Becky's Tree Care

08/25/2025

Well, a couple of days ago I read a post of someone searching for willow twigs for a project. I suggested going to upcountry to find willows. I do not remember which page, so I’m posting my correction here.
Turns out I found a specimen, Salix gooddingii, right here in Mammoth at the edge of the San Pedro river, below Main Street and the P.O.
It’s not in the greatest condition, the cottonwoods nearby are failing from drought too. It gets afternoon shade which is probably helping it to survive, as well as some urban runoff from up above.
This damn near hit me in the head, literally, after stopping for a squat. 🤣

04/27/2025

I just attended the Western Chapter of International Society of Arboriculture which was held in Tucson.
I enjoyed most everything about it. The absolute best was being around so many intelligent, interesting, like minded people.
As I’ve gotten older I’m realizing more about myself, being “semi-retired” leaves a lot of time to ruminate. I’m a dabbler who flits from one interest to another just to satisfy my own needs, interests and desires.
I am also an acts of service type of person.
So while I did not go to the class Why Did You Become An Arborist?, I did think about that Q over the past couple of days.
It started at my Grama’s knee. She’s my absolute favorite person in the world, long since gone, but still in my heart. She had a great love for the outdoors, all plants and critters, and I learned not to fear what coexists with us. I learned from her that everything has its place in the environment, like cogs in a machine.
Skip ahead to getting a summer weeding job at the parks department in Carson city. Hard work, but it was fun to me and I learned I wanted to learn more about the experience. I actually tried to get a permanent position at the parks and cemetery departments, but ended up at the water department.
I took the UNR Cooperative Extension Master Gardener course. Of course there is a volunteer component to the program, no problem, there was a new demonstration garden at Mills Parks and other volunteer opportunities to teach folks basic pruning, etc. Acts of service. I poured that learning into my home yard too, which was lovely.
Each of the segments studied is taught by experts of each of those specific disciplines, professors from the university, professionals in the public and private sectors.
So, because of my mentors who are arborists, encouraging me to become certified, I took the ISA courses up in Reno at the university. Both courses had the same instructors, which made me realize how much these folks care about teaching the masses.
Just being around these educated folks makes me feel smarter, too.
After my first retirement from CC Water, we moved here. One of the first things I did was enroll in the Master Gardener program for AZ.
The basics are the same but, let me tell you, not all deserts are the same.
Trees are much different in the Sonoran desert, more like huge bushes really.

I am still learning, and my experience may not rival what other professionals have, I’m continually learning from those in ISA.
I take the natural approach to gardening and Arboriculture.
People want to water, fertilize and prune their yards to death and it hurts my psyche and I can get a little frosty with these kinds of attitudes.
Yes, people can and do manipulate plants to do what they expect of them, but sometimes it’s just unnecessary and even harmful, especially with native plants.
What I have also learned in my golden years is to not make more work for yourself. Leaves are meant to lay under trees, full canopies feed and shelter birds and beneficial insects.
My comments are usually short and sweet, they may seem curt and abrasive, but you can trust those words are coming from a place of skills, experience and knowledge.

11/28/2023

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshigoandtrees.com%2F&h=AT2Qwj_sEqq7P0v5mqCORKpuFet65DDMr8REcOurNhhKSCYbloBqob1A_X70eWzh_hzopyGOLitHPBVBicGGIwtEeP6qoYAbN7DJVHkWUD_YdjWcOyKYugS_uLTG&s=1

11/09/2023

This is a great article, complete with photos.

By now you’ve undoubtedly heard fellow gardeners talking about “root washing” their trees, shrubs, or even perennials before planting. Removing all the protective coverings from the root mass may seem counterintuitive or even dangerous—but it's not.

10/22/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100064826223272/posts/726763712827830/

📣📰BREAKING NEWS: We have a cover for the 2024 Seed Savers Exchange Catalog! We asked our members and staff to vote on a cover for the new catalog, and after 934 total votes were cast, this beautiful ‘Evening Sun’ sunflower with a happy little pollen-feasting bee was declared the winner! 🌻Print catalogs will arrive in homes at the end of November. If you have made a purchase in the last two years or requested a catalog in the last year, then you will automatically receive the 2024 catalog—there’s no need to request one! If not, request your copy at https://shop.seedsavers.org/request-a-catalog.

10/16/2023

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-home/tree-trunks-garden-trees-mistake-care/

One gardener shared their knowledge about how to keep tree trunks healthy, explaining how to avoid suffocating them with mulch and stones.

06/13/2023

Yup, people are going to “perfect” their landscapes to death.
We really need to live with and accept imperfection. Biodiversity is the key to a balanced environment.

04/16/2023

Trees and shrubs, when properly arranged around the dwelling house, are always pleasing objects to passersby; and the dwellers in the house thus beautified will return to it with a higher regard, and greater love for it, than they would to a home not made attractive by objects of nature arranged by persons of intelligence and good taste.
–The Old Farmer’s Almanac, from the year 1900

04/15/2023

I attended a tree ID class yesterday that included a field trip to Tohono Chul.
After three years of not going to in-person learning events it was a lovely re-entry to tree people events.
It also gave me loads of new information and inspired me to do some research this morning, starting with my own library. You know, books made from paper. I have some gems collected at conferences and classes I’ve attended in the past twenty some-odd years.
Then, armed with the proper words I was able to find more on the internet, because one just cannot touch the words in a book and open new paragraphs and photos.

Proper tree selection, placement and care will serve your tree well through the years, allowing your tree to grow to its fullest potential. Selecting the right tree and location can help reduce maintenance issues down the road and will promote a healthy and vigorous tree.

02/04/2023

I have never encountered a mastic tree before being asked to prune these two beauties. They are a little close to the house and the clients wanted them shaped to navigate around and uplimbed a bit to show trunks.

Pistacia lentiscus (also lentisk or mastic)
They are native to the Mediterranean and are used for mastic gum cultivation. They are really a good tree for the southwest surviving on natural precipitation after being established with supplemental irrigation in the beginning.
They reach a size of 25’x25’. I thinned overall, headed back on the house side and exposed the trunks leaving the top to grow upward.
It was fun for me because I was able to learn something new, and they are lightly fragrant when cut.
The clients commented about the great shade they get at their bedroom window in the summer. Perfect. Plus they block the view of the neighbor house. They were very pleased with the transformation.