Plant Health Care

Many tree problems in Colorado look alike. Drought stress can pass for disease, and borer damage can pass for fungus, so a tree can end up treated for the wrong thing. We start by working out what is actually wrong, then recommend treatment only where it will help.

Our founder holds a Colorado applicator license covering forested environments.

Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald ash borer is established along the Front Range. Once an ash shows canopy thinning and D-shaped exit holes, the time to save it has usually passed, so the useful question comes earlier: is this tree worth protecting?

A mature, healthy, well-placed ash often is. Preventive treatment usually costs far less than removal and replacement, and a new shade tree takes decades to catch up. A declining or poorly sited ash is usually a different story. We assess the tree, tell you plainly which group it falls in, and only recommend a treatment schedule for trees that are good candidates.

Mountain Pine Beetle and Ips Beetle Prevention

Bark beetles are a prevention problem. Once they are under the bark of a pine or spruce, sprays cannot reach them. At that point the priority is removing the tree before it becomes a source for those around it.

Preventive trunk sprays go on ahead of the flight season and protect a tree for that season. The right timing changes from year to year with elevation and weather, so foothills properties with a lot of pine or spruce do better with a planned rotation than with a last-minute treatment. We also look at why a tree was vulnerable, since drought-stressed, crowded, and root-damaged trees tend to be hit first.

Japanese Beetle Management

Japanese beetles are now common in the Denver metro area. They favor linden, crabapple, birch, roses, and Virginia creeper. Adults skeletonize leaves through midsummer, and the grubs feed on turf roots.

Treating adults on trees and shrubs depends on timing around emergence and usually takes more than one visit in a season. If the lawns around your property are untreated, the realistic goal is managing the damage rather than eliminating the beetle.

Aspen Care

Aspen evolved for high elevation and cool, moist soil, and most metro-area aspen are growing somewhere much harder. That stress can show up as cytospora canker, marssonina leaf spot, ips beetle, or sudden decline in a stand that looked fine last year. These problems are easy to confuse, so we work out which one you have and tell you whether the stand can be managed, thinned, or is better replaced with something suited to the site.

Tree and Shrub Fertilization

Fertilizer is not a cure. Front Range soils are alkaline and often compacted, and where a soil test or the tree's symptoms point to a real deficiency, targeted fertilization can help. Iron chlorosis in oaks and maples is different: it usually comes from alkaline soil, overwatering, or compaction, so we look at those first, and iron treatments such as trunk injections help only temporarily, from part of a season to a few years. If the real problem is water, compaction, or planting depth, we will tell you that instead. See our winter root fertilization service for more.

Winter Watering

Winter watering is one of the least expensive things you can do for your trees. Front Range winters are dry, and root zones can go weeks without moisture between snowfalls. The damage often appears the following summer as dieback, thin canopies, and trees that can no longer fight off pests.

During dry spells, check the soil first and water only when the root zone is dry. Water on days above 40°F when the ground is not frozen and there is no snow cover, around midday so it soaks in before dark, and out at the drip line rather than against the trunk. Prioritize evergreens, newly planted trees, and anything installed in the last three years. Our guide to winter watering has more detail.

Not Sure What Your Tree Needs?

What you can see from the ground is only part of the picture, so property-specific concerns are best looked at in person. Troy will look at the tree, explain what is happening, and go through your options, including waiting and watching.

Phone: (303) 456-6898
Email: mandi@americantreecolorado.com
Address: Golden, Colorado 80401 USA