IT'S TIME TO WATER YOUR TREES

A FINE START TO THE WEEKEND

PAPER BIRCH ARE LOOSING THEIR LEAVES

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  57 degrees, wind W, calm.  the sky is cloudless with little haze, some of the Penoke range visible beyond Madeline Island.  The humidity is low and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.  The morning is a fine start to the weekend.
   The birch trees on Myers-Olsen Road have now lost most of their leaves, which have shriveled and dried and are now blown into the roadside ditch.  It is time now to water birch trees and conifers, at least, and other trees,  shrubs and garden perennials if you can, before the ground freezes.  The effects of drought are subtle and long lasting, the worst symptoms often appearing the second season of growth after a real drought.  Trees weakened by drought are far more susceptible to damage by insects and diseases.  Soak the ground around the drip line of trees and beyond and see that the soil remains moist before it freezes.  Conifers photosynthesize and transpire water whenever winter days are are above freezing,so soil moisture and snow cover are most important to them.  Paper birch are native to northern climes with cool moist soil, so they need adequate water as well as mulch or vegetation to protect their roots.