Green Man Tree & Landscape Services

Tree Services Waukesha and Milwaukee | Waukesha and Milwaukee Landscaping | Tree Removal and Mulch

Tree Services Milwaukee | Milwaukee Landscaping | Tree Removal and Mulch

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Tree Disease | Waukesha Tree Services

 There are hundreds of different tree diseases that can attack a tree in Milwaukee.  Green Man Tree Services of Waukesha can help you figure out what is attacking your trees and how to treat them.


Symptoms of Tree Disease
Common symptoms of tree disease include dead or hanging branches, rotten wood or cavities in the trunk or roots, major splits, fungal fruiting bodies at the base, and the presence of insects. Many of these symptoms are obvious signs that something is wrong, but insects can be kind of tricky. You should identify the insect before you start to worry. Some insects are actually good for your tree. Ladybugs eat aphids, for example. If you're not sure if something is harming your tree, it's probably best to play it safe and talk to an arborist.


Root Decay
Root decay can cause all kinds of havoc for your tree. Most people know that roots provide all sorts of functions for plants, in general. They extract water and nutrients from the ground and anchor the tree to the ground. A tree suffering from root decay is significantly more likely to be felled from a wind storm. Often, the only way to detect root decay is from broken roots (if they're visible) or the presence of fungus. The size of a fungal growth is not indicative of root damage. Even a small fungal growth can destroy an entire root system. If root decay is extensive, often little can be done for a tree, but keep in mind what caused the root decay in the first place and plant more wisely for your next tree.
Read More Here






Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Waukesha and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Waukesha Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping and wood products. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Waukesha Landscaping Tips | Green Man Tree And Landscaping

Choosing plants for your yard is an important step in making the landscape sustainable. Besides the usual consideration of how the plant looks, there are other important factors to keep in mind when selecting the plant materials for your garden. Visit the Virtual Garden Tours & Plant Database for plant lists tailored for Santa Barbara County.
Low water using plants:
In Milwaukee, the water requirements of a plant are an important consideration. There are many beautiful, low-water using plants available locally. To avoid maintenance conflicts, group plants with similar water, sun, shade, and soil requirements.
Reduce size of lawn:
Lawns can be an attractive and useful part of a landscape, but are not considered “sustainable landscaping” due to the large inputs of water, labor and often chemicals to keep them healthy. Many people find that even while reducing the lawn area, they can still meet the need for children’s or pet’s play area. A smaller lawn requires less labor and resources. When mowing the lawn, clippings can be left on the surface as mulch. Although there are no truly "drought tolerant" turf grasses, some varieties do use less water.
Anticipate plant size and reduce pruning:
Choose plants that will grow to an appropriate size for the area you are planting. If a plant that grows into a tree is selected for a hedge, the result is endless pruning: more work for you and more material for the landfill. Many reference books will include the mature size of plants.
Decrease plant disease:
Before you select a plant, find out if it has pest problems locally. Some plants are more susceptible to disease and insects, requiring more effort and pesticides or herbicides to keep them alive. If plants do develop disease, look for biological controls (insects) or non-chemical means of easing the problem.
Go Native:
Native plants are low-water, fertilizer and pesticide users. They require little maintenance and they provide habitat for local wildlife. Native deep rooting bushes can decrease erosion with little maintenance.
Careful of Invasive Plants:
Some semi-arid exotic plants grow like crazy. This seems great for your garden however, some can take over wild native plants that keep our watersheds healthy and provide habitat and food for wildlife. Here are a few examples of invasive plants: Pampus Grass, Fountain Grass etc.
Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Waukesha and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Waukesha Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping and wood products. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Waukesha Tree Service

Waukesha Tree Care Tips.


As a Waukesha Tree Service Company, we've all seen trees gashed by car bumpers, and limbs blown off in storms, but these are just a couple of the many ways trees get injured.
Others include chafing or scrapes and cuts from lawn mowers being pushed into the lower trunks, or by improper staking; line trimmers cutting away bark week after week; rubbing away of the bark caused by touching branches; and improper pruning.
All of these things create injuries, similar to a person being cut by a dull knife. If you get too many such cuts, you're going to be in serious trouble from infection or loss of blood. Trees react in much the same way, so it’s important to avoid damage if possible and to provide proper tree care when it occurs.

Repeated Abuse Is The Worst

Of all the damaging things we've listed, the worst may be the repeated damage from lawn mowers and trimmers. When grass grows right up to a tree, the base of that tree is nearly guaranteed to take some direct hits by mowers or trimmers or both. What makes it all worse is that it continues week after week, compounding the injuries over time. A simple and effective tree maintenance fix is a border of mulch around the base of your trees. This makes mowing a heck of a lot easier and protects the trees at the same time. You can read more about proper mowing techniques on our mowing tips page.

