Huntree Newsletter June 2025

Hi there!  You know what the first topic of conversation will be……again….. Water, water, water.  We’re now going on 4 months of little to no rain.   We did get a third of an inch last night which is a drop in the bucket.   Maybe more tonight.   These are stressful times for everything green.  Please get out there with your water!  We’ve been getting dribs and drabs that don’t help at all.  So, thorough soaking is necessary for all of your precious ones, newly planted as well as established ones.

Now we can move on to bugs.  We’ve been getting lots of bugs in baggies coming in the front door.  Yesterday the bug of the day was wooly aphids on Birch and Beech.   Check out the underside of the leaves on these trees and see if you have clumps of white fuzzy globs.  WOOLY APHIDS proliferate very quickly in the heat and humidity, sucking the juice out of the new tender leaves.  A sticky substance (sap) will ooze out.  Then black sooty mold will form on it.    Lovely, huh!  You can spray to get the aphids and the sooty mold with Neem Oil which is organic, by the way.   (You can use Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew for the aphids, but it won’t get the sooty mold.)  Or you can just leave it and put up with deformed, icky leaves.   The health of the tree will not be in jeopardy.  But spraying may improve your peace of mind.  If you have Dwarf Alberta Spruce be checking them for spider mites.  Hold a piece of white paper under a branch and slap it onto the paper.   Look for little moving dots.  They may be black, red or green.  Spray with a miticide (Neem Oil will work) to get them.  If you wait until you have brown spots that will not be a good thing for your spruce.

Be on the lookout for powdery mildew. The conditions are perfect for it.  You’ll see a gray fuzzy coating on the top of the leaves.  Most famous plants succumbing to it are Lilacs, Roses, Monarda, Serviceberry, fruit trees, sometimes Peonies.  Catch it early with Copper Fungicide or Neem Oil.  Spray as a preventive if you had it last year and want to be a step ahead, or spray when you see it appearing.  Continue to repeat every 7 to 10 days.

Our perennials are looking great!  I wasn’t going to say anything about deer because I’m tired of talking about it but…..  Cindy has brought in perennials that they seem to be leaving alone.   Just saying.

Oh, here’s a tip from a customer:   Take heavy duty fishing line… really strong.  String it around your beds on stakes.   Two lines…. one 12″ from the ground and another 36″ from the ground.   Worth a try.  I’m not guaranteeing anything. We also have some nice heavy duty deer fencing in the store if you want to consider that option as well.

It’s still a great time to plant trees and shrubs as long as you can WATER.  (Of course, you knew I was going to say that.)    If you are leaving for a vacation wait until you get back.  You could have a Dogwood of your very own.  They were absolutely excellent this year!  My faves are the Kousa Dogwoods because they bloom for such a long time.

We are getting ready to place our August statuary order.  If there’s anything you want us to put on the list just let us know.  We already have a list of requests started.

Do you have a micro climate at your house where you can push the plant zone limits?   We just got some Gardenia and Camellia babies that are Zone 6B.   One of our customers planted one last summer and got it to come through the winter!  So… I’m going to plant one outside (and mulch it up really well in fall) and grow another one to bring in for the winter and grow as a house plant.

Do you want to keep your Boxwood small and compact?   Give them a trim whenever they get new growth.

Call us.  We’re glad to try and answer any of your questions.

Wishing you a glorious summer.

Jan and the Huntree Gang

Categorised in: Newsletter

This post was written by MHarrison9