TreeVitalize's electronic newsletter shares urban forestry information from across Pennsylvania.
Spring
2018
Pennsylvania's partnership-based urban forestry program
Important Reminders:
Accepting nominations for the 2018 Urban & Community Forestry Awards for the following categories: Volunteer, Community(municipality), Agency(government or non-profit), and Education. Nominations can be made here and are due by March 31, 2018.
Municipalities and non-profits interested in applying for the 2019 TreeVitalize grant round need to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) by May 1, 2018. The LOI can be found here.
Featured Upcoming Events:
Volunteer tree pruning party in Harrisburg, PA, Saturday, March 10, 2018.
Pennsylvania's biennial urban forestry gathering in Pittsburgh, PA, May 23-24, 2018.
Winter is Great Time to Examine and Prune Your Trees
By Vincent Cotrone, Penn State
Extension
Pruning cut made back to a branch collar.
Winter is the perfect time to evaluate your trees' branches while the leaves are off and not blocking your view to the interior of the canopy. When examining the leafless canopy, look for broken, damaged and dead branches, decay cavities, rubbing and crossing branches, and weakly attached branches that form a "V" type union. It might seem difficult at first, but soon you will begin to see branches that don't have buds or the bark is sloughing off, which are pretty good signs that the branch is dead. Look for splits or cracks in branches and cavities in the trunk or large branches.
Some trees form co-dominant stems when two branches that are about the same diameter come together to form a tight V shaped union. Over time these two stems will get larger in diameter, applying pressure to each other. A storm or high wind event is more likely to break out one of these weakly attached stems. It is best to remove one of the co-dominant stems when the tree is young or the branch is small. On the other hand, strongly attached branches have an important structure called a branch collar which is an area of swelling at the union between a parent stem and smaller branch. The branch collar holds the branch tightly in place and allows for the sway of a branch in the wind.
Before you begin pruning your young trees, you should learn how to make proper cuts, how much live crown can be removed, and which branches should be removed and which should be left to develop strong structure for the future. Start by watching the recorded webinar
Pruning Young Trees to Improve Structure and Form and then visit the
International Society of Arboriculture's website to read and learn more about young tree pruning. And if you are really up for it, there is an upcoming Penn State Extension Workshop on March 22, titled
Pruning for Professionals in Scranton, PA.
For the last few years PowerCorps and Tree Tenders have been working together. PowerCorps is a City of Philadelphia AmeriCorps initiative designed to support environmental stewardship, youth violence prevention and workforce development priorities. In the past, PowerCorps has sent members to Tree Tenders basic training classes, to help with PHS's bare root tree unloading and with special plantings. This year, PHS and PowerCorps strengthened their involvement by entering into a contract to provide the 9-hour Tree Tenders basic training class for the 25 current PowerCorps participants. PowerCorps is interested in having the Tree Tenders course as part of their regular training program.
Tree Tenders in Spanish at last! PHS Tree Tenders is excited to announce two Spanish Tree Tenders classes that will be held in 2018. The greatest gaps in Philadelphia's Tree Tenders are in predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. PHS hopes that these training's will help to close the gaps in that canopy!
