Tag Archives: landscaping westchester

Westchester Garden Guide

Cultivating a beautiful garden is an art!  Add property value with a well-manicured and lush, blooming yard this spring and summer.  Westchester Tree Life’s professionals are here to assist you with a plant health care management program, tree and shrub maintenance and more!  Our Westchester Garden Guide is a selection of our favorite perennials, shrubs and trees for your Westchester home!

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Westchester Tree Life has provided quality, affordable care to Westchester County since 1985!

Trees & Shrubs

Before you begin shopping around for flowers, select your trees and shrubs!  Selecting trees and shrubs give your garden or backyard structure.  Consider how your trees and shrubs will develop through the seasons!

New York Tree Care Westchester Tree Life

A Dogwood produces pink, white and red flowers. via continentalchicago.wordpress.com

The Dogwood Tree – A Dogwood Tree will produce beautiful blooms during springtime, and have a great compact shape!  The leaves turn an eye-catching reddish purple during fall time.

Shrub Care New York Westchester Tree Life

The Shadblow is a lovely garden addition year round. via plants.thegrowingspace.com

The Shadblow/Shad/Serviceberry Tree – Another beautiful flowering tree, the Shadblow tree is ideal for a partly-shady area of your yard.  This tree yields apple-like early spring flowers, June fruit and a pinstripe bark.

Tree Shrub Care New York Westchester Tree Life

This Spicebush gives an excellent pop of color, especially during Autumn.
via Pinterest.com

The Spicebush – If you are looking to add a colorful understory shrub, consider adding a Spicebush (or two, or three . . .) to your Westchester garden!

Bright & Beautiful Perennials

Perennials return to your garden year after year, when cared for properly!

Delphinium Westchester Tree Life Landscaping New York

via delphinium.co.nz

Delphinium – Hummingbirds love these bright perennials, and so will you!  Delphiniums require rich soil and cool summers.

Little Bluestem Westchester Tree Life

via midwestliving.com

Little Bluestem – This native prairie grass has grey-green foliage which turns bold shades of purple, red and orange in fall.  Plant this in full-sun, and it will reach heights of 2-3 feet tall, and a foot high.

Horticultural Oils

Horticultural oils can help in the protection of your plants, shrubs and trees!  It’s that time of year again to begin mapping out your seasonal plant health care plan, and Westchester Tree Life is here to help!  Our certified arborists are here to assist you in maintaining the health and beauty of your plants, trees and shrubs!  Horticultural oil applications are a very necessary procedure that should be on your spring to-do list!

Prunicola Scale

This photo shows Prunicola Scale, a very hard to control scale insect that damages and can even kill cherry trees and other ornamental trees, and horticultural oils are very helpful in controlling this pest.

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Early season oil sprays help maintain your tree’s health!

Note the white substance on the trunk of this tree is the scale; these are the males. The females are much harder to detect because they are dark in color and blend into the background color of the bark.  Early in spring, the males are hardly present,  so great care must be taken by the arborist to monitor and treat for this insect. Controlling this harmful insect and preventing damage is possible through horticultural oil application.

Spider Mites

Many different trees and shrubs can be attacked by mites.  Mites are very, very small; you need a powerful hand lens or small microscope to see them.

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Close up of a mite through a microscope

The Spruce Spider Mite can attack Arborvitae, Norway spruce, Alberta Spruce and many other hosts.  There are also many different types of mites which occupy many other host plants.
The following is damage on Norway spruce from Spruce spider mite:

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Hemlock Adelgid

The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Is another insect that can be controlled with horticultural oils.
The following are pictures of hemlock branches infested with Adelgid:

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Scale Insects

Scale insects are another group of insects often targeted with horticultural sprays.  Holly trees are susceptible to the damage of scale insects.  The black residue shown is called sooty mold, and is caused by mold colonizing on the honey dew which is a byproduct from the scale.  The scale insect’s excrement is almost pure sugar, which is the ideal breeding ground for mold to colonize.

Scale-Insect-Mold

The following photo gives a closer look at scale insects (the white shapes are the scale).  These white insects are usually resting on the underside of the leaves.

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Prepare your landscape for a healthy season, with a horticultural oil application!  To schedule an appointment with a professionally certified arborist, call Westchester Tree Life at (914) 238-0069!