Barts Tree Service

Call us today at 203-240-1302

Serving Ridgefield, New Fairfield,
Redding, Bethel, Brookfield, Newtown, Weston, Danbury,
Wilton, Westport, and surrounding areas

How To Prevent Winter Deer Damage

stop winter deer damage to treesIf there are deer in your neighborhood then they’ve probably stopped by your property to feed. As deer populations increase in Connecticut, more and more homeowners are faced with the problem of trying to keep them away from landscape plants, especially in winter when there’s little other food available to hungry deer.

An adult deer eats between 6 to 7 pounds of plant material every day. With that kind of voracious appetite, it won’t take long for them to totally decimate the plantings on your property.

Deer also carry ticks that spread Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. Although deer may look cute, you definitely don’t want them hanging around your home!

So what can you do to keep deer away?

Below are the most effective ways to prevent deer browsing. However, if winter weather is harsh enough and food becomes scarce, deer will munch on just about anything. This includes normally “deer-resistant” plants and shrubs, as well as some plants that have been sprayed with repellents that are highly effective under normal conditions.

Effective Ways to Prevent Deer Damage

Spray Repellents

The deer spray Barts uses lasts 6 months and has no color to stain your property

The deer spray Barts uses lasts 6 months and has no color to stain your property

For most homeowners, the easiest and most economical approach to keeping deer away is a spray repellent program starting in the fall. This spray is innocuous to plants and shrubs while smelling and/or tasting bad to the deer.

Here in Connecticut, deer repellent sprays should be applied September through December when temperatures are above freezing. Application earlier in the browsing cycle (September and October) leads to much better results.

There are two types of deer repellents, contact repellents and area repellents. Contact repellents are applied directly to plants, causing them to taste bad (this is what we use at Barts). Area repellents are placed in a problem area and repel by their foul odor but we haven’t found these to be as effective.

Spray repellents should be applied on a dry day with temperatures above freezing. We treat young trees completely and older trees may be treated only on their new growth and buds. Treat to a height 6 feet above the maximum expected snow depth. Deer browse from the top down.

Home-remedy deer repellents are questionable at best. These include small, fine-mesh bags of human hair and bar soap hung from branches of trees, among others. The only truly effective home remedy I’ve seen is a 100 lb dog in your yard. Deer don’t like things that remind them of wolves and they’ll generally stay clear.

At Barts Tree Service we spray “Deer Free Winter Armor” to protect your landscape from deer. This is a white pepper based product so as you can imagine it doesn’t taste good at all. The product lasts 6 months and is made right here in the USA. One of the best features of this product is that it dries clear, whereas most of the other deer repellent sprays on the market have a green dye which can stain your house, walkway or other infrastructure.

>> GET A DEER SPRAY ESTIMATE

Deer Fencing

Another option is to put up deer fencing around all plants that you want to protect. Keep in mind that this fencing must be 8 feet tall – anything shorter and deer can jump over it! If you have a few specimen trees or large flower beds, this can be a good choice as there’s no need to spray once the fence is up. The downside is the work involved in actually putting up the fence and the space needed to store it during the warmer months.

Electric fences also can be used. Electric fences should be of triple-galvanized, high-tensile, 13.5-gauge wire carrying a current of 35 milliamps and 3,000 to 4,500 volts. Several configurations of electric fences are used: vertical five-, seven-, or nine-wire; slanted seven-wire; single strand; and others. When using a single strand electric fence it helps the deer to see that the wire is there if you mark it with cloth strips, tape or something similar. Otherwise, the deer may not see it in time and go right through it.

Wrapping in Burlap

If you only have smaller shrubs to protect, you may want to simply wrap them in burlap. Not only does this protect them from grazing deer, but it protects the shrubs from drying out in the cold winter winds. You can learn more about this in our article on preventing winter browning in evergreens.

And if you’re having problems with bucks damaging your trees by rubbing their antlers against the trunk, check out our article on preventing deer rub damage.

Barts Sponsors Comedy Series at Ridgefield Playhouse

Ron WhiteBarts Tree Service is proud to sponsor this amazing comedy series at the Ridgefield Playhouse.

The series starts on September 24 with Janeane Garofalo and wraps up on March 10 with Rob Schneider, with a lot of terrific comedy acts in between.

Tickets are available directly from the Ridgefield Playhouse.

You can see the full line up here.

And don’t forget to keep an eye on our Facebook page – we’ll be giving away free tickets to some of the shows.

We’ll see you there!

 

Barts Sponsors Saluting Branches

Saluting Branches

Barts Tree Service is a proud sponsor of the upcoming Saluting Branches event September 21st where arborists across the country will be donating a day of services at veterans cemeteries.

