AM Leonard

Reputable sources disagree about whether and when to cut a girdling root on an established tree. Some say cut early, while the root is small. Some say stage the work across multiple seasons. Some say leave it alone, because the cut will do more damage than the root. The right call depends on what's in front of you.

What everyone agrees on: prevention at planting beats every intervention pathway combined. Most stem girdling roots get their start in the nursery container or at the planting hole, and that's where landscape installers and growers have the most leverage. This guide walks through the prevention work first, then the four pathways extension programs and working arborists actually take when the problem turns up later.

Stem girdling roots most often start in the nursery, when a young tree's roots hit the smooth wall of a plastic container and turn to circle the inside of the pot. Once those roots lignify and become woody, the circling pattern is

When a property owner asks you to make their tree shorter, the right answer is almost never to top it. Topping is fast, cheap, and looks decisive in the moment. The biological cost shows up within a season. The structural cost shows up within a decade. The cleanup cost shows up on the next service call.

Crown reduction is the alternative that actually works. This article covers what topping is, why it fails, how crown reduction gets executed with the right cuts and tools, how species respond differently, what to do with trees already topped, and how to walk an owner through the decision.

The bright line between topping and proper pruning is the cut.

A heading cut removes the end of a branch at a point where no lateral is large enough to take over the leader role. The cut sits in the middle of a branch with nothing below it but small twigs or buried buds. Topping is heading cuts repeated across the upper canopy.

A reduction cut removes a branch back

Spring is an important time to assess tree health, correct site issues, and set trees up for strong growth through the season. For professional landscapers, routine spring maintenance should focus on protecting the root system, improving soil conditions, monitoring for pests and diseases, and preventing avoidable trunk and root damage.

One of the simplest and most effective spring practices is refreshing mulch around existing trees. Mulch helps regulate soil moisture and temperature, suppresses weeds, reduces competition from turf, and gradually contributes organic matter to the soil.

Before applying new mulch, lightly rake or loosen last year's mulch if it has become compacted or matted. Then apply fresh mulch to maintain a total depth of approximately 2 to 3 inches. The mulch ring should extend as far as practical, with a minimum diameter of about 3 feet for smaller trees. Larger trees benefit from wider mulch rings that extend farther toward the

It may seem simple, but the technique for properly coiling hoses can save you time and frustration when done correctly. Check out this short video explaining how to coil hoses to avoid kinks and make storage much easier.

The right rake for the job depends on three things: what you're moving, how much of it there is, and what condition you want the surface in when you're done. Match the wrong head to the job and you're either redoing the work or wearing out the tool — and the crew — faster than necessary.

This guide covers the main rake types professionals reach for and when each one earns its place on the truck. Use the decision table below to find your starting point, then read the relevant section for specs and product guidance.

Use this table as a starting point. The sections below cover each type in more detail.

Landscape fabric works. In certain situations. The problem is that it gets installed in situations where it doesn't, and the people making that call often won't know for five or six years.

Here's a breakdown of where fabric delivers on its promise, where it creates more work than it prevents, and what to use instead in planted beds. If you're deciding whether to spec it, install it, or advise someone on it, this should help you make a faster and more defensible call.

Most landscape fabric sold for ornamental use is a lightweight non-woven polypropylene product. It's a different animal from the heavier woven geotextile fabric used in civil and erosion control applications. That distinction matters, because the failure modes below apply specifically to the lighter products being installed in planted beds under mulch.

The pitch is simple: lay it down, cover it with mulch, and spend the next several years not weeding. The pitch holds up for a while.

Most clay drainage fixes fail for one of two reasons: the method didn't match the problem, or nobody diagnosed the problem before picking the method. Sand, gypsum, and even French drains can all fail in clay soil. Not because they're bad ideas in every situation, but because they get applied to problems they can't solve. Before you choose a fix, figure out which of four drainage problems you're actually dealing with.

Clay drainage problems fall into four categories.

Water moves across the soil rather than into it. After rain, you see sheeting on slopes, eroded topsoil at the base, and pooling at low spots. The clay may not be compacted at all. The site may just be graded wrong, or the surface has crusted from repeated wet-dry cycles. Amendment rarely helps here. Grade and diversion do.

Water sits on or near the surface because the soil pore structure has been destroyed. Roots can't penetrate, oxygen levels drop, and the ground

Most operations should be doing both. Till when you're establishing new ground, breaking hardpan, incorporating amendments, or fighting perennial weeds. Reduce or eliminate tillage on established perennial plantings, permanent beds, erosion-prone slopes, and long-season transplanted crops. If you're not sure, strip-till is the safest middle ground. It disturbs only 20 to 30% of the soil surface and gives you the benefits of both approaches.

That's the short answer. Here's how to apply it.

Tillage gets a bad reputation, and some of it is deserved. But there are situations where not tilling costs you more than tilling does.

New field establishment is the clearest case. Converting sod, pasture, or compacted ground to production beds almost always requires initial deep tillage to break up root mats, correct grade, and incorporate amendments. Trying to skip this step usually means fighting drainage and compaction problems for years.

Breaking hardpan is another.

For professional arborists and municipal tree managers, EAB decisions come down to math. This guide covers treatment costs by DBH, removal cost ranges, break-even analysis, and a free interactive calculator that models 10-year costs across single trees or mixed-size inventories. Includes equipment recommendations by job scale, and regional timing reference.

Every spring, the same question comes up: when should I put down my crabgrass preventer? No single date works. Crabgrass germination is driven by soil temperature, and soil temperature doesn't care what the calendar says. The best professionals layer three timing methods: soil temperature monitoring, phenological cues like forsythia bloom, and Growing Degree Day tracking.

Here's how to use all three, plus what university research says about timing for species beyond crabgrass.

Pre-emergent herbicide needs to be in place before crabgrass seeds germinate, and soil temperature is the most direct predictor of when that happens.

The target is 53 to 58°F at 2-inch soil depth, sustained for 4 to 5 consecutive days. That range comes from averaged findings across ten major land-grant extension programs, including Penn State, NC State, Michigan State, and Purdue. Some of those programs measure at 1-inch depth, others at 4 inches. Since