Avoid Staking Trees When Possible

Staking of trees should always be avoided when possible (to encourage stronger growth), but if needed, should be done right. Don't stake by tying stakes directly to the tree; avoid tightly binding straps; and remove all stakes as soon as the tree can stand on its own.

Proper Pruning

When pruning, make sure all cuts are clean, and keep heavier branches from ripping when your saw is 2/3 of the way through by doing an initial cut from the bottom.
As part of your tree maintenance, also remove one of each pair of branches that are rubbing and chafing against each other.

When You Discover Damage

When you do discover damage, it’s important to clean the wound. All tree injuries provide entry points for disease and insects, while interrupting the flow of water, food and nutrients between the roots and the leaves. Removing any loose bark and brushing out any dirt that is lodged in the wound will expose the damaged area to sunlight and air and promote healing. Fertilization also helps speed up recovery from damage and general plant health.

Remember:

  • Mechanical damage causes wounds that allow entry of diseases and insects into the soft tree wood.
  • Mulch all lawn trees to eliminate mower and trimmer damage.
  • Dress all wounds to promote fast healing and reduce disease or insect problems.

Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Waukesha and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 Waukesha Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping and wood products. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Tree Trimming Milwaukee | Green Man Wood Services



Summer Tree Care In Milwaukee

Proper summer tree care can be a life and death issue for certain trees so, it's important to know something about your trees’ needs.

To Prune or Not to Prune
Regular pruning is not always necessary every year. Pruning can cause stress to a tree when pruning during hotter temperatures, or by pruning too much off a tree. Trees grow and produce leaves to manufacture sugars for fuel, and transevaporate water that keep them cool. Removing too many fuel producing leaves off a tree during the summer could cause it stress.

Too often pruning is done for the wrong reasons. If you prune a large tree to keep it small, perhaps you planted the wrong tree. Or it could be that you are over-watering and over-fertilizing, causing the tree to grow too big too fast.

Pruning during the summer deprives the tree of leaf area that it uses for shade as well as food production. Many trees have been thinned and pruned to the point that they provide no shade-even to themselves. Excessive pruning such as that exposes the tree's bark to intense sun, and can be harmful to the tree. The tree is likely to get sunscald on the bark, especially on thinner bark trees or younger trees.
This excessive heating of bark can lead to a condition which can cause limb death or total tree death.

Try to reduce summer pruning to the removal of only dead or broken branches, especially if they are over hanging a structure or walkway.

Temperature – Hot Enough for You?
Heat is also a summer issue for trees. Decomposed granite used as mulch under or around trees absorbs and then reflects the heat and sun. This makes the radiant heat even more intense. Block walls, glass, structures, and water surfaces all reflect and/or absorb heat, and can affect nearby trees.

How About a Little Water? I’m Parched!
The warmer months are an important time to provide water to the tree roots. Insure that your trees have enough moisture stored in their leaves, branches, trunks, and roots to sustain them during the summer. This is when they are growing and expanding, and transpiration is occurring. Otherwise, trees can be thrown into stress which could compromise the health of the tree .

In order for trees to have enough water, don't wait until the tree is dying to water it. Infrequent but deep watering of the entire root system out to the dripline of the branches will benefit the tree the most.

During the summer, the trees may need to be watered every seven days or so. For smaller, newly planted trees a drip system with one or two emitters at the edge of the rootball would provide adequate irrigation. Turn the system on for about thirty minutes every two or three days. Watering needs should be reevaluated after the tree has been in the ground for a few months.

Staking
Another important consideration is how trees are staked and tied. It is not always necessary to stake and tie newly planted trees. If it is necessary (to keep the tree from falling over), do so with the idea that as soon as possible stakes and ties should be removed. Usually, the ties can be removed after one full growing season.

Keep your tree as vigorous as possible with good cultural practices. This can prolong the life of your tree, and allow you to bask in its shade and beauty all summer long.



Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Milwaukee Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping and wood products. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Tree Service Milwaukee | Why Choose Green Man?


Why Choose Green Man?

