To move toward having healthy trees that are growing toward maturity, Community Canopy's emphasis is on planting trees correctly, providing adequate water, and protecting trees from damage by turf equipment, including mowers and weed whips.  Information about providing adequate water can be found in the "Q&A" section above about "New Trees and Water."  Also go to the "Planting and Parenting" section of this web page for more information on all of these subjects.

Through the assistance of a Tree Care Educator and the Extension Master Gardeners, information and educational opportunities are also offered to churches and homeowners associations.  To view the Late Winter 2011 Newsletter for Homeowners, click here.. To view the Late Winter 2011 Newsletter for Contractors, click here. To schedule time with the Tree Care Educator or Master Gardeners, contact Community Canopy at 208-415-0415 or 208-769-2266.

Community Canopy has developed new planting standards that can be adopted by all participating communities.  One of the benefits of having area-wide standards is that tree planting contractors will not have to learn and adhere to different standards as they move from city to city.  The standards will also be provided in an electronic format so that landscape architects can easily include them in project documents that include public trees. Public trees include those in parks, public cemeteries, the grounds of public buildings, and trees planted within public rights-of-way (street trees).

Click below for Tree Planting Details:

• Container
• Balled & Burlapped
• Bare Root

Click here to visit the Community Canopy website.

Coeur d'Alene High School Receives Landscape of Excellence Award

Coeur d'Alene High School has been presented a Landscape of Excellence award.  The award was awarded by Community Canopy, a tree care education program, in recognition of the outstanding use and care of trees on the school grounds.  Coeur d'Alene High School is located on 4th Street at Dalton Avenue.

The Landscape of Excellence award was given to recognize several outstanding uses of trees and good tree care practices within the Coeur d'Alene High School landscape.  Several nominated landscapes were reviewed by members of the city of Coeur d'Alene's Urban Forestry Committee to determine the award winner for 2011.  The positive practices cited for Coeur d'Alene High School include having a variety of tree species, the retention of large native ponderosa pine trees, and use of shade trees in parking lots, safety zones around trees to prevent damage from turf care equipment, use of proper planting practices, and proper pruning.  The landscape also includes a variety of ornamental shrubs that make the school grounds aesthetically pleasing.

The large pine trees border the property and, along with many trees planted in and around the parking lots, provide shade, reduce heat and moderate pollution.  Trees have been planted by sports fields, which look great and provide shade for spectators.  There are large turf free zones around the trees and maintenance personnel are careful not to damage trees with equipment used in other maintenance tasks.  The school even has a 'rain garden' research classroom that contains trees and plants that help mitigate stormwater runoff, which prevents contaminated water from reaching the aquifer.

The Coeur d'Alene High School grounds are maintained by the school district Maintenance Department.  Bryan Martin, Director of Maintenance and Facilities, and Dan Robertson, Grounds Supervisor, along with a staff of six grounds maintenance workers were recognized for their contributions to earning the award.

The Landscape of Excellence award was presented at the City of Coeur d'Alene's Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on September 26th.  This is the second Landscape of Excellence Award presented by Community Canopy.  This program highlights businesses and organizations which are doing positive things with trees in the landscape.

Community Canopy is a tree care partnership of the cities of Coeur d'Alene, Hayden, Post Falls, Spokane, and the Spokane County Conservation District with the assistance of the University of Idaho Extension and Washington State University Extension.  Community Canopy members work together toward the goal of healthy and sustainable community forests that provide maximum environmental and visual benefits.  Community Canopy also provides publications, exhibits, workshops, and in-the-field training.

To make a nomination for a Landscape of Excellence Award, contact Community Canopy through their web site at www.communitycanopy.org.

To make a nomination for a Landscape of Excellence Award, please call 415-0-415 or send an email from the web site at www.communitycanopy.org. 

Nominations have been received and the trees nominated have been measured with the assistance of Lake City High School biology students.  We are fund-raising to cover the printing costs.  We hope to have the publication printed by Summer 2011.  

