Ramsey County

Howdy!!!!
Well what a weekend Father’s Day turned out to be.  Beautiful weather all day, and amazing how our county differed from events over that full 24 hours of Father’s Day.  The northern teer of the county turned into a twilight zone.  Huge winds did much damage to not only trees but also buildings.  I drove north on county 4 to the county line and then east to Hampden, over to Starkweather and then back to Devils Lake.  It looked like a line from Churches Ferry to Garske to Hampden took the brunt of the damage.  There was plenty of rain and also plenty of hail along with huge winds.  The wind was unofficially over 100 mph around Hampden.  I found myself driving around and found my head leaning to the left wondering why.  The power poles were all leaning to the east along with a stretch of Minkota line gone east of Hampden.

Cutworms in your garden??????
They come up at night and cut the tomato plants off at just above ground level. Use some type of mechanical barrier around the plants to keep the cutworm away. Tin cans or milk cartons with the ends cut out work well.  Fungicides also control cutworms.  You can find good insecticides at your local hardware store that do a good job controlling cutworms.

Taking Care of Trees After a Storm!!!!!!!!!
The storm that blew through the region early Sunday morning caused quite a bit of damage to trees in the northern teer of the county, in individual yards and in rural shelterbelts. Injury from storms is unfortunate and usually unpreventable. However, there are things homeowners can do in the aftermath of a storm that will help the trees on the road to recovery.  The different ways trees were broken on Sunday will cause many different ways of pruning to removal of the tree to maybe saving a tree with proper pruning.  Joe Seleznik, North Dakota State University Extension Service forester says.

"Before beginning any tree work, several words of caution are in order," according to Joe Zeleznik, North Dakota State University Extension Service forester. "Look for power lines that may have come down during the storm. Don't touch them or anything that is contacting them. Fences, broken branches and even pruning tools can conduct electricity, causing a worker to indirectly contact the power line. Look for hanging branches that may present a hazard. These 'widow makers' might be caught up in the remaining tree crowns or in power lines."

What can a homeowner do to properly care for their trees after a storm? "The first thing to do is prune out any dead or broken branches," Zeleznik says. "Proper pruning will allow the trees to recover more quickly and will also minimize the chances of infection by insects or diseases."

If bark is torn away from the tree, use a knife or sharp chisel to carefully trim the edge back to where it contacts the tree, where the inner bark becomes green. Don't enlarge the wound beyond this point. The living tissue just below the bark is vital to re-establishing the tree's water- and nutrient-conducting system.

To learn more about proper pruning techniques, get a copy of the NDSU Extension Bulletin "Pruning Trees and Shrubs" from your local Extension office or online at http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/trees/h1036w.htm.

Don't overprune the tree. It is okay if the tree's appearance isn't quite perfect. The tree will fill in the bare spots fairly quickly. "Most importantly, don't top the tree," Zeleznik says. "Some people may encourage you to cut back all of the main branches with the mistaken idea that this reduction in branch length will help avoid breakage in future storms. What really happens when a tree is topped, though, is that a lot of weakly attached branches will grow back, and these will be even more likely to break during a future storm. Also, topping removes a lot of leaves, which the tree needs for food and energy as it re-grows."

Take the time to do it right. There's no need to have everything cleaned up within a few days. Improper pruning after a storm can cause more damage than the storm itself. And if there's a lot of work to do or if the trees and branches are too large for you to clean up by yourself, consider hiring a professional arborist.

Calendar Dates!!!!!!
June 25   4-H Achievement Day Horse Show
June 28 &29   4-H Achievement Days

524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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