Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Thirteen ten w U I and ask the experts.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Brought to you by hams Arborcare Onlinehamsarborcare dot com. That's
h A m ms Arborcare dot com. Great website to
learn more about Hamsarborca Agan that website Hamsarborcare dot com.
Our telephone number eight six six five nine six five
three nine six. That's eight six six five nine six
(00:37):
five three nine six. And joining us this morning is
Master Arborist Kevin Ham of hams Arborcare. Kevin, how are
you doing this week?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Doing great? Sean? What what great weather we have this week?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's been it's been nice. And what do they say
spring in Wisconsin?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
If you don't like the weather now, wait, it'll change
lit something for everybody. Soon it's going to be consistently
warm and getting warmer, and people will get that itch,
the springtime itch to get things taken care of. And uh,
there are stuff going on right now at Ham's Arborcare.
And for folks that are forward thinking, UH can really
(01:14):
benefit or behoove themselves by getting on the calendar now
and and getting things like pruning and other things taken
care of before the phones really start to blow up.
And the schedule starts to fill up, can't they absolutely?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
You know, we we refer to it as a light switch,
you know, that that first really warm Now we've had
a couple of warm cycles. Yeah, so these last couple
of years, it's been kind of a funny transition from
spring to you know, from winter to spring, and and
(01:51):
this year's proving no different. But we typically kind of
get a rush of calls. Uh uh, you know when
when we really get that like sixty five seventy degrees sunshine,
and so yeah, you want to get out proactively.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Right now we're doing some removals, our oak pruning is
we kind of wrapped up this week that degree days
are getting close. We're technically still in the end of
the window, but we're really most of the ordinances kick
in on the first, so that's just a couple of
(02:29):
days away, and they're about exactly right timing this year
with the actual degree days. And then we're going to
be doing our soil injected treatments for bronze birch boor
and Japanese beetle, and then fungicidal sprays will be right
(02:50):
around the corner and spongy moth those egg masses are
going to be hatching and we're going to be off
to the races with all of our summertime stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, and as folks know, if anyone that's been listening
to the program for any amount of time, you guys
do work a year round at Hams Arborcare and that's
one of the great things that you're able to get customers.
And they're trees taking care of over the winter months
as well. And then as we look forward into spring
and through spring and into summer, great time to think
about planting trees. And I know, Kevin, been a couple
(03:23):
of years now you've been offering legacy trees and let's
talk a little bit about what they are and really
what accompanies those trees and why they're such great options
for folks looking to establish a great tree on their property.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
There.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You know, it was a program started by Ron Zilmer,
who kind of led the abcultural program up at mid
Stay Technical College in Wisconsin Rapid and he was for
a long time the forester for the city of Milwaukee.
So that's no small project. And in a city like that,
(04:03):
you have a lot of tree replacements going on, you know,
and and the planting and nursery practices over the years
that he had he had seen and he's got like
a museum of tree roots. So he has pulled out
of the ground. Literally they pulled him out so he
could save the roots. And he has them, and and
(04:24):
he'll do talks and he's really fun to listen to
because he's he's a little sarcastic and and just a
very active communicator. Is put it that way. I was
trying to film him one time and you can't fail.
He's like all over the room and and he had
a passion for let's let's do trees, right, you know,
(04:46):
how do they grow in the forest. Let's see how
the roots naturally form, and let's see if we can't
have a planting platform that that will allow that. And
I really believe he's he's got it. We affectionately call
it the Brownie. It's a flat, you know, in a
box kind of platform that gets the roots growing in
(05:10):
the natural direction, which is you know, horizontal, and then
think of roots that go down and not up into
the surface, and they're not circling. And it's really an
effective platform. And and the the established trees that are
(05:31):
ready for planting their their root system is really well established,
so so drought and transplant stressed is virtually removed. It's
just not an issue, you know, where they're they're tree
spading these ball and burlap trees. They're cutting off a
lot of roots. And so we did a seminar back
(05:52):
little Ways where he tore apart different types of trees,
you know, and and then they tried to destroy one
of their their legacy trees, just pounding it on the
ground and trying to shake all the dirt off, and
you know, that tree is just going to be fine.
We planted it. They're very durable, and so that's we've
(06:16):
got several varieties, mostly in in evergreen. Yeah this we've
got a couple of larches, but mostly in deciduous trees.
