Are Deer Eating Your Trees

The deer population in many states is rampant and as humans encroach more on the wildlife and their grazing grounds, it is no wonder there is a problem with the mix. It isn't uncommon to see deer wondering into residential areas looking for food and this can mean munching on your trees and destroying your yard.

Deer can cause damage to your trees, garden and yard in many ways. Deer love to feed on leaves, stems, flowers, and bark, and while they are searching for such goodies, they often crush plants and flowers with their hooves. In addition, male deer often rub their antlers on tree trunks, causing bark to shed and trunks to splinter or split. This type damage often occurs during the fall season between the months of September and November.

How can you tell it is deer that has caused the damage to your trees? Searching for evidence and clues will help you know for certain what it is that has been nosing around your yard. The first thing to search for are track marks. Deer hoof prints are generally 3 to 4 inches in length. Another sign to look for are deer droppings. Deer droppings are pellet-like, elongated and may appear in clumps. If you notice that the branches and twigs in your garden are rough and shredded, rather than bitten with a clean cut, it is likely that deer are the culprit. They are not equipped with sharp upper incisors, so deer feeding on trees results in tattered-looking branches. Deer usually feed in the early hours of the morning. Damage can be more severe in areas with a high deer population and scarce food sources.

What kinds of trees do deer prefer? Their favorite include the following:

• White Cedar (Arbor Vitae) - Evergreen with flat scalelike "leaves." Some varieties used for ornamental shrubbery. A swamp tree but it can grow on moist upland. In many areas browsing deer have eaten practically all cedar within reach.

• White Pine - Young trees have smooth dark green bark. Deer will eat white pine before they take other pines.

• Maples - Trees with buds opposite each other Sugar maple has brownish or gray twigs with brown pointed buds. Red maple has red twigs and reddish rounded buds and is better deer food.

• Yellow Birch - The bark of young tree , and twigs is brownish turning yellowish-gray and curling up when older. Pointed buds. Twigs taste like wintergreen. Young yellow birch looks like ironwood (a poor deer food), but ironwood has no wintergreen taste.

• Dogwoods and Viburnums - Shrubs that generally have opposite buds like maples. Red dogwood has bright red twigs. Other species have reddish green, brown, or gray twigs. Viburnum buds are many different shapes.

• Sumac - Shrub commonly found in old fields and forest openings. Heavy, stiff, brown twigs and branches. One kind is fuzzy and resembles antlers in velvet. Another kind is smooth. Bunches of fuzzy red fruit at the top of all sumac plants.


Deer will also eat other trees when moderately hungry, they include:
• Aspen - This tree is, also called "popple" or "poplar" and is one of the most common Michigan trees. Trembling aspen has whitish, greenish gray bark and long pointed shiny buds Big toothed aspen has yellow green bark and fatter, fuzzy buds. Balm of Gilead (a poor deer food) looks similar, but has gray-green bark with bin sticky end buds and grows in wet areas.

• Jack Pine - A small needled tree. Needles, 2 in a bundle are 1 to 1 ½ inches long. Young stands provide good winter cover, but only fair deer food.

• Oaks - Buds at ends of twigs are clustered and only moderate in food value, but acorns provide excellent deer food.

• Ash - Green to light brownish gray, stiff, smooth stems with opposite, dark brown and black buds. Side buds close to end bud. Black ash is a swamp species. White ash prefers upland sites.

• White Birch - This is the common "paper" or "canoe" birch. Bark on young stems is a shiny orange brown color that gradually turns white and "papery."

• Witch-Hazel - Look for the unusual-shaped light brown buds. Yellow crinkly flowers can be seen in the fall along the sterns.


There are some plants and trees that are said to be more deer resistant than others, but when faced with starvation deer will likely eat anything that is available. To help protect your yard, you may consider constructing a physical barrier around your property, such as a high fence, but this can often be prohibitively expensive as well as unsightly. When used properly, repellents can be effective ways to keep deer away from your plants. Some people make a mix that includes Cayenne pepper to sprinkle on their trees and shrubs. There are also commercial products one can use. Hopefully one or all of the above mentioned deterrents will help you protect your trees for future and healthy growth.

Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

The Competition Between Trees and Grass

Looking across grassy prairies or even grasslands, how often do you see trees? Rarely you say? This is due to the fact trees and grass are somewhat incompatible plant types and despite this fact, we see them put together time and time again in urban settings. The reason these two plants are mostly incompatible is due to the competition for sunlight, water, mineral nutrients and growing space beneath the ground. Grass roots out number tree roots and yet the tree can hog the sunlight, which eventually kills the grass and helps increase its root capacity. So what can one do to help these two opposing plants to get along? Here are some suggestions?

1. Prune Your Trees - A tree naturally fills full of branches and leaves which then creates shade beneath it. Grass needs light so therefore the trees shade kills it. To help maintain a balance, schedule your tree for an annual pruning. Pruning your trees could take the hand of an expert but if you are doing it yourself, remember not to remove more than one-fourth of the tree's foliage-bearing crown in a single session. If a tree is thinned too much, it will be stressed, and will probably produce many watersprouts (suckers) along its branches to compensate for lost foliage. This process defeats the purpose of pruning for more light. One should instead look to possible raise the tree's crown as this will help increase light penetration. Crown raising involves the removal of lower branches on trees, and most tree species are quite tolerant of this pruning practice.

