Good Growing

Chris Enroth: 00:05

Welcome to the Good Growing podcast. I am Chris Enroth, horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension coming at you from Macomb, Illinois, and we have got a great show for you today. We are gonna be talking with a couple extension staff about an upcoming tree care kind of a tree care care series that's gonna be going on, and they're gonna tell us all about and answer some of our tree questions. But, you know, I am not doing this by myself. I'm joined as always every single week by horticulture educator Ken Johnson in Jacksonville.

Chris Enroth: 00:34

Hey, Ken.

Ken Johnson: 00:36

Hello, Chris. How are you?

Chris Enroth: 00:38

I am doing doing very well. How did the Yukon Cornelius outfit go over this last weekend?

Ken Johnson: 00:45

It was good. My wife dressed up as the bumble, so we had we had matching outfits, and those are they came in handy because it was kinda cold. So Oh, cool. Put it back on tonight for trick or treating with the kids too.

Chris Enroth: 00:57

Yes. We're gonna be bundling up tonight. That is for sure. I I've moved all of my plants inside. I am on top of it this year.

Chris Enroth: 01:06

I'll I only have one thing that's still outside. Well, two, three. It's, like, five to 10 things that are still outside, but they'll be okay. I have my lemon tree, which I moved back and forth, and, actually, I had an accident with it. It's in, like, a 50 pound clay pot.

Chris Enroth: 01:25

It's huge. And as I was moving it, I dropped it on my foot. And so I have a nasty I don't know if it's broken. Doesn't feel good. What does it mean when things burn and feel like you're being zapped with electricity?

Chris Enroth: 01:40

But but, no, I

Ken Johnson: 01:42

Probably not a good thing.

Chris Enroth: 01:43

Probably not a good thing. Well Is

Ken Johnson: 01:45

is the pot okay? Is the plant okay?

Chris Enroth: 01:47

The pot cracked, which is the worst thing. So now I have to go get a new pot. So the the tree is outside in the garage because if I water it, water's just gonna go everywhere. So I have to go get a new pot after this and save that darn lemon tree. But yeah.

Chris Enroth: 02:04

Have you gotten all of your stuff inside?

Ken Johnson: 02:07

Dug dahlias that we had in the ground yesterday. Got some in pots that I just need to cut and drag inside. Some gladiolas need to dig. I think everything else is hardy. We got some chestnut seedlings.

Ken Johnson: 02:22

You know, we need to heal in or just put them in the basement or the garage because they're in pretty small pots. I don't want those roots getting too cold, but Yeah. Pretty much done. And if it doesn't come in, it makes it, it makes it. If it doesn't, try again next year.

Chris Enroth: 02:37

You just add a couple little, what, nuts, seedlings, you know, what what are you already out, so not not too much. Yep. Yeah. And tonight, as as we're recording this, this will be in the past for those when it's released and listening later. But, like, October 31, we're kinda getting a pretty hard freeze tonight.

Chris Enroth: 02:57

It's not like we're just dipping down into below 32 for a little bit. We're getting down to predicted, like, 21 degrees for us. So it's gonna be a it's an actual frost event.

Ken Johnson: 03:12

Yep. It's all over.

Chris Enroth: 03:14

That's right. There it goes. Well, nice it was nice knowing you growing season 2023. So but we'll we'll see you later. Well, Ken, let's get into our topic for this week.

Chris Enroth: 03:25

I I do you like your trees?

Ken Johnson: 03:29

Most of them, I do.

Chris Enroth: 03:30

Yes.

Ken Johnson: 03:31

We got got a few in the yard I don't really like, and they're gonna disappear one of these days. Mhmm.

Chris Enroth: 03:37

I'm actively trying to kill some of my trees. Actively trying to to keep others alive. So you you know who you are, Norway Maple. So but I I think it's time we dive into our topic for today and introduce our special guest. So I'd like to bring on two extension staff members.

