Gardening: For help with trees, it's best to call a professional arborist

By Tony Tomeo
for Saratoga News

Trees are the most substantial plants in our gardens. They can provide shade, privacy or aesthetic appeal. Some provide showy flowers. Others provide fruit. Some have colorful foliage in autumn. Others have colorful foliage through summer. When they get old and finish their careers in our gardens, most make good firewood. Even trees that do not seem to do much for us are very important to the insects, birds, animals, fungi and all sorts of wildlife that live with them.

Trees have all sorts of personalities. Evergreen trees hold their foliage throughout the year. Deciduous trees drop their foliage in autumn, and replace it in spring. Small trees are no larger than large shrubbery. Large trees may be massive and affect several gardens around them. Some trees have thick canopies that make deep shade, while others cast light shade.

Read more>