2. Control Your Trees Roots - This seems impossible you may say. But some trees form what are called surface roots. The simplest way to get rid of these surface roots is with the use of mulch. Mulching around your tree on the root areas is not only easy and affordable but it also is beneficial to the tree. Mulch helps retain soil moisture, moderates soil temperature, and reduces competition from weeds. Organic mulch can help condition the soil and improve microbial activity. Apply mulch about 2 to 4 inches deep but do not pile it against the tree trunks. When mulching, the more area covered, the better. Mulch groups of trees together and extend the mulched areas as far out as practical.


3. Mow Your Grass Cautiously - To keep your tree healthy, be cautious when mowing or weed eating around it. Trees are severely damaged by the bumping of the lawn mower against the bark or even the whipping action of a nylon stringed weed eater. Such damage causes stress on a tree, which then weakens it and makes it susceptible to disease and damage.

4. Chemical treatments - Monitor the amount of herbicides, especially broadleaf weed killers that you place on your lawn where your trees are. Most trees are 'broadleaved plants' therefore if the dose is high enough, the herbicide can damage the tree or even kill it. Homeowners must keep in mind that "weed and feed" fertilizers contain herbicides, which can damage trees.

When trying to achieve a balance between keeping your trees and grass in a healthy competition, it requires making sure each have a fair advantage with one another. Understanding how each affects the other is a good way to start, this followed by a maintenance program that you stick to will ensure you can have your grass and trees too.

Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

Protecting Your Trees Roots

There is a common belief that a trees root system is reflected by its crown above. Unfortunately this is not true. So if you are looking to dig around your tree, whether it is to plant other plants or even to build something such as a house or garage, its best to understand how a trees root systems work so that you can protect your tree's health.

There are many ways a tree can be damaged, the less obvious is the damage that occurs underground. Roots are vital to a tree's health as they are responsible for its nutrients and water uptake, they help the tree store energy, and they anchor the tree. Trees are never the same shape below ground as they are above, so it is difficult to predict the length or location of a tree's roots. The rule of thumb is that approximately 90-95 percent of a tree's root system is in the top three feet of soil, and more than half is in the top one foot. If you are planning to disturb the ground around a tree, the part of this root system in which construction damage should be avoided is called the Protected Root Zone (PRZ).

One common method used to identify the tree's PRZ is to define it as the "dripline"--the area directly below the branches of the tree. However, many roots extend beyond the longest branches a distance equal to two or more times the height of the tree. For this reason you should protect as much of the area beyond the dripline as possible.

While the above mentioned is ideal, unfortunately, in most places, space around a tree, especially on construction sites, is limited. In these situations, the rule of thumb sometimes has to be bent. When this occurs, one then has to evaluate how close to the roots one can dig without threatening the tree. The good news is that healthy trees can survive after losing 50 percent of their roots. However, other species are extremely sensitive to root cutting, even outside the dripline.

When digging, if possible, try not to disturb no more than 25 percent of the roots within the dripline for any tree. When dealing with trees that have been growing in the forest or that naturally have a narrow growth habit, an approach called the "critical root radius" is more accurate than the dripline method for determining the PRZ. This is particularly true for columnar trees and for those where competition has reduced the canopy spread.

To calculate critical root radius, begin by measuring the diameter at breast height (dbh). This is done by measuring the tree's trunk diameter (thickness) at a point 4.5 feet above the ground. The measurement should be done in inches. For each inch of dbh, allow for 1.5 feet of critical root radius for sensitive trees, or 1.0 feet for tolerant trees. For example, if a tree's dbh is 10 inches, then its critical root radius is 15 feet (10 x 1.5 = 15). The PRZ is an area around the tree with a diameter of 30 feet (2 x radius), and is the area in which a critical amount of the tree's roots may be found.

If construction is to occur in an area with numerous trees, it may be necessary to remove certain trees and decide which ones will be protected. In this case, develop a landscape protection plan. Obtain a set of site development plans that include where proposed buildings will be placed or even sidewalks and utility lines. Work with the builder on which trees can be saved and protected. Keep in mind that the builder can possibly shift locations of buildings slightly if there are certain trees you are set on protecting.

There are many ways to protect your tree's root systems when working around them, the first requires evaluating and understanding how a tree grows and its root sensitivity before putting a shovel into the ground.

Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

Pruning Your Flowering Trees

Pruning hardwood trees usually occurs when the tree is dormant and before new growth begins. The reason this is done is so that one can see the tree's branch structure and know where to make pruning cuts. This and pruning at this time helps the tree have a full growing season in which to close the pruning wounds and reduce the transmission of disease. Yet with spring flowering trees, if pruning occurs in the dormant season, many of the flower buds are lost.

