A.     Trees that flower and produce fruit can be sprayed while they are flowering. You have about a two week window at this time. Spraying at the time of flowering sterilizes the flower and retards fruit production.

A.     NO! NO! NO! Topping severely injures and infects trees. The new shoots, which grow after topping, are usually long, thin, brittle and improperly attached. Unseen, but no less important, is the damage done to the root system. Deprived of foods stored in the crown of the tree, the roots can not obtain sufficient nutrients. In the long run, topping is very expensive and creates an unsafe and unattractive tree.

A.     Stump removal is performed using a stump grinding machine. These machines are available at equipment rental yards or you can hire a tree service company to take care of removing the stump for you. These machines actually dig out the stump as opposed to pulling it out. For more information, see our page on
Tree Removals and Stump Grinding.

A.     Transplating dogwood trees is relatively easy. Success rates differ based on species, so you may want to check with a local arborist about any special considerations. To dig up the dogwood for transplanting, you will need to "trench" around the tree approx. 6" away from the trunk and 12-15" deep. After this is done, the root ball should break free with a good push. Place it in it's new location (make sure you dig and prepare the hole prior to digging up the dogwood), backfill, and water immediately. Make sure you water it regularly and it should take to its new home just fine.

A.     It may take as long as two years for a newly transplanted lilac tree to resume blooming.

A.     There are many different types of root barriers available. You will want something that prevents root growth in a particular area, but still allow water and nutrients to move through the soil. Any landscape supply company should be able to offer you several choices. One that we have had good luck with is called Bio-Barrier. It is a mesh type material that has nodules of time release root prohibitor.

A.     Generally, when you transplant a tree, the trunk diameter at breast height is used for the ratio you mentioned. The basic ratio is at least 1 foot of root ball diameter to 1 inch of trunk diameter.

A.     I think you may be referring to a fungus called anthracnose. It commonly causes irregular dieback of leaves in the form of shriveling. It has become quite common and we rarely see a sycamore tree locally that does not have it. If theproblem is not widespread on the tree, you can prune out the infected area and dispose of it (make sure you don't use it as mulch or compost as you can spread the fungus this way). If it has spread further than can be pruned, you may opt to use a fungicidal spray. However, fungicides have not proven to be too effective in controlling this problem.