Chris Enroth: 03:58

So we have horticulture educator, Sarah Vogel, in Decatur. Welcome to the show, Sarah.

Sarah Vogel: 04:04

Hi. Thank you.

Chris Enroth: 04:05

And we have horticulture program coordinator, Jenny Lee, in Mattoon. Is that right, Jenny?

Jenny Lee: 04:11

That's correct. Mattoon.

Chris Enroth: 04:12

Alright. Mattoon rhymes rhymes with other things. I I won't say out loud, but, spittoon. I don't I guess that's not a bad word, but, maybe Mattoonians wouldn't like that. Well, we are happy to have you, and so we're gonna dive into this community tree care series that that you and along with a couple other colleagues have put together.

Chris Enroth: 04:34

So I say let's just dive right into this. Ken, could you start us off, on our line of questions, please?

Ken Johnson: 04:40

I can do that. So I our first question is, how did the program get started, and why did you wanna put it together?

Sarah Vogel: 04:47

Our our program is a community tree care series, and it got started because I think there's a need for more local, more downstate training for tree care professionals, not just I think that, we assessed as much. In fact, we collaborated with some other organizations to really even further assess that need and where it is and what topics tree care professionals want to learn more about. So we started there because not there are so many people in our communities that are already taking care of trees, whether that's, you know, municipal ground staff or or township or school, you know, groundskeepers and so on, park staff. There are a lot of people taking care of trees that may not have any kind of formal training, and that's fine, or even any, like, informal training or, like, what we're gonna offer. So there are a lot of certified arborists in many in some places in Illinois, and and those those professionals can learn something as well, but this is really to support the people that aren't able to get as much training that they desire.

Jenny Lee: 06:04

So for me, the idea of this program kinda started about a year ago, when I was trying to decide on a capstone project for my master's degree. And I knew I wanted to create some type of deliverable to educate people about tree care, because we were getting calls in from community members regarding their trees, like, mainly, what's wrong with my tree and how can I save it? And then also just kinda driving around, I was noticing that there were a number of trees in our community that weren't healthy. Some were dying, and a lot of those were in public areas. So, you know, looking closer, I could see that there were just some kinda not so great management practices going on, maybe some improper pruning techniques, kind of bad mulching techniques.

Jenny Lee: 07:00

So then I started questioning, okay. Who's taking care of these trees in our parks and on our school property, and who do we need to reach?

Chris Enroth: 07:08

So, Sarah, you said it, and I will make sure to may maybe I'll broaden this out a little bit. You said that these classes are not as available for those of us downstate. And I'll maybe I'll be a bit more, specific and say there's a lot of great educational opportunities for people in Chicago in the Chicagoland area. In fact, I'm jealous. Some of those those turf grass days that they have up there, you know, they get all these experts from all over the country to come in and talk about tall fescue.

Chris Enroth: 07:40

You know? Whoo. So exciting. Gets me going. But when when we come a little bit away from, let's be honest, where the main economic driver is for our state, when it comes to green industry, when we kinda move away from that geographic area, we do have fewer and fewer training opportunities.

Chris Enroth: 08:01

So with this community treat care series, since we're spread out so far across the state, how are we how are we how are people gonna access this course? Is this all in person? Is this all online? What what is the, format gonna be for the sessions?

Sarah Vogel: 08:22

Yeah. So, when we were trying to assess, like, where where people needed the training, what topics and so on they would like to learn more about, that was one question that we asked too. What format is preferred? Is it a one day in person conference? Is it a two day conference?

Sarah Vogel: 08:39

Is it just webinars and so on? And so we decided on kind of a mixed format. So the first three sessions, two in November, one in December, will be webinars, and those will be $10 apiece. You can attend all three. You can a la carte, you know, if you've already got three basics down.

Sarah Vogel: 09:02

You can just attend the other two. But the idea is that they are a series, so they kinda build on top of each other. And then in January and February, we'll offer three in person workshops, and those will be held in, up in the Moline area. We haven't determined the exact location. One in Decatur and one in Mattoon.

