Ideally, growing trees should be fertilized throughout the year. The greatest amounts should be applied during the early spring and summer months. Right now is an excellent time to fertilize trees.

For young trees, good times to put out fertilizer is late March through early June. When a tree reaches the desired height you may decrease the fertilizer application to only once a year.

• Do I really need to mulch my new tree?

The fast-growing, deciduous mimosa has a low branching, open, spreading habit and delicate, lacy, almost fern-like foliage. Fragrant, silky, pink puffy pompom blooms, two inches in diameter, appear from late April to early July creating a spectacular sight.

There is a major down-side to planting this tree.

Mimosa produces numerous seed pods which will cover and seed yards with invasive seedings. Mimosa harbors insects (webworm) and has a major disease (vascular wilt) problem which effects its ability to live a long life. Although short-lived (10 to 20 years), Mimosa is popular for use as a terrace or patio tree for its light shade and tropical look. Plant with caution.

• Reconsider Planting Mimosa in Your Yard
• Discussion: Planting Mimosa in Kansas City

_{Mimosa Photo - Steve Nix}

Q: I am renting a house and have three 2 year old trees in the garden. Each tree has a wire cage still encasing the root ball. I have not seen any sign of burlap. I found the handles and top of the wire wrap. I have also noticed the same cages on other trees in neighbors gardens. Will burlap or wire affect the growth of the trees? Will I need to lift the trees and remove the cage? - Paul

A: Paul, experts suggest that most, if not all, packing material should be either removed or significantly pulled back. In your case, removing packing material after a tree has grown for two years could be harmful to the tree. Some roots will penetrate most packing material, enough to keep the tree alive and some may thrive. I would suggest you not try to remove the wire.

Photo by Getty/Photodisc/Siede Preis

David Beaulieu, About's Landscaping Guide, says Frederick Law Olmsted is known as the "father of American landscape architecture". Among other achievements, his was the mind behind Central Park, New York City. Find out more about Frederick Law Olmsted which focuses on the far-ranging scope of his genius. One of his greatest accomplishments was the grounds for George Vanderbilt's mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, known as the "Biltmore Estate."

• Central Park North - Olmsted's Black Locust
• George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Forestry School Campus

Olmsted's Black Locust Trees in Central Park - Photo by Steve Nix, Licensed to About.com

Tree roots usually invade through water and sewer lines that are damaged and in the top 24 inches of soil. Sound lines and septic systems have trouble with root damage mostly at weak points where water is seeping out. The larger, faster growing trees are the biggest problem trees. Avoid planting these trees near your service and watch very carefully these kinds of trees near your lines. The University of Tennessee recommends these steps for prevention of tree root damage:

• Plant small, slow-growing trees near sewer lines.
• If faster-growing species are desired, plan to replace trees every eight to 10 years.
• Even slow-growing trees will eventually interfere with sewer lines. These trees must be replaced periodically.
• When building new sewer lines or improving existing lines, consider landscaping plans and potential root intrusion from trees.

"Had a call today from a woman, frantic that space aliens had invaded her tree. After she explained what kind of tree it was I pretty well knew what she had. We had a good rain overnight and her tree was a cedar (or really juniper) so I figured I'd go and take a pic." - Jebtaboz

I get this complaint every year in late Spring. Cedar Apple Gall Rust is a fungus that appears on redcedar and is actually one of the only "galls" not induced by an insect. This gall is a fungus and apple trees are its alternate host - no nearby apples, no galls. It will not harm your tree!

• Common Tree Galls
• Eastern redcedar - 100 Most Common Trees

_{Cedar Apple Gall Rust on Eastern Red Cedar - Photo by Jim Zornes}

Small engines, including chainsaws, can be frustrating to start. This is especially true when starting a saw that needs a tune-up or when engine temperatures are extremely cold. Many times a new chain saw will give you trouble even when using the saw's operation manual.

Here is a step by step set of instructions that can make cranking up a chainsaw less of a chore. It has been developed from tips given by loggers who use the tool every day, year after year. The first big thing to remember is to keep the saw clean, full of gas and oil and perform regular maintenance.

OSHA Photo

• The Forestry Forum Discussion: Starting a Chainsaw
• Important Parts of a Chainsaw

Guy Sternberg, along with Jim Wilson, has written an excellent book called Native Trees for North American Landscapes. Here is a portion of an interview done with co-author Sternberg.

Question: How did you originally become interested in trees?

Guy Sternberg: I found some tree seeds on my way home from kindergarten and planted them in my backyard sandbox. The darned things actually grew. That was over half a century ago - time flies!

Q: What is the first thing a person should do if they are interested in landscaping with trees?

GS: They should learn about their local environment-climate, soil, drainage, and the native trees that grow wild (and well) in that area.

Q: Do you have a favorite tree to work with?

GS: My favorite is whichever one I encounter most recently on any particular day.

Read more...

There are 2.3 billion acres of land area in the U.S. and forest land was about one-half in 1630 (one billion acres). Some 300 million acres of forest land have been converted to other uses since 1630, predominantly because of clearing for agriculture in the East.

According to the Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program, "forest resources of the U.S. have continued improving in general condition and quality, as measured by increased average size and volume of trees". This trend has been evident since the 1960s and before. The total forestland acreage has remained stable since 1900.

Forest Acreage Trendline by Region - U.S. Forest Service/FIA

Steve, I thought that studies had shown controlled burns were not advisable in eastern U.S. forests, that the undergrowth there is not a problem the way it is in the west. Somehow, I thought that was in a newsletter you sent out? I can't find it if it was. At any rate, this would make a great article, if you haven't already written one! - Sue in North Carolina

Hi Sue. Guess I'll have to write one now!

The eastern United States forest covers a lot of land, from tropical rainforests in the extreme coastal south to coniferous forests in the mid south to boreal conifers in the north. Much of the non-coastal middle interior is composed of mainly hardwood trees where fire is not necessary and often avoided in these hardwood timber types.

See American Timber Types.

Many eastern conifers respond well to prescribed fire for a number of practical reasons that include fuel reduction and killing vegetative competition that can steal away precious nutrients and sunlight. A side benefit is enhancing many wildlife species' habitat.

Proper seedbeds are created using fire under seed trees and some tree species actually can't release seeds from cones without fire (jack pine in the upper mid-west). Our southern longleaf pine forests thrive on controlled fire and it is the favored method used to control brown spot needle blight in young Pinus palustris. Unfortunately, we are rapidly losing longleaf forests to other land uses.

You might want to review my features on prescription burning.

Managing a Prescribed Fire - A Pictorial

Prescribed Burn - Photo by Steve Nix, Licensed to About.com