They're working on the evergreen platform. But yeah, the legacy
trees is a great five year warranty, yes, and we
(06:37):
do the training pruning along with that. So this last
winter we got out and we we touched all the
trees that we planted, you know, and a lot of
times it's just the cut here, cut there, but it's
getting that tree growing in the right direction over that
first five years and get it off to a great start, Kevin,
Let's talk.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
About that term training pruning.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
For this was something that was I learned the hard way,
something that I was completely unaware of. Let's talk about
what that what that is, whether it's talking legacy trees
or for folks that have trees that are established. Training
pruning is an important part of keeping your tree healthy
and living a long time, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yes, if you've ever experienced, you know, a young adolescent
tree splitting in half, you know, if you've seen it,
you had a friend that had it happened to You're
driving down the street and you see this, you know,
it's looking like it was a beautiful tree and all
of a sudden, it's foot in half. That was structurally,
you know, precipitated. That didn't have to happen, And it
(07:45):
just takes a little proactive work and it's amazing. When
you plant the tree, you know, you turn your back
on it five years later, you know it has never
stopped doing what it does. And in the open own
atmosphere and the forest, things tend to go straight and tall,
and that's just what they do because they're shaded, and
(08:06):
so they're going for the ambient light that is straight
up and and in the open, they can be a
little unruly, and some trees are better than others, but
a little bit of training and direction can can do wonders.
And and there's some trees that we plant, like Autumn Blaze,
which is a favor of a lot of people because
(08:26):
of the consistent color and four weeks of colored leaves
on the tree. But it's just an unruly mess. And
you know, we don't discount it as an option, but
it takes consistent turning and that that warranty on that
tree is really warranted. If I might play on words,
(08:49):
and we're seeing great results with it.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
It's pretty amazing stuff. And we talk about, you know,
as spring gets here, what a what a better way
to kind of mark the beginning of a new season
is if you got that spot in your yard you're
looking to beautify it, of course planting a tree, of course,
also if you've got a tree, making sure that it's
well maintain. It's a great day to talk with Kevin
and the team at Ham's Barborcare. You can learn more
online the website Hamsarborcare dot com. That's h A m
(09:15):
Msarborcare dot com. Tellph number eighty sixty six five nine
six five three nine six grinding. What goes into a
tree grinding stump grinding?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Kevin, Yeah, Well, we always dig them out and salvage
some of the native soil around there, and that does
a couple of things. Fol pragmatic. We save our stump
grinder teeth from rocks that might be hiding there, and
then we save some of the native soil, and it
allows us when we grind that we have these fluffy
(09:47):
chips that we can just take away a lot of
times if you just grind a stump and don't don't
predig it, you get just a lot of mixture of
stumps and dirt. And so in this case we're able
to really extract the chips out to the back bill
has very limited organic matter, and then we backfill, you know,
(10:08):
with additional dirt, and you have a really good finish.
We try to get it as flat. Sometimes there's a
large mound, you know, the soil is raised from the
root flare underneath, and sometimes the people just grind where
the actual wood stump is and they're leaving roots under
(10:29):
the ground. And then the client will will clear that
dirt away and they've still got these big buttress roots
that are there. Well, we try to eliminate all of that.
So oftentimes our hole is larger, quite a bit larger
than the actual stump was, but we get a good
flat finish to try to get it to grade all
the way around. And so that's the way we like
(10:51):
to do it. Some people say, oh, I want to
take care of that problem, they really don't know what
they're getting into. There's a lot of chips.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Does that help to Kevin?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I've seen, you know, years later where trees were removed
and a stump was ground down where the ground starts
to kind of sink where the trees to be.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Does using the way that you guys.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Are doing it at Ham's Arborcare, does that help reduce
that sinkage that can happen over time?
Speaker 3 (11:18):
It does. I mean there is always some wood left
under there, and so you have a potential for subtling.
But if a lot of your backfill is organic matter
and it's up into disappear and you're going to get
significantly more settling if your backfill has more of that
(11:42):
organic matter. So we try to eliminate as much as
that as possible.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Really good stuff as we talked this morning with Kevin
Ham of Ham's Arborcare. Of course, great day to get
on the schedule again where you're thinking of talking stump grinding.
Of course, we're talking earlier about legacy trees and planting,
plant healthcare as well. We're about to really hit that full.
It's a great time to beat the rush. Give m
a call at Hams Arborcare today eight six six five
nine six five three nine six again that number eight
(12:08):
six six five nine six five three nine six the
website Hamsarborcare dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
It's h a m Msarborcare dot com. Kevin. It's always
great chatting with you. You have a fantastic Dan. We'll
do it all again real soon.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Thank you, Sean.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Take care news is next year on thirteen ten. Wuib
I
Thirteen ten w U I and ask the experts.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Brought to you by hams Arborcare Onlinehamsarborcare dot com. That's
h A m ms Arborcare dot com. Great website to
learn more about Hamsarborca Agan that website Hamsarborcare dot com.
