Although this week has been declared Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, Rainbow Treecare has been helping to spread the word of the destructive nature of emerald ash borer (EAB) since it was discovered in Minnesota in 2009.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) awareness program, “The Three P’s of EAB- prepare, protect, and plant”, urges homeowners to know the signs and symptoms of EAB and to be ready to act when infestations are within 15 miles.

Right now the entire Twin Cities metro area is within 15 miles of a known infestation, so the time to act is now.  Rainbow Treecare can help identify what trees you have on your property and if they are good candidates for protection.  It can take a lifetime for a tree to become mature, so plant for your children’s benefit, and protect for yours.

Contact Rainbow Treecare at 952-922-3810

Additional information about Emerald Ash Borer management and Awareness Week:
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/news/releases/2013/nr-2013-05-17-eab.aspx
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/eab.aspx
http://mn.gov/governor/images/Emerald_Ashborer_Awareness_Week2013.pdf

Learn About:

A Predictable Urban Forestry Natural Disaster, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)

Monday, May 6, 2013

6:00 – 8:00 pm

When: Saturday, March 9, 2013 | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Bachman’s on Lyndale | 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis

Cost: Free and open to the public

Calling all Twin Cities homeowners!

Join Rainbow Treecare, its partner Bachman’s Landscaping and other Bachman partners for an inspiring and informative day about landscaping.

About the Landscape Design Show

Learn how to improve the quality and value of your lawn and garden with landscaping at our design show. It’s free to attend, but the ideas and information are priceless!

Join us for:

• Landscape Seminars: Learn from landscaping experts! Get great ideas for your landscape from Bachman’s professional landscape designers and their trusted vendor partners.
• Designer Presentations & Conversations: Get up close and personal advice and examples from Bachman’s award-winning landscape designers. Pairs of designers will showcase their projects continuously throughout the day. Each informal presentation will provide ample opportunity for you to discuss your personal landscape questions with the designers.
• Vendor Demonstrations: Bachman’s best vendor partners will be on-site to demonstrate the latest and greatest landscape products and services. From Rainbow Tree Care to Weber Grills and Anchor Block to TouchStone Lighting, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about everything you need to complete you dream landscape project.
• Design Displays: Visit Bachman’s indoor Patio Ideas Center to get a first-hand look at how professional landscape design and quality hardscape products come together to create amazing patios.
• Refreshments: Enjoy snacks and beverages as you digest all of the amazing landscape ideas and information gathered from the show!

Show Seminar Schedule

All landscaping design seminars are free to attend in Bachman’s Heritage Room. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. (150 capacity.)

9:30 a.m.
Award Winning Patios, Pools & Ponds
Get inspired as Bachman’s Landscape Designer, Daryl Melquist, shows dozens of his best projects and describes the logic and materials that went into each design. Daryl has designed residential landscapes for more than 30 years. Exceptionally skilled with designing outdoor spaces that are functional and visually inviting, he expresses his artistic talent with outstanding combinations of plants, stone and brick.

10:30 a.m.
Special Spaces: Outdoor Kitchens & Other Outdoor Rooms
Learn all about outdoor rooms from Bachman’s Landscape Designer, Alyson Landmark. See photos of a recent outdoor kitchen project and several other outdoor rooms designed by Alyson as she explains how these fantastic projects took shape. Alyson uses a careful step-by-step process to take an outdoor space from concept to detailed plan.

11:30 a.m.
New Options for Fire in Your Landscape
In addition to being a great space for entertaining, fire pits and fireplaces add drama and an extra element of beauty to your yard. Lately, some cities have begun regulating wood fires in the landscape due to smoke concerns. In response, landscape designers have turned to gas fire features. In this session, Bachman’s Landscape Designers Steve Gorman and John Stadelman will share some of our best fire projects along with new developments in gas fire features.

12:30 p.m.
High Fashion. Low Maintenance Paving Systems
Learn why Anchor’s signature manufacturing process creates the most durable and beautiful paving systems. Anchor Product Specialists, Angela Prenzlow and Gene Karjala, will show the newest pavers developed by Anchor and explain why they’re the best on the market.

1:30 p.m.
LED Lighting: A Green Solution for Beautiful Landscapes
From security to curb appeal, LED lights are an energy efficient solution for lighting the landscape. Learn the many advantages of LED as Touchstone Lighting’s owners, Mark and Lisa Hanson, showcase the newest, low-energy LED lights for landscaping.

2:30 p.m.
Emerald Ash Borer
Eastern cities are struggling with the expense and disappointment of losing thousands of mature Ash trees. ISA Certified Arborist, Jen Morgan, will explain how this pest is appearing in the Twin Cities and what homeowners can do to protect their trees.

3:30 p.m.
Decorating the Outdoor Room
Learn how usual and unusual accessories can transform an average outdoor space into an exciting entertaining area you’ll love! Lesli Rauch, Bachman’s head of merchandising, will showcase great ideas for decorating your outdoor room.

See You There!

Learn from National EAB Experts

Tuesday, February 12, 2013,
Hopkins Center for the Arts–
11^th & Main, Downtown Hopkins, MN
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Registration Opens 7:30 AM, Lunch 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
Coffee, lunch with beverages provided.

For city, service and property stakeholders. Learn from national experts about a predictable urban forestry natural disaster.

