Just complete the donation form below and use your credit card to pay $350.00. An acknowledgment will be sent to you either by email or post card as soon as your donation has been processed.
Don’t delay any longer! Honor the past and present members of the United States military in a very special way.
Order now and plant a legacy tree through TREES HONORING TROOPS.
A ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ ready for framing will be sent to the donor after the sapling has been planted. The certificate will identify the name of the donor and the recipient. It will also cite the planting location, tree type and planting date. To assist with finding your tree, the certificate will also come with a photograph showing the actual planting location complete with GPS coordinates.
The plant will be shade or ornamental tree. The final selection will be based on site suitability. The tree will be a high-quality, nursery grown specimen between 8 to 10 feet in height. Trees purchased before February 1 will be planted the following spring, April 1 thru May 30; any tree purchased after this date will be planted in the fall, September 1 thru October 15. The planting location in parks or cemeteries* can be chosen by the donor or by RITree.
All program trees will be maintained for 3 years after installation. Care will include annual mulching, pruning and watering. All of these services will be performed by RITree or their affiliates.
Event Name: Backyard Fruit Tree Growing Course
Event Date: TBD
Event Place: RI Tree Council
2951 Hartford Avenue
Johnston, RI 02919
Tel: (401) 764-5885
Topics covered in the course include:
Online Registration until _______. After ________ call the RI Tree office (401) 764-5885 for availability.
A five year study to evaluate the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on soil quality and tree growth was recently completed by researchers at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.
The substrates tested were hardwood mulch, compost, aerated compost tea, synthetic NPK fertilizer and a commercial biological product (mycorrhizae). The results showed that soil compost and mulch had the most dramatic impact on soil quality. Likewise, tree growth was greatest with mulch and compost.
The study also indicated that it also took 3 years for mulch and compost benefits to kick in. While the other substrates had several positives, they did very little to improve the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and tree growth – a major strength of the mulch and compost.
Plant dormancy is defined as the resting phase of a plant’s annual life cycle. It’s characterized by a drop-off in energy use and major plant functions (i.e. transpiration, photosynthesis, respiration, etc.,). Triggered by shortening day-length and several deep frosts, the plant dormant period usually starts in late November and ends when plant buds begin to swell in late March-early April.That’s a stretch of about 4 months of relative calm for trees and shrubbery.
Absent important stressors such as water shortages, insect and disease pests, it’s also the ideal time to prune plants. That’s because research shows that pruning wounds actually resist infection and produce protective wound-wood much sooner in the spring when they are made during the plant dormant period.
So get out your pruning tools.Train young trees for good structure.Improve the productivity of woody shrubbery by ridding them of dead, dying and rank branches.
Eliminate up to 1/3 of the total number of stems in multi-stem plants like hydrangea, forsythia, red-twig dogwood and lilac. This will renew the plant by encouraging new stems to sprout from their base.
The injury or death of trees and shrubbery from roots girdling their stems is becoming almost as bad a problem as volcano mulching and poor pruning.
The USDA-FS recently published a list of the major causes of girdling root problems. At the top of the list was container grown plants.
Here is the rest of the list:
While most spring defoliators (Winter moth, Cankerworms, Gypsy moth and Eastern Tent Caterpillar are mostly done for the season, the larvae of the Forest Tent Caterpillar (FTC) are still feeding on foliage. The larvae are black with hour-glass-like spots running down the middle of their abdomen. Treat with registered pesticide, if the infestation is heavy.
Caterpillar damage is pretty bad this year. For some plants, this was the second year in a row that they defoliated.
What’s next for the affected trees and shrubs?
Will they re-foliate?
What’s the prognosis for their long-term health?
Is there anything their owners can do to help?
READ Defoliation of Deciduous Trees written by RITree’s Technical Advisor to learn the answers to these and other questions.
Hot, humid summer weather is just around the corner. That means fungal diseases cannot be far behind, especially when a sudden rainfall event is added to the mix. Here are a few tips to follow to help keep your plants free of the blights and needle-cast diseases that can wreck the summer for your trees and shrubs.