Sarah Vogel: 09:24

And so we didn't get all the way south this time, but in the future, we hope to to reach some of those communities as well. And so it, hopefully, a format like that where you can log in to a webinar, especially in maybe maybe the slower winter months for some, you know, outside workers, the hope is that it's more accessible, you can just log right in, learn what you need to know, in the comfort of your own home and jammies and slippers. Oh,

Chris Enroth: 09:52

like that. I like it very much.

Sarah Vogel: 09:53

We encourage it. Mhmm.

Chris Enroth: 09:57

And I know you mentioned Southern Illinois, but let's let's be clear. They have their own Captain America down there in terms of Chris Evans,

Sarah Vogel: 10:04

who is

Chris Enroth: 10:05

our extension forestry specialist. So he he really does not like to play into that, but I'm I'm working on him. So but, yeah, Chris Evans, he's our forestry specialist down in Southern Illinois. Great resource.

Sarah Vogel: 10:17

Mhmm. Absolutely. He is a great resource. You know? And so part of the the purpose of the series, again, is it's urban forestry.

Sarah Vogel: 10:27

Right? And as opposed to, like, our natural resource, you know, our areas like forest, like down in Southern Illinois where we have the Shawnee National Forest, that's a totally different, realm than what we're focusing on. This is more urban forestry. We shied a bit away from the term urban forest because I think that can be a bit of a misnomer, misinterpreted. For people, maybe that's you know, some people think of, like, thriving metropolis downtown streets, and that's not necessarily the case.

Sarah Vogel: 11:00

Our urban forests are my yard, your yard, the parks and greenways and boulevards that connect them. And so any anywhere where there those trees have been introduced into that area, and that soil's been been flipped over. That's so instead of urban, we kinda went with community tree care because all of us already know that we're a part of that.

Chris Enroth: 11:22

So, Sarah, you had also mentioned about some of the people who might be in attendance. But who is who is this for? Who do you expect to attend? Who is who is your audience? Would you want, can hobbyists also attend these, sessions?

Chris Enroth: 11:39

Yeah. Who's gonna be in class?

Sarah Vogel: 11:42

Most certainly, hobbyists. So it's it's for anyone. It's for anyone in the general public that wants to, you know, advance their tree knowledge or expertise. Personally and professionally, my hope is to get some of the tree care companies in our area to start coming a little bit more to these, the park staff. That was an identified need, not just through a survey that we did, but as we, you know, we extension professionals go out and and partner with other organizations, We ask them what they need.

Sarah Vogel: 12:13

You know? And so lots of our our partners, at least in my area, were saying, well, we need programming from you, and we need training. We need staff training so they know how to do this, so they know how to take care of our our public areas. So that's what I hope for. We also encourage neighborhood organizations, you know, neighborhood groups or other community organizations who maybe they're interested.

Sarah Vogel: 12:38

Maybe there's a booster club in one of the schools and they wanna plant, you know, a tree to signify some event or another. Hopefully, they can come. I mean, bring the kids if you wanna sign them up too. You know? Play it live in the classroom.

Sarah Vogel: 12:55

I'm I'm hoping to get the professionals that are already out there doing the work some really good training. But, of course, any of our volunteers, our master gardeners, master naturalists, anyone in the general public who would like to learn more about trees and taking care of them.

Ken Johnson: 13:08

Alright. So if I am somebody that is that's gonna sign up for the class, what can I expect to learn in these different sessions?

Jenny Lee: 13:16

So, yeah, in session one, we want people to understand the importance of trees so that they understand why they need to care for their trees in the first place. So we're gonna be talking about the benefits of trees, like the environmental benefits, the health benefits, all the benefits. And then we're gonna go over some of the basic tree biology, to get a better understanding of how trees function so that we can understand what kind of practices to put in place for caring for our trees. And then we will talk about some basic tree ID and the importance of tree diversity in our communities.

