Treeology | Blog
DONOVAN ARBORISTS
Our goal is to provide a valuable resource for people who are interested in learning more about trees. We want to help people understand the importance of trees and how they can play a role in protecting our environment.
Tree Care Services
Our ISA Certified Arborists ensure that you get the highest quality tree care.
Free Estimates
We offer free estimates for tree planting, trimming, removal, cabling and bracing.
Plant Health Care Services
We believe in being proactive in preventing insect infestations and disease outbreaks.
The American Sycamore
The next time you check your 401k give a nod to the American sycamore. It was under the shade of one, also known as a buttonwood tree, that financiers gathered in New York City in 1792 to sign the Buttonwood Agreement, creating the New York Stock Exchange.
Don’t Neglect Storm Damage
The strong winds of early April left a lot of tree damage in their wake. Broken branches and fallen trees were common across the metro Denver area. Now that the worst of the damage has been cleared up it’s time to take a look at the aftereffects.
Walk around your property and look for leftover damage such as exposed wounds where branches were torn away and partial breaks that have weakened limbs. Check around root areas to see if there are signs of partial uprooting.
Colorado’s Arbor Day is April 20
What’s the favorite holiday at Donovan Arborists? Arbor Day, of course! And in Colorado Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday of each April. This year that gives us a one-week jump on the national celebration, held on the last Friday of the month, the 27th.
Trees of Colorado: Ginkgo Biloba (Maidenhair Tree)
If you want a beautiful, exotic shade tree that’s a living fossil too, you might want to look at the gingko. Unique among existing trees, the gingko is a species apart. It has no living relatives, all others having disappeared over its 270-million-year history.
Every Day is Earth Day
Earth Day was April 22 and a lot of people no doubt made resolutions, just like they did for the New Year. And just like New Year’s resolutions, many will be forgotten within a few weeks.
Trees of Colorado Mayday Tree (European Bird Cherry)
Want a hardy medium-size ornamental tree with a spring display of white, fragrant flowers? Then the Mayday tree might be the one for you.
Trees Keep Memories Alive
Planting a commemorative tree ensures that memories will endure for generations. And what better time to do it than around Memorial Day?
Whether the tree represents the memory of a loved one passed or a special time or place, it’s a living, growing reminder of its purpose.
Trees of Colorado The Ponderosa Pine
Hoss and Little Joe may have roamed the Ponderosa in Nevada, but the Ponderosa pine is right at home along Colorado’s Front Range. In fact, it’s the most widely distributed pine in North America, covering vast areas of the western US including 2 million acres in Colorado. The Nature Conservancy considers it one of the five most iconic trees of the state. It plays a vital role in Colorado’s drinking water supply, especially in the heavily populated areas of the Front Range. Its thick foliage and carpet of needles hold snow and moisture, tempering runoff and making the Ponderosa pine a high priority for conservation and forest management.
Trees of Colorado: The Boxelder Maple
You probably don’t think of the Colorado foothills when you think about harvesting maple syrup, but both natives and settlers collected the sugary sap of the Boxelder well into the 20th century. Plains tribes like the Pawnee, Cheyenne, and Sioux used the sap to make syrup, sugar and to flavor beverages. Southwestern tribes use the inner bark to make sugary winter food. Several tribes use the wood for bowls, utensils, charcoal and for ceremonial purposes.
Its soft, close-grained wood is generally unsuitable for commercial use.
Yes, Your Trees Add to Your Home’s Value
So you want to sell your house? Curb appeal is one of three drivers in a home purchase; the others being price point and neighborhood. Changing your neighborhood is out of your control. You do have control over the price point you set for your property, but you’re wise enough to know that an offer will likely come in lower than the asking price, so why rush it. Curb appeal? Well get on it!
Put a fresh coat of paint on the front door, lay down a new doormat, fix the hinge on the screen door so that it doesn’t drag when the door is opened, put a fresh seat cushion on that front porch swing and cluster planters filled with bright geraniums and vines as thick as draperies on the walkway by the first step to the porch. Add a few lanterns with LED candles (vs. wax candles that will melt) and your house looks like it is right out of Martha Stewart Living.
That is until you take a hard look at the yard.
Plant a Tree for Father’s Day
Planting a tree to commemorate a special person is a great gift for both the person and the planet we live on.
First Responder For Your Trees
When Paul Donovan got the urgent notification, he happened to be just blocks away from Congress Park. A certified arborist, his is an outside job. Within minutes he was on the scene in Congress Park. Because that’s what first responders do.
Donovan is a Certified Arborist. The customer calling for his help had used his services for the last 5 years. Denver Water had begun its replacement of the water main along Milwaukee Street from 6th to 13th avenues. A backhoe operator at work digging up the old sewer main had pivoted his backhoe around and slammed the bucket of the truck hard into the tree resulting in a 4 foot crack in the bark at the trunk. The bark had loosened.