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.
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.
Don’t Overdo Your Landscaping
Colorado is known for its natural beauty, and it’s only normal for people along the Front Range urban corridor to want to surround themselves with it.
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.
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.
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.
Anatomy of a Tree: The Trunk
Just as knowing your body and how to take care of it, learning the parts of a tree and the roles they play can help you keep your trees healthy and in good shape. Today, we’ll take a look at the tree’s most fundamental structure, it’s trunk and branches.
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: 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.
When is the Best Time to Prune Your Trees?
Experts agree that the best time to prune most landscape is from mid-February until early March. The trees are still dormant but are nearing the time that new growth will emerge. Late winter pruning allows enough time for the wounds to heal without exposing them to a full winter of stress. Plus, it encourages new growth to occur in places you want it.
The Bristlecone Pine
Bristlecone pines are tough customers. They grow where nothing else will and last for centuries. In fact, a Great Basin bristlecone pine in California’s White Mountains has been calculated as being 5,067 years old, making it the oldest known individual tree on earth. Clonal colonies of plants and microorganisms can last for 10,000 or more years—the Pando colony of quaking aspens in Utah, for example—but when it comes to individual organisms, the bristlecone is champ.