Category: Earthwise NEWS Archives

It's a Wrap Wrapping the trunks of young, thin-barked trees in the winter months is recommended to protect them from frost cracking. Frost cracks are vertical cracks in the bark of trees. They commonly occur on the south and west sides of young trees that haven’t developed a thick layer...

Safety First: Earth-Wise Recognized for Excellence At Earth-Wise, safety isn’t just a priority—it’s a core value woven into everything we do. This year, we are proud to announce that Earth-Wise has been honored with the Colorado Better Business Bureau’s Best in Practice Safety Award. This prestigious recognition reflects our unwavering...

Wet Weather Means Aphids and Fungal Diseases on the Rise The weather plays a large role in determining what pest problems we see each year. This year’s wet spring and early summer weather has created a perfect environment for aphids and fungal diseases to thrive. Lady bugs, the most common...

Much Ado About Mulch Tree growing conditions in western Colorado are tough. From drought-stricken summers to freezing winters, nutrient-poor soils to threatening pests, trees need all the help they can get from their caretakers. Proper mulching is one of the easiest and most effective ways a homeowner can keep their...

Bark Beetle Status: Good News, Bad News Mountain Pine Beetle The good news in this year’s bark beetle update is that the mountain pine beetle epidemic is waning across Colorado. Just a few years ago, this epidemic was an uncontrollable landscape-scale decimation of pines across the Rockies. Now, while an...

All Dried Up Precipitation in 2012 was the lowest the Roaring Fork and Vail Valleys have seen since record-breaking drought conditions in 2002. According to the Colorado River District, 2012 was the third driest year on record for the Upper Colorado River Basin. With two years of extreme drought capping...

This year’s drought along with high temperatures, low humidity and daily wind has created a heightened fire threat in Colorado. However, there are things that homeowners can do to mitigate wildfire danger on their property. The two primary factors that determine a home’s ability to survive a wildfire are the...

Marssonina Blight May Have You Seeing Spots Marssonina blight (Marssonina populi) is a fungal pathogen that is native to aspen forests of the Rocky Mountain region. Marssonina is always present to one degree or another, but incidents of the disease are usually more common in years with wet spring weather....

An Ounce of Prevention… Many of the pest problems we encounter on landscaped trees are secondary in nature. In other words, they are due to unrelated stress. This stress can be traced to many sources, such as poor nursery stock, improper planting techniques, and lack of maintenance. All of these...

Mountain Pine Beetle Still Poses Threat Due to the devastating effects of mountain pine beetle throughout Colorado, we feel compelled to remind you which tree species are vulnerable to attack and what the best strategies are to protect your pines. As most of you know, mountain pine beetle has already...