Here in Connecticut we will be at the Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery in Darien.

We are deeply appreciative of the brave men and women who serve and have served in our military making it possible for us to have the freedoms we enjoy every day.

As a small token of our appreciation, we will be providing tree care to ensure a safe and beautiful environment for our veterans in their final resting place.

Please consider making a donation, sponsoring or volunteering for this great event. You can find out more here: www.salutingbranches.org

Summer Tree Care Tips for Connecticut Homeowners

Fall-tree-1Summer brings with it BBQs, vacations, swimming, boating and enjoying the great outdoors.

But it also means lack of water, storm damage and insect pests that attack our trees. Stressed trees are more susceptible to pests, disease, and winter damage, so now’s the time to protect your trees to keep them as healthy as possible.

Here are the activities we recommend you do during the heat of summer.

Water Your Trees and Shrubs Well

  • Give all of your trees and shrubs a good drink once or twice a week, especially those that were recently planted. Morning is the best time to water and always check that the water penetrates at least 12 inches into the soil. Be sure to water at the drip line of the tree (underneath the outer branches, not just around the trunk) where most of the roots are.
  • Soaker hoses on a timer are a good option as the water is less likely to run off. Another option that minimizes run off is a 5 gallon bucket with 8 to 10 small holes drilled in the bottom – just fill it with water, place it under the tree and let it slowly drain out. When it’s empty, move it to another spot and refill it. Keep doing that until you’ve watered all the way around the tree.
  • For smaller trees, a 10 to 12 gallon watering bag can be placed around the trunk. The water will slowly seep out and keep the tree hydrated. Don’t forget to refill the bag when it’s empty.
  • Avoid using sprinklers that spray tree foliage, especially on conifers, at wet leaves and needles can lead to fungal problems.
  • Look for signs of drought stress, like wilting leaves, brown edges on leaves, and scorched or curling leaves.
  • Consider applying a special soil root treatment, which helps roots draw in water and makes them more drought tolerant. It’s especially good for birch trees and new plantings. Call us at 203-240-1302 for a free estimate.

Don’t Forget to Mulch

  • If you didn’t place a 2 to 3-inch layer of high-quality, organic mulch around young trees and plants in spring, do so now. Mulch helps keep organic matter in the soil around the tree, conserves soil moisture, and provides weed control. Don’t over-mulch! For tips on how to do it right, see our article on Mulching Trees.

Avoid Major Pruning & Planting

  • While dead, damaged or diseases branches should always be removed when you notice them, avoid any other pruning during the summer so as not to overly stress your trees.
  • Hazardous branches or trees should also be removed so they don’t become dangerous during summer storms. Cabling or bracing can sometimes also help with possibly dangerous trees limbs.
  • Deadhead and tidy up spring-blooming trees and shrubs that have finished flowering.
  • Avoid planting any new trees until fall; planting during the heat of summer will cause a lot of undue stress for the trees (and possibly for you too!).

Inspect Trees and Shrubs For Pests and Disease

  • Regularly check for signs of common pests and diseases, like sticky substances or sap (from sap-sucking insects like aphids), black or white mold or mildew, spots and dead patches on leaves, and scales insects on the bark. It’s easier and more effective to treat these early, rather than trying to eliminate the problem after significant damage has been done.
  • With emerald ash borer in our area, keep an eye out for any damage to your ash trees and contact us right away for treatment if you notice anything unusual.

White Pine Needles Turning Yellow: White Pine Decline in CT

white pine decline branches

We’ve had a lot of reports recently about problems with white pines in southern New England, including here in Connecticut. The pine needles, especially the older inner needles, are turning tan or yellow and then falling off, and the trees are looking generally unhealthy, thin or even dying.

Why Are White Pines Shedding Needles?

white pine decline picture

The pine in the middle of the photo is showing signs of decline, with many yellowed and missing needles.

Unfortunately, it’s not entirely clear what’s causing the problem.

We have had a fungal condition called needlecast in the area for some time which has had minor effects on conifers but now it appears that there is a new combined force which includes four fungi associated with this new condition, including one that was only discovered in CT last year. Each one of those can cause pine needles to turn yellow and eventually fall off, but not all are always found on declining pines.

Another factor is the weather conditions over the past few years, especially the very dry conditions of 2015. However, we’re seeing signs of needlecast on this year’s needles, which suggests that there are things beyond last year’s weather that are affecting our white pines.

The CT Agricultural Experiment Station has a brief update on white pine decline released through the Plant Disease Information Office.

There’s also a helpful document from the UMass Extension office that includes photos of affected trees.

What Can You Do About It?

That’s not an easy question to answer.