Chris Enroth: 13:56

That's just packed full of stuff right there. It's one session.

Jenny Lee: 14:00

One session?

Sarah Vogel: 14:01

Yeah. The challenge is now to keep it within that two hour time frame. Right? Got so much good information to impart onto the world that we got you in two hours.

Chris Enroth: 14:12

You love to talk trees, so, good luck with that. Yeah. That's that's that's gonna be a challenge. So session one, but we have more than than just that. So session one, we're on Zoom.

Chris Enroth: 14:24

We're learning about, tree IDs. Oh, I I really do love the, that that diversity in the the canopy. I wanna call it the urban canopy, but but it we'll call it the community tree canopy. Right? Is that kind of that terminology we're steering more towards?

Sarah Vogel: 14:40

Yeah. For for what we're going for. And, again, probably many of us who work in extension or or other, you know, entities like that, we understand that what urban commune urban forestry refers to. But, again, that misnomer of urban, like, we got a lot of rural communities that still are part of the urban forest.

Ken Johnson: 15:02

Mhmm.

Sarah Vogel: 15:03

So probably community. Yeah. You're right. Community is just an easier and more digestible term.

Ken Johnson: 15:10

Yeah. Yeah. What is session two cover?

Jenny Lee: 15:15

So in the second session, we will, talk about site assessment, all the things that you need to consider before you even plant the tree. So how big is the tree going to get at maturity? Is there enough space for that tree to thrive once it reaches maturity? What's the soil conditions? If you're trying to plant a tree in poor soil or the not the correct soil, it's not gonna thrive.

Jenny Lee: 15:43

And then what's the purpose of the tree? Why are you planting it there? Are you planting it for shade? Are you planting it for a windbreak? What's the point?

Jenny Lee: 15:53

Or are you just, you know, you just like the way it flowers, or are you trying to feed wildlife? So we'll talk about those things. So, basically, it's, you know, choosing the right tree for the right site. Then we'll discuss how to properly plant that tree. And depending on how that tree is packaged, wherever you're purchasing it from, it could be a bare root tree, could be a containerized tree, or ball and burlap tree.

Jenny Lee: 16:21

So there's different techniques that you wanna use a little bit different techniques that you wanna use to be able to plant those trees properly. Are you planting them at the right depth? Do you really need all those guy wires and things holding the tree up, or is it okay to to leave it alone and let it grow a nice root structure? And then also in that session, we will talk about new tree care and maintenance. What are some of the best practices when it comes to caring for our trees?

Jenny Lee: 16:53

What's the proper mulching techniques? Watering, how much water does my tree need? Pruning techniques, and, what's some of the seasonal care that we need to look at.

Chris Enroth: 17:04

So there's session two. Now now session three, like, pinnacle. You know, I I'm I'm not I'm not ranking these. They're all very important, but, you know, you've reached the mountaintop with session three. So what topics will you be addressing in the third Zoom session that we're we're working with here on the community tree care series?

Sarah Vogel: 17:26

So in the third session, that's collective tree care. Right? So we've talked about the basics in the first session of why the tree why even having trees are good, and some of those identifying characteristics. The second session, we're looking at how to care for that individual tree that you may be planting, how to care for it, not only plant it, but care for it afterwards. And then the third session, our third webinar, is collective tree care.

Sarah Vogel: 17:50

So taking all that stuff and putting it together and knowing how to care for that community forest as a whole. So maybe that looks like, you know, what what are stressors for trees? So, like, you know, those environmental conditions. Well, we've had drought for several years. Maybe if we're in a a public park, those mowers are going around the trees all the time, so that could be a stressor.

Sarah Vogel: 18:17

Maybe some defects in trees, so that could be for the singular homeowner or gardener, or in our public areas. What could possibly make this tree hazardous? You know, does it have a big cavity? Does it have a big split down the side? Does it have a great big co dominant stem or double leader?

