TREE PRUNING

Annual pruning by our trained experts will improve the health and appearance of your trees, thereby prolonging their useful life. All pruning is plant specific and follows ANSI 3000 Pruning Standards to:

• remove older less productive wood
• remove dead and diseased wood
• control shape and size
• train and redirect growth
• promote vigorous new stems
• promote wide angle branching
• promote better fruit and flower
• promote better foliage

SHRUB PRUNING

Proper pruning improves the health and appearance of shrubs. A shrub's life-span can be greatly prolonged by removing undesirable branches which are either dead, weakened, diseased or insect-infested. Owen's certified arborists know the proper pruning procedures to help promote healthy growth of all your shrubs.

FERTILIZING

Tree fertilizing is a vital service for maintaining the health and beauty of your landscape. We offer organic tree fertilizers and organic soil enhancers, which are unique natural products to assist in the proper establishment of organic matter in the soil. They go beyond the function of N-P-K- fertilizers. By injecting organic fertilizers into the ground under pressure it not only replenishes the depleted soils with needed nutrient components, but it also disperses and aerates compacted soil. This allows water and needed oxygen to reach the root hairs where absorption takes place. Spring and fall are an excellent time to fertilize. (back to top)


ROOT CARE

The air spade is a state-of-the-art excavation tool that is revolutionizing the arboriculture industry. The air spade uses great volumes of compressed air to quickly remove and break up soil - even hard clay - without damaging roots, cables, or buried utility lines. Problems with roots and soil often lead to plant failure. By using the air spade we can expose root systems more effectively; as well as diagnose and treat shrub, and tree problems that may have been difficult or impractical in the past. The air spade is also an excellent tool for diagnostic and repairing of girdling roots on established and newly planted trees.
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DISEASE & INSECT TREATMENTS

Damage and destruction caused by insects and diseases can severely limit the ability of the trees and shrubs in your landscape to manufacture the sugars and substances needed to remain healthy. As a tree's health suffers and declines, the odds for defoliation and death sharply increase.

A specialized Owen's Plant Health Care program for trees and shrubs is the most logical step toward managing the spread of harmful insects and devastating diseases. Programs are individually developed, depending on the customer's needs.


Our plant health care programs are built on these simple foundations:

• preventive care
• frequent monitoring
• early detection
• integrated treatment programs

Owen's Tree & Shrub Care offers Plant Health Care Programs specific for controlling:

• Gypsy Moths
• Asian Longhorned Beetle
• Emerald Ash Borer
• Tent Caterpillars
• Fall Web Worm
• Viburnum Beetle
• Birch Tree - Borer & Leaf Miner
• Austrian Pine - Diplodia Tip Blight
• Spruce - Needle-cast
• Dutch Elm Disease
• Plus many other tree pest problems

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Gypsy moth - More Information

The Gypsy moth originally brought to Massachusetts in 1869 for silk making experiments from France. Firmly established in southern Ontario. The larvae feed on several hundred different species of trees and shrubs but prefer oaks and poplar. Fall sebworm, Birch Bronze, Needle cast. (back to top)



Asian longhorned beetle PEST ALERT

Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) prefers 23 species of deciduous hardwoods, preferring many maples, elms, willows, birch, mountain ash, horse chestnut, and oak. (back to top)



Emerald Ash Borer PEST ALERT

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) was first identified in Brampton by Natural Resources staff in September, 2008. An aggressive exotic woodborer, it attacks stressed as well as healthy trees.

The EAB arrived in North America from Asia and was first detected in 2002 in Detroit, Michigan and in Windsor, Ontario. It has also been detected in Ohio and Indiana. The beetle was present in these areas for a number of years before being discovered.

It is a very destructive Ash tree pest and has caused the death of millions of Ash trees. The earliest possible detection of this insect is essential to help reduce its spread and damage. (back to top)



CABLING AND BRACING
(Structural Restoration and Cabling)

Trees in the Canadian climate are subject to a number of environmental forces: heavy wind, snow, and thunderstorms. Huge forces are acting on the branch system of the tree and sometimes, branches become weakened. As well, trees are a slow-growing plant, with branches lengthening and thickening ever so slowly.

Some species of Poplar, Maple, Elm, Willow, Ash and some fruit trees are naturally susceptible to weak wood properties.

Because branches have become weak, it does not necessarily mean the tree has to be removed and it may benefit from bracing or cabling, or a combination of the two.

Cabling involves installing steel cables between major limbs to reduce the strain and help support the tree. Cabling also helps reduce stress damage from high winds and excess ice or snow weight.

For large, weak, or split crotches, bracing is used to give direct support and reduce twisting strain on the tree. A metal rod is inserted through the crotch and two more cables are placed above it.

A Certified Tree Worker will climb the tree to assess all branch unions (these aerial inspections provide information impossible to see from the ground).

Trees grow and change continually, and therefore, so do the branches. We recommend that you have your trees inspected annually. Existing cables also need to be inspected annually to assess their effectiveness and continued benefit to your tree. (back to top)





REMOVAL

Like all life forms, trees grow old and die. And a dead tree is a potentially hazardous tree. Owen's Tree and Shrub Care is fully equipped to remove trees from all sites in a safe manner. In a residential area, where a large tree must be removed, the company may employ the use of cranes and other heavy equipment.


Other criteria for removal are as follows:


Disease: Sometimes a tree's problems are so advanced that it can't be treated. At this point there is a risk of infection of nearby trees


Undesirable species: fast-growing or weak wooded, such as Willow, Poplar, Manitoba Maple.

Once we remove the tree, our team will either slice off the trunk to within 2" of ground level, or grind the trunk to below grade and then cover the hole. We can also cut the wood to lengths suitable to be split for wood for the fireplace. (back to top)





UTILITY LINE CLEARING

Removal of tree limbs and/or branches in order to control tree growth around and under power lines. (back to top)



BRUSH CHIPPING

Clean up and removal of extensive brush in a forested landscape or woodlot.



MULCH

Scientific studies have proven the benefits of mulching over the tree's root system, such as:

• Maintains soil moisture by reducing evaporation, especially in drought conditions and minimizes the need for frequent watering
• Keeps soils cool in summer and acts as an insulator in winter
• Improves soil aeration and drainage
• Provides a pleasing, natural aesthetic to any landscape design
• Eliminates trunk damage from lawnmowers and string trimmers

Owen's Tree and Shrub Care encourages the placement of mulch over the root systems of trees. The practice replicates the environment of the forest floor, which is naturally mulched with decaying leaves, branches and other matter and which provides the necessary nutrients for sustained growth and health. Over the long-term, trees that are mulched require less maintenance, and therefore less cost.

There are many types of mulch available from nurseries that contain various colours of dye, which may be attractive, but which may not add adequate nutritional value to a tree's root system. Owen's Tree and Shrub Care will gladly recommend and/or provide mulch appropriate for your landscape. (back to top)



CONSULTATION & TREE REPORT SERVICES

• Tree assessment relative to land development, and applications for building permits
• Prescriptions for preservation and management of trees and woodlots on construction sites
• Diagnosis of tree problems (insects & disease pests, and non-infectious injury)
• Tree risk assessment and management prescriptions for hazardous trees
• Appraisal of monetary value of amenity trees
• Plant health care assessments and prescriptions for treatment
• Tree inventory, assessment and categorizing for municipal private & ravine permits
• Pre-purchase tree inspections and reports for home buyers
• Tree related accident investigation
• 5 year tree management plans for large commercial and corporate land owners
• Third party appraisal of tree work and reports
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