Because the fungi associated with white pine decline may not always be present and a true understanding of the root cause is still developing, a fungicide treatment may not always be effective but can be helpful in protecting new needles.

It’s a good idea to have a professional examination of your pine tree(s) before deciding on treatment.

And because affected trees are more susceptible to stressors, such as dry conditions, be sure to keep your pines adequately watered to ensure vigor (but do not water the branches or needles! its best to utilize a soaker hose).

For more information on pine needlecast problems, see our related article on Evergreen Needlecast: What You Need to Know.

 

Emerald Ash Borer Treatment For Connecticut

Emerald Ash Borer kills ash trees

Save Your Ash Trees Before It’s Too Late

By the time you see obvious signs of infestation in your ash tree, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been there for years and it’s usually too late to save the tree.

EAB was confirmed in the Danbury area last year, putting all local ash trees at risk.

 

Don’t Take Chances With Your Ash Trees

Call us for your free ash tree inspection and EAB treatment plan.

Call 203-240-1302 Today

 

What To Do If You Have Ash Trees

The best thing you can do right away is assess how EAB has or will impact your property. Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do I have ash trees on my property?
  2. Are they in good health?
  3. Do I want to save them?

If you answered “yes” to all three questions then it’s time to get a thorough EAB inspection.

Our licensed Arborists can determine whether or not EAB is present in your ash trees (they’ll climb into your tree because it’s not easy to see Emerald Ash Borers from the ground).

If there are no signs of EAB or only a light infestation (up to 30-40% of the tree), then your ash trees are a candidate for EAB prevention and treatment.

Protecting Trees From Emerald Ash Borer

Arborject TreeAge

Arborjet TreeAge insecticide is injected directly into the tree – no spraying!

We’ve been treating ash trees for Emerald Ash Borer for years, using highly effective Arborjet tree injections with the industry leading TreeAge insecticide. This product has a 90% efficacy in killing feeding insects and larva and is still effective even if a tree is up to 30%-40% infested with EAB.

TreeAge insecticide has a 2-year residual time frame so Emerald Ash Borer injections are only needed every two years.

And because it’s injected directly into the tree, there’s no spraying involved so you don’t have to worry about air-borne insecticide affecting your family, pets, or neighbors.

So if you have ash trees, give us a call to have Barts Tree Service Licensed Arborists come and assess your ash trees for EAB. And if you’re not sure what kinds of trees you have, we’ll happily take a look and identify them for you.

Don’t Wait Until Your Ash Trees Are Dying

Treat them quickly and eliminate Emerald Ash Borer

Call 203-240-1302 Today

Barts is Hiring!

We have career opportunities for qualified, safety conscious climbers/bucket truck operators.

To be considered, you must be proficient in all tree care principles, pruning techniques, technical rigging and removals.

Experience, certifications, and CT arborist license are a plus.

CDL–A license is required within 3 months of hire.

Paid training and benefits are available.

Background checks and drug test are required prior to hire.

Interested? Click here for our Application form.

Helping the Aspetuck Land Trust

On a freezing February day, Barts donated a day of service and equipment to the Aspetuck Land Trust.

Aspetuck Land Trust is a non-profit membership organization whose mission is the preservation and conservation of open space, including farm and forest land, and the natural resources located thereon, primarily in the towns of Easton, Weston, Fairfield and Westport, for the benefit and education of the public.

In 2011, Paul Newman donated a 39-acre parcel of land in Westport some time ago which is called the Newman-Poses Preserve. At one point it had a nice meadow of blueberry bushes but it was being overgrown by swamp white oak and other hardwoods.

So Barts went in (on a -5F day!) and removed all the encroaching hardwoods to restore the meadow back to its original state of blueberry bushes and cedar trees.

Here’s what the Aspetuck Land Trust had to say:

Matt Bartelme, owner of Bart’s Tree Service is a qualified professional who knows trees and his crew is excellent and well trained. Bart’s has done work for Aspetuck Land Trust for years and I would highly recommend them to any homeowner or business. Bart’s also has a heart and has donated services to the Land Trust to improve habitats in our nature preserves.

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Winter Management Conference: Definitely Not a Boondoggle

This was our third year attending the Tree Care Industry Association’s Winter Management Conference, which is a gathering of leading arborists and tree care companies from all over the world in a nice warm Caribbean area in February.

My friends always say I am going on a boondoggle and I’ll admit the first time I went that was my intention.

In reality it’s the most valuable conference I attend.

Where else do you hang out with forward thinking individuals who are pushing the envelope of arboriculture and safety in the industry?

I have a small seven-person company and love being able to network with other like-minded company owners or bounce questions off the larger corporate tree care companies.

