Exciting Environmental News (We Just Had to Pass Along!)

This is an exciting way to care for Maryland's environment & put a little extra cash in your pocket at the same time! It comes from the Baltimore County Dept. of Environmental Protection & Resource Management:

Growing Home Campaign - Plant a Tree in Your Yard & Save $10

The Growing Home Campaign, the national award-winning tree planting program for homeowners, begins its fourth year this spring. Regional expansion of the Growing Home program to include Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Harford County enables over 1.6 million residents to learn more about selecting and planting trees to beautify their properties, save money and improve the environment

The Growing Home program is an innovative public-private partnership between Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, 50 local retail nurseries and garden centers, and homeowners to increase the tree canopy in our region by offering homeowners comprehensive education about planting trees and a cash incentive, the $10 Growing Home Tree Coupon redeemable toward the purchase of a qualifying tree with a retail value of at least $25.

Homeowners can obtain the $10 Growing Home tree coupon from the Growing Home brochure, which is widely available at county and city facilities, and the Growing Home Campaign website http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/go/trees. Information about the value of adding trees to one's property and within existing neighborhoods, guidance about site considerations and tree species selection, and instructions about tree planting and maintenance is also available in the brochure and at the website.

The Growing Home Campaign's goal is to plant 10,000 new trees on residential land in the Baltimore region. Studies show that the best opportunities for increases in urban tree canopy in the area are available on private land. Planting on residential property is crucial to successfully increasing the Urban Tree Canopy in the Baltimore region.

Educational material and coordination for the Campaign is funded in part by a Chesapeake Bay Program Small Watershed Grant. The Campaign is coordinated by Baltimore County Dept. of Environmental Protection & Resource Management. For more information about the program visit http://www.growinghome.info/ or contact Diana Cohen at 410-887-4488 Ext 287.

Why “Do-It-Yourself Tree Removal” is a Bad Idea

We can all probably agree that tough times make people do things they wouldn’t normally do. But trimming back on your tree care by removing a tree yourself is not only a bad idea monetarily (if you have an accident you could end up paying a lot more for the hospital bills than you would have originally for the tree service), it is also highly dangerous. Jay Leno’s “Resume Guy” is a good example. Leno made Dean Biondi famous for carrying around his resume everywhere. Biondi, an exceptional job seeker trying to beat unemployment and try his hand at various professions, met his match with the tree service industry. While we applaud Biondi for his enthusiasm in tree care, it goes as a reminder to us tree guys about how dangerous our job can actually be.

Sources:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19234584/detail.html

What's Bugging You?

Many tree infesting insects remain dormant during the winter season. When warmer weather does arrive, there are countless varieties of insects emerging all with the same thing in mind...to infest in or eat your trees! The three main ways they do this are by chewing, sucking , or boring into a tree. An example of chewing insects would be Bagworms, sucking insects - Aphids, boring insects - Bark Beetle. Did you know that pesticide applications aide your trees in ridding these pests through one or a series of sprays of the tree, or injection of a systemic (Merit) into the root area of the tree? Well, now that you've listened to the Expert you do. We're just a bunch of tree lovers like you!

Picture of Bagworms from Google Images