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 Colorado Blue Spruce
The mountains of Colorado kept an arboreal secret for centuries until botanists identified a variety of blue spruce unique to the Rocky Mountains in 1862. Today, the Colorado blue spruce is one of the most popular ornamental and landscape conifer trees in North America. It’s also the official state tree of Colorado.
The English Oak
From the mythical forests of Robin Hood to the parks of Denver, the majestic English oak has graced temperate climate landscapes for centuries. And centuries is a key word when talking about English oaks—they live for hundreds of years, especially when well cared for. The oldest living specimens are in Bulgaria and Lithuania, estimated to be around 1,500 years old.
The Pinyon Pine
When Spanish explorers reached the southern Rockies, they were greeted by a familiar sight. Large stands of short, bushy evergreen trees reminded them of the Stone Pines native to their homeland, so they called them by the same name—pino piñonero—a name they still go by today, albeit in a shortened form. And like its European cousin, the piñon, or pinyon, pine had been around for centuries, providing an important source of nutrition to ancient hunter-gatherer populations.
Plan Ahead for Spring Planting
Banish your winter blues by thinking ahead to spring. Avid gardeners know that winter is the best time to plan for the warm weather to come and get a head start on plentiful crops during Colorado’s short growing season. It’s also a great time to reassess your landscape plan.
The Chinkapin Oak
If you’re looking for a shade tree that a Denver city forester once described as being tough as a junkyard dog, take a look at the chinkapin oak. Sometimes spelled chinquapin, it’s a stately medium-size tree with a rounded canopy that’s native to the central midwestern US as far west as central Kansas and south into northeastern Mexico.
Trees for Sustainable Landscaping
Whether you’re going full xeriscape or just trying to optimize your landscape’s sustainability, don’t overlook your trees and shrubs.
Managing Storm Damaged Trees
This year’s winter has been a mild one with late March temperatures approaching the eighties. But Colorado residents know that Mother Nature isn’t ready to call quits to winter until mid-May, and she may be holding some snow and ice storms in reserve.
Did You Know That the Rain That Falls on Your Property May Not Be Yours?
Just because rain lands on your property doesn’t necessarily mean you can collect and use it. In fact, it’s only been a little over a year that collecting water in rain barrels has been legal in Denver. And even that comes with a list of restrictions.
What We Can Learn from Tree Rings
You probably know that counting the concentric rings in a cross-section of a tree trunk can tell the tree’s age. But that’s just the beginning of the wealth of information contained in the rings. Scientists can examine and test the rings to uncover years, even centuries, worth of knowledge about climate, atmospheric changes, and local geography.
Why Do Trees Uproot?
If you’ve ever tried to remove a tree or clear a stump, you know that these plants can have extensive root systems that cling tenaciously to the soil around them. So why do we see so many stories of trees uprooted by storms? Here are some reasons.