Our telephone number eight six six five nine six five
three nine six. That's eight six six five nine six
(00:37):
five three nine six. And joining us this morning is
Master Arborist Kevin Ham of hams Arborcare. Kevin, how are
you doing this week?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Doing great? Sean? What what great weather we have this week?
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's been it's been nice. And what do they say
spring in Wisconsin?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
If you don't like the weather now, wait, it'll change
lit something for everybody. Soon it's going to be consistently
warm and getting warmer, and people will get that itch,
the springtime itch to get things taken care of. And uh,
there are stuff going on right now at Ham's Arborcare.
And for folks that are forward thinking, UH can really
(01:14):
benefit or behoove themselves by getting on the calendar now
and and getting things like pruning and other things taken
care of before the phones really start to blow up.
And the schedule starts to fill up, can't they absolutely?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
You know, we we refer to it as a light switch,
you know, that that first really warm Now we've had
a couple of warm cycles. Yeah, so these last couple
of years, it's been kind of a funny transition from
spring to you know, from winter to spring, and and
(01:51):
this year's proving no different. But we typically kind of
get a rush of calls. Uh uh, you know when
when we really get that like sixty five seventy degrees sunshine,
and so yeah, you want to get out proactively.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Right now we're doing some removals, our oak pruning is
we kind of wrapped up this week that degree days
are getting close. We're technically still in the end of
the window, but we're really most of the ordinances kick
in on the first, so that's just a couple of
(02:29):
days away, and they're about exactly right timing this year
with the actual degree days. And then we're going to
be doing our soil injected treatments for bronze birch boor
and Japanese beetle, and then fungicidal sprays will be right
(02:50):
around the corner and spongy moth those egg masses are
going to be hatching and we're going to be off
to the races with all of our summertime stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, and as folks know, if anyone that's been listening
to the program for any amount of time, you guys
do work a year round at Hams Arborcare and that's
one of the great things that you're able to get customers.
And they're trees taking care of over the winter months
as well. And then as we look forward into spring
and through spring and into summer, great time to think
about planting trees. And I know, Kevin, been a couple
(03:23):
of years now you've been offering legacy trees and let's
talk a little bit about what they are and really
what accompanies those trees and why they're such great options
for folks looking to establish a great tree on their property.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
There.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
You know, it was a program started by Ron Zilmer,
who kind of led the abcultural program up at mid
Stay Technical College in Wisconsin Rapid and he was for
a long time the forester for the city of Milwaukee.
So that's no small project. And in a city like that,
(04:03):
you have a lot of tree replacements going on, you know,
and and the planting and nursery practices over the years
that he had he had seen and he's got like
a museum of tree roots. So he has pulled out
of the ground. Literally they pulled him out so he
could save the roots. And he has them, and and
(04:24):
he'll do talks and he's really fun to listen to
because he's he's a little sarcastic and and just a
very active communicator. Is put it that way. I was
trying to film him one time and you can't fail.
He's like all over the room and and he had
a passion for let's let's do trees, right, you know,
(04:46):
how do they grow in the forest. Let's see how
the roots naturally form, and let's see if we can't
have a planting platform that that will allow that. And
I really believe he's he's got it. We affectionately call
it the Brownie. It's a flat, you know, in a
box kind of platform that gets the roots growing in
(05:10):
the natural direction, which is you know, horizontal, and then
think of roots that go down and not up into
the surface, and they're not circling. And it's really an
effective platform. And and the the established trees that are
(05:31):
ready for planting their their root system is really well established,
so so drought and transplant stressed is virtually removed. It's
just not an issue, you know, where they're they're tree
spading these ball and burlap trees. They're cutting off a
lot of roots. And so we did a seminar back
(05:52):
little Ways where he tore apart different types of trees,
you know, and and then they tried to destroy one
of their their legacy trees, just pounding it on the
ground and trying to shake all the dirt off, and
you know, that tree is just going to be fine.
We planted it. They're very durable, and so that's we've
(06:16):
got several varieties, mostly in in evergreen. Yeah this we've
got a couple of larches, but mostly in deciduous trees.