When pruning flowering trees or early spring bloomers like redbud, crabapple, dogwood, and callery pear, each should be pruned immediately after they bloom since their flowers are born on the previous season’s growth. With these trees, pruning right after the bloom period, you still maximize the time available for healing the pruning wounds and avoiding pruning out next year’s incipient flower buds. The rule of thumb for these trees is to prune right after the flower petals fall off the tree.

By pruning your flowering trees, you are assisting it by removing dead, diseased, or broken branches. This in turn reduces the amount of stress on the tree and keeps it growing in a healthy way. Pruning your trees, whether flowering or not, also helps keep the surrounding area safe. Branches that are weak or interfere with things like power lines should be trimmed to avoid possible injury to people or property.

When should you prune? With flowering trees, summer flowering occurs on the new wood produced in the spring, while spring flowering occurs on the wood produced during the summer growth. Pruning for summer flowering plants and trees should take place in the winter or early spring to establish a healthy growing environment for new buds. Pruning for spring flowering plants should take place after the plants have bloomed in early spring. If the tree or shrub is less than two years old, only light pruning is needed.

When pruning, be careful not to over do it. By pruning lightly and annually instead of pruning large amounts at once, you are helping to keep your tree healthy. If your tree is already interfering with utility lines, buildings or other items in the environment, and pruning is a necessity, be cautious about not topping your tree. Topping is the removal of all parts of a tree beyond a certain height. Topping your tree should never be an option. While it seems you are getting rid of the hazard, in truth you are creating a bigger hazard as topping weakens trees. A weakened tree is then more susceptible to breakage during windstorms.

So what can you do to cut back your tree without topping it? Try reduction pruning, which is the process of taking longer branches and reducing them back to lateral branches. Some branches can be removed at their point of origin. Be cautious of excessive thinning of the interior branches as it can lead to growth of upright interior shoots or limb breakage.

If you are still confused about how to prune a flowering tree, consult with an arborist who is knowledgeable about such trees, especially if they are large trees. It is better to be safe than sorry.


Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

Scheduling Tree Maintenance

Waiting for your mature trees to become damaged or to damage other person's property probably isn't the best time to design a maintenance plan. Scheduling tree maintenance for mature trees is crucial, before there is damage.

So what types of maintenance items should be on your tree schedule? Below are items used by public agencies for their trees, which could easily be put on a private individuals tree maintenance schedule as well.

1. Crown cleaning - Remove dead, dying, diseased, crowded, weakly attached, and low vigor branches and watersprouts from the tree crown.

2. Crown thinning - Remove branches to increase light penetration and air movement into the crown. Greater light and air movement stimulates and maintains interior foliage, which improves branch taper and strength. Thinning reduces the wind-sail effect of the crown and the weight of heavy limbs. Thinning the crown can emphasize the structural beauty of the trunk and branches, as well as improve the growth of plants beneath the tree by increasing the light penetration.

When thinning the crown of mature trees, no more than one-quarter of the foliage should be removed. At least one-half of the remaining foliage should grow from branches that originate in the lower two-thirds of the tree.


3. Crown reduction - This is also known as drop-crotching and it decreases the height and spread of a tree. Thinning cuts will maintain the structural integrity and natural form of a tree, and delay the time when it will need to be pruned again. To make this type of cut, prune the branch back to its point of attachment or to a lateral that is at least one-half the diameter of the cut being made.



4. Crown restoration- This type of pruning improves the structure and appearance of trees that have been topped or severely pruned using heading cuts. Select one to three main branch stubs that will grow to reform a more natural looking crown. Thinning or even heading may be required to match the weight of the new branches with the strength of their attachment. Restoration may require several prunings over a number of years.



5. Crown raising - This type of pruning is important if your trees are in urban areas as it provides clearance for buildings, vehicles, pedestrians, and vistas by removing lower branches. It is important to maintain at least one-half of the tree's foliage on branches that originate in the lower two-thirds of the crown. This ensures a well-formed, tapered structure and uniformly distributed stress. When pruning for view, it's better to open "windows" through the foliage of the tree, rather than severely raising or reducing the crown.

6. Insect and Disease Control. Trees under stress are much more susceptible to attack by harmful insects and diseases and are more likely to exhibit symptoms of the adverse environment. Examine trees on a regular basis-whether or not a significant problem currently exists. These examinations help identify problems sooner, by providing a history of the plants that serves as a point of comparison when a serious problem develops.
Several types of local authorities are available for technical assistance. For free advice call on the county cooperative extension service, agricultural commissioners office and municipal parks or forestry offices. Information is also available for a nominal fee from local retail nurseries, tree services, pest control contractors or arboricultural and horticultural consultants.


7. Fertilization and Aeration - The physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the soil may need to be managed just as elements of the trees' above-ground environment are managed. Trees need adequate amounts of nutrients, water and air in the soil. Without these elements trees will grow with less vigor and will be more susceptible to secondary problems, such as attack from insects and diseases. Properly nourished trees will be more able to withstand the attack of insects and diseases and tolerate the adverse growing environment afforded by most urban situations.


Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.