The spruce gall adelgid causes a cone-like growth on spruce trees that is green during the summer, but darkens as fall approaches. These can be unsightly and a real nuisance. Spring is the best time to take care of this problem. Spray the hosts (Douglas-fir & spruce) when the new growth is about 1 - 2 inches long and still tender. The crawler stage of the adelgid is moving around to establish itself at this time and is vulnerable to treatment. If you wait until the galls start to form (on spruce) or the insect has developed a white woolly covering (on Douglas-fir), the insects are protected and treatment will do little if any good. Registered products that can be applied at the correct time include Carbaryl (Sevin) and permethrin.  Horticultural oils can also be effective, but can cause a temporary discoloration of the needles.  Marathon and Merit (systemic insecticides with imidacloprid as the active ingredient) can be applied to the soil in fall so that it is present in the foliage in spring. 

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The Douglas-fir tussock moth has been doing a number on ornamental spruces all around town. Spring is the time to get them. The insect passes the winter in the egg stage.These hatch in the spring at the same time as the new foliage is starting to grow. The best time to treat is when the new growth on the ends of the branches is about 2 inches long. By that time the small caterpillars will have moved from the egg mass where they hatched to the new growth to begin feeding. That is the time when they are exposed and most vulnerable to sprays.  The spray would need to be applied to the entire tree, especially the tops as the caterpillars tend to congregate there. Possible pesticides include Bt worm killer (a biological pesticides containing a naturally occurring bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis,variety kurstaki - Bt for short) as the active ingredient. Registered chemical pesticides include Sevin (a general action carbamate pesticide containing  carbaryl as the active ingredient ; Talstar (a pyrethroid general action pesticide containing bifenthrin as the active ingredient); Dimilin, (an insect growth regulator pesticide containing diflubenzuron as the active ingredient), and Mimic, another insect growth regulator pesticide containing tebufenozide as the active ingredient.

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Several bark beetles that attack pines can be prevented from making their attacks through the use of preventive sprays. Generally this is only done when there are very high value trees that are being threatened. Trees under stress are more susceptible and when there are high populations of bark beetles in the area, preventive treatment may be warranted. The principal pesticide for these preventive treatments is Sevin, a general action carbamate pesticide containing carbaryl as the active ingredient. The spray needs to be applied to the bole (trunk) of the tree from ground level up to where the tree is only about 6 -8 inches in diameter. Since this is often 80 or more feet up the tree, it usually requires hiring a pest control operator who would have equipment of adequate force to get the pesticide that high. The treatment is generally done in the spring as this is the best time to assure that protection is provided against all beetles with the potential to attack pines. When done properly, this treatment provides two years of protection.

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Tree diseases that we often see in spring are needle casts on lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir. The red or brown spotting of leaves is caused by a fungus.  There is no control, but it might be comforting to know that the affected needles will fall off and the looks of your tree will improve. 

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Powdery Mildew is a common disease in many kinds of trees and landscape plants.  Powdery mildew as the name implies, is a fungi that appears as a grayish or white powdery growth on leaves and other succulent tissue.  Patches of the disease may enlarge until they cover the entire leaf on one or both sides.

Extended cool spring weather provides the perfect environmental conditions for the disease to proliferate and it can be very visible.  The fungi spores are spread by the wind and over-winter on plant tissue, dormant buds and fallen leaves.

Many landscape plants are susceptible to one or more species of powdery mildew.  Each species of powdery mildew has a very limited host range.  Infection of one type of plant does not necessarily mean that others are susceptible.  For example, the fungus that causes powdery mildew on tree leaves is not the same powdery mildew that can infect garden plants.

Powdery mildews seldom seriously harm trees and moderate amounts of infection can generally be ignored.  However, this disease can be quite unsightly.  Infected leaves display white patches which can cover a large portion of the canopy, leaves often drop prematurely and shoots may become distorted.

Fungicides can be applied at the earliest signs of infection, but are too late once the growth has become extensive.  Refer to instructions on product packages to determine methods and timing of applications.  Temperature and humidity are important factors when determining when to apply fungicides.

The following are the best steps you can take to reducing the effects of powdery mildew:

• Provide sunshine and good air circulation within the plant.  Pruning may help, but don't prune during dry weather.  Winter is the best time to prune.

• Avoid excessive fertilization and irrigation, which stimulates the growth of succulent tissue that the powdery mildew infects.

• Overhead irrigation in mid-afternoon may reduce powdery mildew because spores cannot germinate, and some are killed, when plants are wet.  (mid-afternoon is when the most spores are formed).

• Rake up and dispose of the leaf litter off-site this fall.  Do not use infected leaves for compost.

• Plant disease resistant cultivars.