Sarah Vogel: 18:35

I've been able to identify some of those to mitigate risk, again, both in our own yards and public spaces.

Jenny Lee: 18:41

We'll talk about tree ordinances and community tree advisory boards and memorial tree planting programs. Kinda Yeah. You know, why do we want to maybe not offer those because it leads to lack of diversity because, you know, people wanna say, I wanna plant this maple for my loved one. And then another person, I wanna plant this maple for my loved one. So those programs tend to lead to lack of diversity.

Jenny Lee: 19:18

So what are the other options that you could offer if people want to do memorial tree planting?

Sarah Vogel: 19:24

Not only that, but sometimes when we plant a memorial tree, trees die, and it's not always the best, you know, memoriam, you know, remembrance of someone too. So just another thought in a program like that. Yeah. Those are our three webinar sessions. We'll go on in January and February and have three in person session sessions in those locations I mentioned.

Sarah Vogel: 19:51

And those are really gonna take, again, all all of the information that we got out of the first three webinars and put it into practice. So we might look at what pruning actually looks like. You know, we can talk about it and show the slides on a webinar, but it looks a lot different, you know, in person. We'll probably look at some tree identification characteristics in person. And in each one of those communities, we're we're anxious to interact with the you know, excited to interact with the community and see what their problems are, what they're experiencing, do they have a tree ordinance in their community, what have they noticed, there, and try and help people solve problems, you know, on the ground where they are three different times.

Sarah Vogel: 20:37

They'll all be the same thing, but in different places. So, hopefully, learning new stuff each time.

Chris Enroth: 20:43

The traveling show there, that second half of the in person stuff.

Sarah Vogel: 20:47

Yep. Travel and tree show. You got it.

Ken Johnson: 20:49

Mhmm. And where are they at again?

Sarah Vogel: 20:53

So those locations will be in Mattoon. I think that's the January date. Decatur will be in February in February, and then somewhere in the Moline area for the third one, and that will be in mid February. And so, hopefully well, we will keep promoting this series to really get as much traction as we can, to really get as many people involved as we can across the state and even regionally. But as it comes to each one of those, we're gonna try and ask the people that are signing up for it, you know, just like probably we do for lots of our programs.

Sarah Vogel: 21:32

As you're registering, do you have any questions? Or is there anything that you'd, you know, like to talk further about? Is there anything that you're noticing in your communities? And try and, you know, come prepared. We will hopefully, we and they will come prepared to those in person sessions with questions and answers.

Jenny Lee: 21:49

Yeah. It's really about kind of identifying those needs in those individual communities because I think there's different needs in different communities and trying to help help where we can and meet them at where where they need that help.

Sarah Vogel: 22:05

Absolutely. And sometimes just, you know, we'll have lots of things planned for these, but often, you know, we find that just that open discussion among people with the sim with similar interests or similar needs. Sometimes just a discussion, we learn more from each other than we thought possible or more than we would from slides.

Chris Enroth: 22:26

So you've convinced me. I wanna sign up. Now where do I go to sign up? Is do we have a short URL, a phone number, a name of somebody I can call? Jenny, am I just gonna give you a ring and say, sign me up?

Jenny Lee: 22:43

No. We do have a a registration site. It is go.illinois.edubackslashtreecareseries.

Chris Enroth: 22:59

Alright. We will make sure that we link that in the show notes. Hey. I might even just put that on the screen right now. Go.illinois.edu/treecareseries.

Chris Enroth: 23:12

Did get that right?

Jenny Lee: 23:13

Yes.

Chris Enroth: 23:14

Boom. Got it. Tree care series. I'll never forget it by the end of the show.

Sarah Vogel: 23:20

Definitely not.

Chris Enroth: 23:22

Yes. Yes. Well well, very good. And I I guess another question here. Is there costs for if somebody wanted to sign up, is there a fee to attend?

Sarah Vogel: 23:36

Yes. So for each webinar, it'll be $10. So that's $10 each session. Right? So if you wanna go to all three of the webinars, that'll be $30, which we think is a pretty fair price for the amazing and phenomenal information that we are distributing clearly.

