Tree Care Articles
My articles page is the place where I have written about most aspects of arboriculture in Calgary. Everything in an arborists' trade, from tree care, trimming and pruning, arbor care, and even being a tree doctor. There are over 150 separate tree resource articles arranged alphabetically. Whether it's, "a mindset for healthy trees" all the way through to "yellow leaves", most of the important aspects of Calgary tree care are included. Have a look, prairie hardy fruit trees, selecting evergreens, tons on planting and pruning, please enjoy this free resource.
If you'd like to take a deeper dive into the internal workings of trees, check out my Botany Talks.
Polemic and straight talk: the Swedish Columnar Aspen
- Details
- Written by Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee
- Published: 11 March 2018 11 March 2018
It seems there are still a lot of misconceptions about this tree. Since it was introduced about 30 years ago, we can now take an honest look at its performance.
(Photo credit: “Populus tremula 'Erecta' kz1" by Krzysztof Ziarnek, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Calgary, from a tree's perspective
- Details
- Written by Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee
- Published: 09 March 2018 09 March 2018
Calgary was built upon a treeless plain, the northwest corner of the Great Plains of North America.
(Photo credit: “Calgary from Tom Campbell hill" by davebloggs007, licensed under CC BY 2.0.)
Yellow leaves: Chlorosis
- Details
- Written by Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee
- Published: 08 March 2018 08 March 2018
Chlorosis is a condition where leaves are abnormally yellow and their veins are prominent.
(Photo credit: “Raspberry vein chlorosis virus NT5 (1)" by Selso, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Fertilizer 2: Trees
- Details
- Written by Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee
- Published: 08 March 2018 08 March 2018
Agricultural crops, annual flowers, and vegetables are all short-lived plants and respond well to fertilizer.
(Photo credit: “Blackjack basal shoots" by NativeForeigner, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.)
Symptoms of a sick tree
- Details
- Written by Kevin R. Lee Kevin R. Lee
- Published: 07 March 2018 07 March 2018
By “sick tree,” I mean one that has something affecting it; a pathogen, either a disease or an insect. Diseases come in two varieties here: fungus and bacteria.
Articles Index
- A Mind Set for Healthy Trees
- A New Tree Care Philosophy
- A Practical Working Model of Your Tree, Part One: Mostly Roots
- A Practical Working Model of Your Tree, Part Three: Leaves
- A Practical Working Model of Your Tree, Part Two: Trunk and Stem
- A weeping apple, some deer, and an arborist
- A Year in the Life of Your Tree - 1
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 2
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 3
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 4
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 5
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 6
- A Year In the Life of Your Tree - 7
- A Year in the Life of Your Tree - 8
- An arborist thinks on compartmentalization
- An Arborist's Education
- Ash Leaf-Cone Roller
- Ash Trees
- Aspens
- Birch
- Botany 1: The whole tree
- Botany 2: What do trees eat?
- Bud Scars
- Burning Bush
- Calgary Soils
- Calgary weather, snow pack, and the drought
- Calgary, from a tree's perspective
- Calgary's Most Dangerous, Dutch Elm Disease
- Calgary's most dangerous: Pseudomonas syringae
- Calgary’s most dangerous: Black knot
- Calgary’s Most Dangerous: Fire blight
- Calgary’s Most Dangerous: The Yellow-Headed Sawfly
- Caragana
- Caring For Your Trees This Winter
- Cell Walls
- Cherry Shrubs
- Cherry Trees
- Conifer Introduction
- Conifer Shrubs
- Conifers
- Cotoneaster
- Cranberries
- Currants
- Debunking Old Tree Myths
- Demystifying Tree Pruning
- Diagnosing Tree Problems
- Diplodia Gall of Poplar
- Dogwoods
- Dr. Alex Shigo
- Eating Apples and Other Hardy Prairie Fruit
- Elders
- Elms
- Epidermis
- Fall Needle Drop of Conifers
- Fertilizer
- Fertilizer 1
- Fertilizer 2: Trees
- First post Feb 23 2018
- Flowering Crabs
- Forsythia
- Fungal afflictions
- Growing Trees in Calgary
- Growing trees in Calgary, hands-on
- Haiku for spring
- Hardiness Zones
- Hawthorns
- Honeysuckles
- How to Have a Successful Tree
- Hydrangea
- In Defence, the Bronze Birch Borer (BBB)
- Introduction to Botany Talks
- Kate's Mayday
- Lack of connection
- Leaves
- Lilacs: French
- Lilacs: Pruning
- Linden
- List of Best Calgary Tree Choices - Evergreens
- Maintaining your pruning tools
- Maples
- Meristems: SAM and RAM
- Mid-Season Gratitude Post
- Mock Orange
- Mountain Ash
- Mugo Pines 1
- Mugo Pines 2
- Mugo Pines 3: Pruning
- My readers, my reasons
- Native Shrubs
- Needle Casts of Spruce
- Ninebark
- Oaks
- Ohio Buckeye
- Old Hacked Apple Trees -- Pruning a Tangle
- Organic Tree Work, Empowering Trees and People.
- Oyster Shell Scale
- Phloem
- Phomopsis Canker of Russian Olive
- Planting 1: Species selection
- Planting 2: Site selection
- Planting 3: Buying your tree
- Planting 4: Root crown identification
- Planting 5, Digging the hole, planting the tree
- Planting 6: Staking
- Planting 7: Watering
- Planting a Tree - Selection
- Planting a Tree - Setting, Staking and Watering
- Polemic and straight talk: the Swedish Columnar Aspen
- Poplars
- Proper Tree Pruning
- Pruning - More Reasons Why
- Pruning in Calgary with Nature in Mind
- Pruning Theory - Tools
- Pruning Theory - Why?
- Pruning tools you need
- Quotes
- Random thoughts from a Calgary Arborist and Tree Surgeon
- Reference books for Arboriculture
- Roots
- Russian Olive
- Septoria Canker on Poplar
- Shrub Introduction
- Shrub Pruning 1 - Theory
- Shrub Pruning 2 - Size Control
- Shrub Pruning 3 - Final
- Shrub Pruning for Size Control
- Shrub Pruning for Size Control 2
- Shrub Pruning Theory
- Slime Flux
- Soils - 1
- Soils - 2
- Spring?
- Stems
- Symptoms of a dry tree
- Symptoms of a sick tree
- The Mountain Ash
- The Three Cell Types
- Thinking of becoming an arborist?
- Toba Hawthorn: Pruning a tangle
- Tree Poem
- Tree Pruning Theory
- Tree Repair
- Tree Repair - 1
- Tree Repair - 2
- Tree Repair - 3
- Tree Repair - 4
- Trees and Their Interactions with Other Organisms
- Two Failures, Griffin Poplar, Manchurian Ash
- Vascular Cambium
- Walnuts
- Watering
- Watering a Birch
- Watering Calgary Trees
- Western Gall Rust of Pines
- What is Tree Whispering?
- When Should a Tree Be Removed?
- White Fly
- White Spruce
- Why is My Tree Dying?
- Willow Redgall sawfly
- Willows
- Wolf Willow
- Woolly Elm Aphid
- Xylem
- Yellow leaves: Chlorosis