And did I mention it’s not -5 F like it is in CT in February….

TCIA does a great job of hosting some awesome speakers who really make you think. Each year I come home with takeaways that make my business stronger, my employees more engaged and, most importantly, make us all safer.

With each year of attending the Winter Management Conference we’ve made more and more friends and really look forward to meeting up with our fellow arborists each and every year. Then when there’s some new uncharted area for the business or a question you can’t answer, you have this awesome network you can hit up anytime as a sounding board.

At this year’s conference, held in Grand Cayman, there was a record setting attendance, which really shows the progression of arboriculture and the industry.

And at this great event Barts Tree Service was given the Professional Communication Award for our website. This is a competitive award based on website design, content and how well it helps the business succeed.

Matt receiving TCIA professional communications award

WOW what an honor!!! To realize that we were selected by an industry leading association amongst all of these other companies that I look up to was very humbling.

Sometimes I question if our approach is really working or second-guess how we’re educating our clients. Something like winning this award really invigorates me and my team and gives us a little confirmation that our hard work and efforts around educating consumers in the art and science of arboriculture is really working.

So I’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to our wonderful clients for supporting us in our mission to help people make better and more educated decisions for the care of their trees within the community. You’re the reason we’re in business, the reason we attend the Winter Management Conference, and the reason we won the Professional Communications Award!

Barts Finds Emerald Ash Borer in Danbury

Barts Tree Service finds EAB in Danbury

Tree-killing pest found in Danbury

This article first appeared in the Danbury NewsTimes.

DANBURY — Four years after it was discovered in Connecticut, an invasive insect that is killing ash trees across the country has been found in Danbury.

A contractor working on Maplewood Drive this week found an ash tree infected with the emerald ash borer, a small, green non-native species of beetle so destructive that it is expected to all but wipe out ash trees in the Northeast in as little as a decade.

City and state officials said Friday this is the first report of an ash borer infestation in the city, but they were not surprised to hear it.

“This is not a new infestation,” said Katherine Dugas, a research assistant with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, or CAES. “What we’re seeing is confirmation, rather than an expansion.”

The insect showed up in Connecticut in 2012, a decade after its first appearance in Michigan. It is thought to have migrated from Asia.

Because the ash borer has established itself in at least 26 states, officials say, eradication is no longer considered possible. Instead, authorities have focused on slowing or preventing the spread of the insect into new areas by, for example, banning the moving of firewood.

Still, experts say, nearly every ash tree in Connecticut, and probably the entire northeast and eastern Canada, is destined to die.

Matt Bartelme, the contractor who spotted the infested tree near the New York state border this week, said Danbury’s ash trees are probably “doomed.”

“Now that we know that is in our area, all the ash trees are at a high risk of dying unless they’re chemically treated,” he said.

Other towns already affected include Newtown, New Milford, Sherman, Southbury and Bridgewater.

“It’s been around us,” Bartelme said. “It was just a matter of time until it got here.”

Gale Ridge, a CAES assistant agricultural scientist, said any trees within a 15-mile radius could be considered in danger.

Female ash borers lay their eggs under the bark of ash trees. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the inner layers of the tree bark, cutting off the tree’s circulatory system. Nutrients then can’t reach the top of the tree, Bartelme said, so the crown and the top branches eventually die.

Trees tend to die within two to three years after becoming infested, but some last as long as eight years.

Other signs of infestation include D-shaped holes on the bark, horizontal tracks on the inner surface of the bark and unusual numbers of holes drilled by woodpeckers, for which ash borers are a favorite food.

Bartelme, who owns Barts Tree Service, said one of the best treatments is an insecticide known by the brand name Tree-äge, which is injected into the tree.

Another way of monitoring the spread of the ash borer is by noting the presence of a stingless wasp known as the smokey winged beetle bandit, which preys on the borer, Ridge said.

“We have research going on that is very promising to bring the population down,” she said.

Chris Martin, head of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s forestry division, said the insect could be active for up to five years before anyone notices.

“It’s very probable that the population has just grown and only now people are starting to notice that their ash trees are dying,” Martin said.

Infected trees should not be used as firewood because any larva or eggs underneath the bark could survive in cut wood long enough to find living hosts.

noliveira@newstimes.com, 203-731-3411, @olivnelson

This article first appeared in the Danbury NewsTimes.

Connect With Barts

Barts Tree Service

14 Lakeview Drive
Danbury, CT 06811

info@bartstreeservice.com

203-240-1302

Serving Ridgefield, New Fairfield, Redding,
Bethel, Brookfield, Newtown, Weston, Danbury,
Wilton, Westport, and surrounding areas

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