Inspired by the Green Man Legend, Green Man Tree & Landscape is one of the only environmentally responsible tree care companies in Milwaukee County. As a Green Man client, you can be assured that our eco-friendly operation will reuse 100% of all trees and wood by-product removed from your property. As guardians of the urban forest, we feel that it is our responsibility to our customers & community to find innovative ways to recycle and reuse these precious green resources. We offer our customers competitive prices at little cost to the environment. After your tree has been removed, it will be ‘tree-incarnated’ into everything from fine furniture to firewood, or even compost for local urban food producers and home gardeners. Thank you for the opportunity to look at your project…and may the Forest be with you!
All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or repurposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.
• Competitively priced products & services
• Certified Arborists & Professionally trained staff
• All tree services performed in an environmentally responsible manner
• BBB Accredited & Fully Insured
• Senior discounts Available

Green Man Tree & Landscape Services of Milwaukee 414-301-9807.http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Tree Service Milwaukee | What to look for in your new tree

Good tree care starts with a healthy tree. Follow these tips and learn how to buy a tree.

What to Look for on Your New Tree

Inspecting your tree upon delivery or at the nursery will help your tree provide a lifetime of benefits.
  • Bare root tree: Abundant root growth, fiberous and numerous small roots, good color; moist
  • Balled and burlapped tree (B&B): Firm soil ball, with trunk securely tied. Do not accept a plant with a broken “ball”. Do not accept a tree with circling roots at the base of the trunk. Always carry B&B plants by the soil ball, not the trunk, stems or branches.
  • Container-grown tree (containerized and potted): Avoid trees that are “root-bound” in the can. Roots can circle around the edge of the container may become circling roots. (Cut any circling roots when planting.) Because of this, B&B trees are generally preferred for large trees. Always remove can, basket or pot when planting.
Bare Root SeedlingsBalled & BurlappedPotted

Bare Root Seedlings

  • Roots should be moist & fibrous.
  • Deciduous seedlings should have roots about equal to stem length.

Balled & Burlapped

  • Root ball should be firm to the touch, especially near the trunk.
  • Root ball should be adequate for the tree’s size.

Potted

  • Pot should not contain large, circling roots.
  • Pruned roots cut cleanly, none wider than a finger.
  • Soil & roots joined tightly.

Some Extra Things to Consider When Purchasing Mature Trees

When choosing trees for city plantings along streets and in parks, you will want to trees with fairly substantial caliper (trunk diameter).
Mature Tree
  • Strong, well-developed leader (or leaders in a multi-leader tree).
  • Bright, healthy bark.
  • Trunk & limbs free of insect or mechanical injury.
  • Branches well-distributed around trunk, considerably smaller caliper than trunk.
  • Ideal spacing between branches, at least 8–12" for most species.
  • Good trunk taper.
  • Wide-angle crotches for strength.
  • Low branches—they are temporary, but help develop taper, promote trunk caliper growth, and prevent sun damage.


Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

The Value of Shade Trees to your Wallet | Green Man Tree Service Milwaukee

The Christian Science Monitor’s “The Simple Dollar” blog this week touts the value shade trees can bring to both the wallet and the quality of a neighborhood.
Contributor Trent Hamm notes the difference he observed between the “slow-growing” tree in part of his house and “beautiful shade tree” in his neighbors yard that provides countless benefits just twelve years after being planted. Noting the shade from his neighbor’s tree makes gardening easier in his own yard, Hamm added:
For them, it’s even better. For a good portion of the morning, the tree provides shade to the back of their house. It keeps the hot rays of the morning sun from going in their windows, enabling them to throw open those windows for fresh air without worrying about the heat of the sun and keeping them from running their air conditioning until a bit later in the day than they otherwise would.
He goes to discuss many of the benefits of trees we talk about all of the time here the Foundation: lower energy bills, higher property values and chance to literally watch your own investment grow into something great. He also adds the important caveats about planting the right tree in the right place, and doing one’s homework prior to digging.
The whole piece is available here.

Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Milwaukee Tree Services | Keys to Good Pruning

Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807.  Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services.

 

Keys to Good Pruning

  1. Angles Use The ⅓ and ¼ Rules of Pruning
    1. Never remove more than ¼ of a tree's crown in a season
    2. Ideally, main side branches should be at least ⅓ smaller than the diameter of the trunk.
    3. For most deciduous (broadleaf) trees, don't prune up from the bottom any more than ⅓ of the tree's total height.
    4. Where possible, try to encourage side branches that form angles that are ⅓ off vertical that form "10 o'clock" or "2 o'clock" angles with the trunk.
  2. Begin visual inspection at the top of the tree and work downward.
  3. For most species, the tree should have a single trunk. Identify the best leader and later branches before you begin pruning and remove defective parts before pruning for form.
  4. Don't worry about protecting pruning cuts. For aesthetics, you may feel better painting large wounds but it doesn’t prevent or reduce decay.
  5. Keep tools sharp. One-hand pruning shears with curved blades work best on young trees.
  6. For high branches use a pole pruner. A major job on a big tree should be done by a professional arborist.
  7. Ridge & CollarFor larger branches, cut outside the branch bark and ridge collar (swollen area). Do not leave a protruding stub. If the limb is too small to have formed a collar cut close.
  8. When simply shortening a small branch, make the cut at a lateral bud or another lateral branch. Favor a bud that will produce a branch that will grow in desired direction (usually outward). The cut should be sharp and clean and made at a slight angle about ¼ inch beyond the bud.
    Correct Pruning CutToo CloseToo LongToo Slanted
    Correct Pruning CutToo CloseToo LongToo Slanted
Now that you know the pruning basics learn what steps you should take throughout your trees life.


Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Milwaukee Tree Service | Green Man Tree and Landscape

Tree Care Services offered:
• Trimming/Pruning
• Removal
• Installation
We understand that urban trees can harbor many memories for your family and pride ourselves in finding innovative ways to promote our recycled “green” wood products. At Green Man the talented and professional staff will find another purpose or use for the wood in the tree(s) removed from your property. The wood can be turned into handcrafted furniture, tables, counter tops and benches. Other uses for the wood by-products include compost, garden soil and firewood.

Inspired by the Green Man Legend, Green Man Tree & Landscape is one of the only environmentally responsible tree care companies in Milwaukee County. As a Green Man client, you can be assured that our eco-friendly operation will reuse 100% of all trees and wood by-product removed from your property. As guardians of the urban forest, we feel that it is our responsibility to our customers & community to find innovative ways to recycle and reuse these precious green resources. We offer our customers competitive prices at little cost to the environment. After your tree has been removed, it will be ‘tree-incarnated’ into everything from fine furniture to firewood, or even compost for local urban food producers and home gardeners. Thank you for the opportunity to look at your project…and may the Forest be with you!
All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or repurposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.
• Competitively priced products & services
• Certified Arborists & Professionally trained staff
• All tree services performed in an environmentally responsible manner
• BBB Accredited & Fully Insured
• Senior discounts Available

Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Tree Service Milwaukee | Tree Prunning


Tree pruning, trimming, or cutting is an ongoing process throughout the life of your tree. After selecting the right tree and carefully planting it, early pruning is the most important thing you can do for a young tree.

 Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807

Proper pruning will save you money and give you a safer more beautiful, healthier, and easier-to-maintain tree. Remember what you do to your tree in its first few years of life will affect its shape, strength, and even its life span.

Leave as much of the entire leaf surface as possible to manufacture food that will build a larger root system. Roots will be larger after one year if left unpruned.
Do prune the following and trim close to the trunk:
  • Broken branches.
  • Branches competing with the leader.
  • Swollen branches from insect eggs or stings.
  • Remove tree tags.
Good Pruning Bad Pruning
Good Bad

Root growth should be well on its way to anchoring the transplant and expanding the size necessary to nourish the growing branches.
  • Cut off root suckers and sprouts in the crown.
  • Thin excessive branches to reduce competition for light, water, and nutrients.
  • Remove co-dominant leader.
  • Remove a few of the lowest limbs but others are temporarily left to help the trunk develop more taper and strength.
  • Eliminate branches that rub or growing in undesirable direction.
  • Remove narrow angled branches.
Good Pruning Bad Pruning
Good Bad
Now it is time to make a good tree even better.
  • Lower limbs are pruned off to raise the bottom of the crown well out of the way of human heads. The lowest limbs are now permanent limbs. Please note: branches DO NOT move upward as a tree grows taller. The center of a branch at 5 feet will always be at 5 feet.
  • Cut back a few of the higher up branches so they don't protrude beyond the graceful outline of the crown.
  • Inspect tree to see if you need to remove a branch here or there for even spacing.
Good Pruning Bad Pruning
Good Bad

With proper pruning at the beginning of your trees life your tree will have a better chance of surviving extreme conditions such as wind storms, ice, and drought. That is because proper pruning gave strength to the branches.
Early each spring, look for dead or damaged limbs. If you do have dead or damage limbs remove using proper pruning methods.
Good Pruning Bad Pruning
Good Bad





Green Man Tree & Landscape Services Serving Milwaukee and Surrounding areas 414-301-9807 http://thegreenmancompany.com Tree Services, Tree Removal, Mulch, Landscaping services in the Milwaukee area. All trees & wood by-products removed from your property will be reused to make fine furniture, firewood or re-purposed into high quality compost and soil for gardeners.