Who Should Attend This Workshop:

• Municipality Officials
• Park and Recreation
• Tree Care Professionals
• Nursery Managers
• Lawn & Landscape Professionals
• Property Management
• Property Associations
• Homeowners/Advocates
• Golf Course Superintendents
• Arborists
• Master Gardeners
• Tree Care Advisors
• Garden Centers
• Horticulturists
• Anyone who either has ash trees they are responsible for or talks to people regarding EAB

Learn What You Can Do and Network with Leading Science, Research and Municipal EAB Experts.

Engage in EAB planning with the nations’ experts who are at ground zero in research, education and community planning about the current and anticipated impact of the Emerald Ash Borer on the urban forest resource. Representatives from EAB infested states will be on hand to share their lessons learned and benchmark what to do and what not to do in EAB planning.

“You Need to Take Action Now.”
– Chad Tinkel, City of Fort Wayne

“EAB is not like Dutch elm disease! We will lose more ash trees in the next 10 years than we lost to Dutch elm disease in 55 years.”
– City Forester, Oakville, IL

“It (the borer population) doesn’t explode instantly. It takes some time to build up. But then it explodes exponentially. There are 60 million dead ash trees in southeast Michigan alone.”
– Deb McCullough, Professor Forestry Entomology, Michigan State University

“The information is eye opening. If you have ash trees, you need to start planning now.”
– Barb Northway, City of Plymouth

Workshop Learning Highlights:

• What You Can Do
• Treatments
• Prevention
• Business & Management Plans
• Best Solutions
• Lessons Learned from other Cities
• Impact Information
• National Research
• Financial Impacts
• Green Impact
• Community Outreach

The Time to Act is Now. You can Save a Tree from EAB.

Whether you are in an EAB infested area now or will be at some future time, to create and implement a plan to address this impending natural disaster.

By developing, communicating and implementing a plan, you will be acting in a reasonable and responsible fashion to this crisis.

Get Connected.

Officials say communities can pay now to prevent the spread of EAB by using treatments and strategic planning or pay even more later. Effective treatments and communication plans are available that will save the urban forest.

Find out the facts at the February 12 workshop.

Workshop Sponsored by the EAB Specialists from Rainbow Treecare

For registration information or complete details:

Kim Fischer
EAB Management Consultant
kfischer@rainbowtreecare.com
952-252-0532

Register for the EAB Workshop

They’re here.  We have our first confirmed sightings that Japanese beetles are emerging.  Watch for signs of skeletonized leaves and clusters of beetles on your plants.  Some of their favorite plants to eat are linden, birch and crabapple trees, any kind of rose, grape vines and well… just about anything green and leafy. 

Landscapes located near a golf course are especially vulnerable to damage from Japanese beetles.  If you find one beetle – you will have more!  As they feed they release a pheromone that signals other beetles to come join them.  Call Rainbow to get rid of these bugs and protect your plants from damage!

Rainbow Treecare is sponsoring a Community Awareness and Action Group called “Save our Shade“. On June 14th, 2012, Rainbow Treecare and 80- 100 residents from the Longfellow Park, Minneapolis neighborhood will place yellow ribbons around all the public ash trees in their community.

These ribbons will highlight and make aware the scope and devastation we will face as we lose our ash trees due to the emerald ash borer beetle.

For more information on our “Save Our Shade” Community Awareness Program visit our Facebook page. To find out how Rainbow Treecare can help your neighborhood protect your ash trees please contact us at 952-922-3810.

Join Rainbow and become part of the “SOS (Save Our Shade)” Ribbon Program to take action against Emerald Ash Borer and save our ash trees.

A healthy tree can grow a new set of leaves when needed, but it can be a source of stress to the tree. The growth of the first set of leaves is a heavy draw on stored energy, leaving reserves at their lowest point for the year. Building a second set of leaves costs the tree energy it would have otherwise used for growth or defense against attack from disease or pests.

Trees affected by frost injury will show the small, new leaves turning shriveled and discolored. They might fall off or remain on the tree. Most evergreen species have not started to develop needles yet, so they may have escaped injury for now.
Fruit trees may have reduced crops of fruit this year if their flowers have sustained damage.

It will take time to see the results of the changes in our weather. New leaf growth often takes several weeks to start development. Each type of tree will react differently, and each section of the Metro area will be affected differently.

If you are concerned about how frost injury may be affecting your trees, arrange for your Rainbow Consulting Arborist to visit your property. Your Arborist can assess the situation and make recommendations to support the health of your trees, such as watering and fertilization.

Fertilization can be helpful for stressed trees, but beware of applying doses of fertilizer that force rapid growth. These can further deplete the limited energy reserves of the tree. Our formulas are designed to provide what the trees need for proper response to stress with slow released nutrients.

Don’t forget that we are still in a drought. If your soil is dry, irrigate the root zone of your trees until the soil is moist down to a foot below the surface. A soaker hose works well for this task, as the water is delivered slowly and will not run off before the soil absorbs it. Soaker hoses put the water at the ground level where it is needed, and leaves the upper part of the tree dry. Avoid irrigation methods that get the needles or leaves wet, as this creates ideal conditions for infection by fungal diseases.

Kent Honl
Board-Certified Master Arborist MN-0158B
Rainbow Treecare