They're working on the evergreen platform. But yeah, the legacy
trees is a great five year warranty, yes, and we
(06:37):
do the training pruning along with that. So this last
winter we got out and we we touched all the
trees that we planted, you know, and a lot of
times it's just the cut here, cut there, but it's
getting that tree growing in the right direction over that
first five years and get it off to a great start, Kevin,
Let's talk.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
About that term training pruning.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
For this was something that was I learned the hard way,
something that I was completely unaware of. Let's talk about
what that what that is, whether it's talking legacy trees
or for folks that have trees that are established. Training
pruning is an important part of keeping your tree healthy
and living a long time, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yes, if you've ever experienced, you know, a young adolescent
tree splitting in half, you know, if you've seen it,
you had a friend that had it happened to You're
driving down the street and you see this, you know,
it's looking like it was a beautiful tree and all
of a sudden, it's foot in half. That was structurally,
you know, precipitated. That didn't have to happen, And it
(07:45):
just takes a little proactive work and it's amazing. When
you plant the tree, you know, you turn your back
on it five years later, you know it has never
stopped doing what it does. And in the open own
atmosphere and the forest, things tend to go straight and tall,
and that's just what they do because they're shaded, and
(08:06):
so they're going for the ambient light that is straight
up and and in the open, they can be a
little unruly, and some trees are better than others, but
a little bit of training and direction can can do wonders.
And and there's some trees that we plant, like Autumn Blaze,
which is a favor of a lot of people because
(08:26):
of the consistent color and four weeks of colored leaves
on the tree. But it's just an unruly mess. And
you know, we don't discount it as an option, but
it takes consistent turning and that that warranty on that
tree is really warranted. If I might play on words,
(08:49):
and we're seeing great results with it.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
It's pretty amazing stuff. And we talk about, you know,
as spring gets here, what a what a better way
to kind of mark the beginning of a new season
is if you got that spot in your yard you're
looking to beautify it, of course planting a tree, of course,
also if you've got a tree, making sure that it's
well maintain. It's a great day to talk with Kevin
and the team at Ham's Barborcare. You can learn more
online the website Hamsarborcare dot com. That's h A m
(09:15):
Msarborcare dot com. Tellph number eighty sixty six five nine
six five three nine six grinding. What goes into a
tree grinding stump grinding?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Kevin, Yeah, Well, we always dig them out and salvage
some of the native soil around there, and that does
a couple of things. Fol pragmatic. We save our stump
grinder teeth from rocks that might be hiding there, and
then we save some of the native soil, and it
allows us when we grind that we have these fluffy
(09:47):
chips that we can just take away a lot of
times if you just grind a stump and don't don't
predig it, you get just a lot of mixture of
stumps and dirt. And so in this case we're able
to really extract the chips out to the back bill
has very limited organic matter, and then we backfill, you know,
(10:08):
with additional dirt, and you have a really good finish.
We try to get it as flat. Sometimes there's a
large mound, you know, the soil is raised from the
root flare underneath, and sometimes the people just grind where
the actual wood stump is and they're leaving roots under
(10:29):
the ground. And then the client will will clear that
dirt away and they've still got these big buttress roots
that are there. Well, we try to eliminate all of that.
So oftentimes our hole is larger, quite a bit larger
than the actual stump was, but we get a good
flat finish to try to get it to grade all
the way around. And so that's the way we like
(10:51):
to do it. Some people say, oh, I want to
take care of that problem, they really don't know what
they're getting into. There's a lot of chips.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Does that help to Kevin?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I've seen, you know, years later where trees were removed
and a stump was ground down where the ground starts
to kind of sink where the trees to be.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Does using the way that you guys.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Are doing it at Ham's Arborcare, does that help reduce
that sinkage that can happen over time?
Speaker 3 (11:18):
It does. I mean there is always some wood left
under there, and so you have a potential for subtling.
But if a lot of your backfill is organic matter
and it's up into disappear and you're going to get
significantly more settling if your backfill has more of that
(11:42):
organic matter. So we try to eliminate as much as
that as possible.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Really good stuff as we talked this morning with Kevin
Ham of Ham's Arborcare. Of course, great day to get
on the schedule again where you're thinking of talking stump grinding.
Of course, we're talking earlier about legacy trees and planting,
plant healthcare as well. We're about to really hit that full.
It's a great time to beat the rush. Give m
a call at Hams Arborcare today eight six six five
nine six five three nine six again that number eight
(12:08):
six six five nine six five three nine six the
website Hamsarborcare dot com.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
It's h a m Msarborcare dot com. Kevin. It's always
great chatting with you. You have a fantastic Dan. We'll
do it all again real soon.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Thank you, Sean.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Take care news is next year on thirteen ten. Wuib
I
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