NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

July 16, 1998

[Editors: Please include byline when using this article.]

Ten Mad Ways to Kill Your Trees

by
Ronald C. Smith
Extension Horticulturist, North Dakota State University

It's amazing that our landscape trees and shrubs survive at all. The woody plants we attempt to grow on our properties are constantly threatened by road construction damage, home renovation, weed whackers, etc. We in the North Dakota State University Extension Service—in the plant diagnostic lab and in visits to private and public properties—see many of these plants as they draw their last breaths, so to speak. And often we are asked what exotic insect or disease is killing them.

But in most cases the explanation is not all that complicated.

Instead of saying "look in the mirror," I have compiled a short list of ways to ensure that trees and shrubs will do poorly and eventually die. Here it is:

• If you know nothing or very little about plants, talk to someone who knows even less—especially if they have a service or plant material to sell.
• Rust is a very common disease, and needs an alternate host to complete its life cycle. So make sure both rust disease hosts are included in your landscape design. For example, by planting crab apples and junipers close together, you can ensure that you will have plants infected with Cedar Apple Rust.
• Make sure that all your landscape designs are over-planted. That way, as the plants mature they will be crowded and become unhealthy and diseased. The ubiquitous Colorado spruce, for example, gets 40 to 50 feet tall (or taller), with a 20-foot spread—so be sure to plant at least six or more of them along the back of your 50-foot property line. They look so cute when they are small!
• Everybody likes green ash, so everybody should plant this beautiful tree, no matter what the educated nurseryman says. Anyone knows that a monoculture looks better than a mixed species planting. Certainly most people remember how beautiful our countryside looked 30 to 50 years ago, before the Dutch Elm Disease took its toll on the American elm—but surely the same thing will not happen to the green ash.
• Overhead utility lines? Not to worry in your lifetime! That little bur oak won't reach those lines for at least 20 years, and it won't be your problem then. Just think—you'll be keeping the guys and gals who prune under utility lines gainfully employed well into the next century.
• When buying nursery stock, make sure that price is the deciding factor in who you will buy from. This will ensure that you can get trees and shrubs with insufficient roots, or, better yet, with roots that have completely filled the container and become pot-bound. With luck, the plant will die in two or three years, and you will be forced to make another purchase after the guarantee expires. This is good, environmentally sound recycling.
• Never worry about plant hardiness. You can save a considerable amount of money by buying your plants from a mail-order company in the southeastern U.S. Anyway, our winters appear to be getting milder—and even if they're not, maybe the plant will adapt to our Northern Plains conditions.
• Install an automatic irrigation system and make sure the timer is set to go off every day, no matter what the weather conditions are. This schedule will keep the soil saturated with water, with no oxygen, and will provide a perfect setting for killing off the woody plants over the years.
• Since weeds are distasteful, you must do everything to control them—so use pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides, selective herbicides and non-selective herbicides, and put a plastic cover over the roots of your woody plants, topped off with a pile of organic mulch. With such a mulching system you will encourage problems such as rotting roots, stem canker and simple smothering.
• Hire cheap, unskilled labor to do any work you have around the yard. Everyone knows that skilled, educated labor, is way overpriced. Who can't prune a tree? Who can't apply fertilizer? What's the big deal about the weed whacker cord hitting the bark of that craggy old oak, maple or ash tree? And just what does it take to plant a tree or shrub, besides a strong back?

On a more serious note, I should add that knowing what to do—horticulturally—around your property is extremely important. Horticultural savvy will affect the health, beauty and longevity of your plant material, and will certainly contribute to the value of your property. Work with people who are certified arborists, landscape architects, horticulturists, or grounds maintenance professionals. Check their references. Ask questions. Visit some of the work they have done in the region.

Doing this will be cost-effective in the long run. You'll know from the appearance of your property that you hired someone who was professionally trained.

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Source: Ron Smith (701) 231-8161
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866