able to protect the tree from sunscald that is caused by the sun that reflects off of snow, which can crack or blister the bark.

These are two tips on how you can protect trees from deer this fall. Whether you choose to put up a fence or you simply protect individual trees, you know of some things that you can do. Are you interested in our services? Contact us for a quote. We’re also on Facebook.

in Rhode Island, there are a lot of different pests that love our trees. We are going to look at some of the most common Rhode Island tree pests that we have to deal with.

Common Rhode Island Tree Pests

Aphids

There are a lot of different aphid types, and they affect many deciduous shrubs and trees. They cause deformed leaves, and it might make defoliation to happen when you have aphids.

Bagworms

These insects target pine, spruce, arborvitae, and juniper, along with many other kinds of evergreen species. It also can attack sycamore, honey locust, and black locust.

Gypsy Moths

These caterpillars are known as exfoliators since they stripe plants and trees of leaves. They prefer feeding on the hardwood trees, and the tree can ultimately die if it’s not taken care of.

Hemlock Scale

This pest affects fir, certain spruces, and of course hemlock. It causes needles to yellow, and they will drop eventually if you don’t have your tree treated. Controlling the pests will succeed and it usually takes place during the spring season or the fall.

Lace Bugs

They usually target evergreen, deciduous, and ornamental shrubs and trees. They often will be undetected until the plants that they are infesting have severe damage to them.

Lanternflies

This invasive species came from areas in India, China and Vietnam. They use special mouth parts for penetrating the exterior of trees and sucking out the tree’s sap. This makes the plant weaker and vulnerable to harsher conditions in the winter.

Mites

There are a few kinds of spider mites and mites that affect lots of shrubs and trees. They can affect some of the deciduous trees like honey locusts as well as spruce, hemlock, fir, and arborvitae. When the timing is right, control measures are successful. You need a special product.

These are some of the common Rhode Island tree pests. If you have any of these, it’s best to have someone come and look at your trees and make a plan of attack to fix the problem. We’re glad to help you with your gardening problems. Contact us here. We are also on Facebook.

If you want to do some winter gardening, you want to know that there are do’s and don’ts of winter gardening that you should follow. We are going to look at them below so that you don’t make any mistakes when gardening in the winter.

Do’s & Don’ts of Winter Gardening – Do’s

Here are the things that you definitely should keep on doing during the winter.

·        Continue planting – If the ground’s soft enough that you can dig holes

·        Add some mulch  – It’s going to help with keeping your roots’ temperature stable. Make sure that you don’t make it more than 3” deep

·        Add some compost – It’s going to supply your soil with organic nutrients. However, keep it 3” or less.

·        Add compost. It supplies organic nutrients to the soil (but no more than three inches thick).

·        Keep watering – When they are predicting a freeze, it’s going to help your plants, particularly annuals and potted plants, get through the hard freeze. That’s because it allows the plants to take moisture up before the freeze and will prevent the water from getting to its root zone. Make sure you’re hydrating shoots above the ground along with the roots.

Do’s and Don’ts of Winter Gardening – Don’ts

Below are the things that you want to avoid doing.

·        Fertilize – Now is when your garden plants are going to rest and go dormant. When you force them to begin new growth when the ground is still cold interrupts the time of rejuvenation and can kill the new growth

·        Skip regular watering – Even though it’s winter you want to keep on watering when the ground’s not covered in snow or frozen. Simply water your plants once per week, giving them a deep watering.

These are the do’s and don’ts of winter gardening. Remember that we offer gardening services. if you are interested, contact us here. We’re also on Facebook.

December is here. Do you think that the planting season is over? The truth is there are many things you can plant in December. We’re going to look at the things that can be planted in December so you know what you can do this month.

Vegetables to Plant in December

Don’t worry – there are plenty of vegetables you can plant this month. Below are some of them that you want to try.

·        Carrots – You can grow them in some deep pots so that they can be brought inside if the weather turns really cold

·        Cabbage – You can grow this inside or outside, depending on your state.

·        Garlic – You can grow this indoors inside pots.

·        Radishes – They are very hardy vegetables

·        Lettuce = This can be planted throughout the year.

·        Kale – Tastes great following a frost.

Herbs to Plant in December

Now that the holiday season is here, you want to make sure that you have plenty of fresh herbs for your holiday feats. Here are some herbs that you can plant this month.

·        Cilantro – Great to eat in a salad or if you like Asian cuisine

·        Oregano – A must-have when you are cooking Italian

·        Parsley – There are so many things that you can do with this.

·        Rosemary – Offers a nice, Mediterranean smell.

·        Sage – Perfect to use in your holiday stuffing

·        Thyme – Another important seasoning for the holidays.

·        Thyme is another important holiday seasoning

Things to Plant in December indoors in Pots

Even if you don’t want to plant things outside because it’s too cold, there are things that do well in pots.

·        Flower bulbs like daffodils and tulips

·        Some vegetables like spinach, carrots, and kale

·        Herbs like rosemary, oregano, and parsley

·        Chiles and garlic

Flowers to Plant in December

Spring may be a few months away, but you can get your flowers started now.

·        Geraniums – They are great in pots

·        Snapdragons – These flowers are fairly tough

·        Sweet Peas – Come in many colors

·        Pansies – They bloom really long

·        Violas – Do well in the cooler weather

These are just some of the things that you can plant in December. Remember that we offer garden services, so contact us if you’re interested in a quote. You can also connect with us on Facebook.

Winter is here, and with it comes the ice and snow. If you aren’t careful, you can damage your sidewalks and driveway when you’re shoveling. But there are some ways that you can avoid damage from shoveling. Here are some tips below.

Research De-Icers to Avoid Damage from Shoveling

There are a lot of deicers that can damage your hardscaping. For example, calcium chloride and sodium chloride both can corrode concrete. That’s why it’s a good idea to use plain sand, CMA or potassium chloride.

Don’t Use a Metal Shovel

These are great. However, they can scrape up and crack your concrete when you are shoveling. It’s a good idea to use a snow broom or a plastic shovel with blade edges that are rubberized. If you want to get a snowblower, it’s good to look for one that has a rubberized scraper too.

Fill in the Cracks Before Winter to Avoid Damage from Shoveling

Holes and cracks are going to increase in size as the water is filling in the holes, freezing, and then thawing repeatedly. So that you don’t have unnecessary damage, you should fill in the holes and seal the crack as they’re forming during warm months. You can also get rubberized fillers which will repel water to give you extra protection.

Level Your Concrete

Walkways that are uneven can catch your shovel or trip people when there is ice and snow hiding them. So be sure they’re level prior to snow

Seal It to Avoid Damage from Shoveling

If you added hardscaping recently, it’s important to know that some things like driveways and patios should be regularly sealed so that they are protected from the weather. sealants have different lifespans, so you want to check and see what the lifespan of the one that you used is.

These are five tips that you can use to avoid damage from shoveling. Do you want to have some hardscaping done on your property? Contact us here to have a quote sent to you. We’re also on Facebook.