Sarah Vogel: 23:55

And then those in person sessions will be $20 apiece. And you can register through that link. You can find out some more information about each of the webinars and in person workshops. We'll keep updating it as we continue to develop this series. Our hope is that this grows, you know, to be a really big and relied upon resource for people across the state.

Ken Johnson: 24:19

Alright. So we'll switch gears a little bit here slightly, kind of. So what are the most common, I guess, mistakes you see when it comes to tree care that maybe this series will address and maybe well, hopefully eliminate, but maybe reduce the occurrence of?

Sarah Vogel: 24:37

Where's my buzzer? I know this one. Planting Bradford pears. Just kidding. That is not a good one to to practice.

Sarah Vogel: 24:47

Don't plant those anymore, please. I I often talk about what I call the tree the four horsemen of tree failure. It's poor site or species selection. You know, if we're not putting the right plant in the right site, from the get go, that tree is just off to a bad start. And as we talk about in a lot of our education educational opportunities, trees are very patient, and they can take a long time to really show the symptoms of being planted in soil that doesn't drain well or being planted too deeply.

Sarah Vogel: 25:22

Well, that would be an actual planting thing. So poor site and species selection, so we're not putting the right plant in the right site. Poor soil conditions, and I don't just mean poorly draining, but a lot of a lot of our urban soils, community soils, if you will, are just compacted as all get out. So that means when that soil is compacted, there's no air space. There's no open, you know, pore space for moisture in there, and it's really makes it difficult for a tree to uptake any moisture nutrients.

Sarah Vogel: 25:54

Number three would be poor planting. So if we're, again, planting it too deeply, doing some maybe not taking off all the materials off of the ball, maybe not looking at the, if you pull a a tree out of a container and it's got girdling roots, if we're not getting rid of that right away, not a great planting, or establishment comes out of that. And then poor aftercare. We can just put a tree in the ground and call it good, but it's not gonna it may survive, but it may not thrive like it could. So, you know, adequate water for the first couple years, maybe removing some of those double leaders, building a good scaffolding so we don't have some of those tree defects later on down the line.

Sarah Vogel: 26:42

So those are those are my big four, and I think they're pretty all all encompassing. You know? Right plant, right site, decent soils, put it in the ground right, and take care of it. But, specifically, I know Jenny wants to pick on mulching. What's wrong with mulch?

Sarah Vogel: 26:59

Mulch.

Jenny Lee: 27:01

I think everywhere I drive around, it's constant mulch volcanoes. Just piles and piles of mulch up against the tree that it doesn't need to be there. It shouldn't be there, because when that mulch is touching the outside bark, it's gonna cause rot. And then eventually, your tree's gonna fall over. You know, mulch is there for a purpose, and that's to protect the tree for one thing from mowers and string trimmers.

Jenny Lee: 27:32

And then also to protect the roots, and keep them at, you know, a level moisture because that mulch helps create a moist area for the tree, and that's very important when we have drought conditions. And then, also, that mulch is gonna decompose and put nutrients back into the soil. And having that mulch there is just really beneficial for the tree, but it needs to be done right. And it shouldn't be touching the tree bark at all, and it shouldn't be a volcano at all. It should be, you know, not volcano, donut, or if you prefer bagel.

Chris Enroth: 28:12

Today's a donut day for me. So Yeah. I think Sarah too. Right? Yeah.

Sarah Vogel: 28:16

Yep. Yep. Two or three.

Chris Enroth: 28:18

Yeah. I

Sarah Vogel: 28:20

just wanted to echo what Jenny had said. We we do often promote mulching, because it is such a great practice. But if we're doing it incorrectly, just like pruning, we encourage pruning for different purposes too. But if it's done, you know, incorrectly, it often causes more problems than than it solves.

Chris Enroth: 28:38

So this community tree care series, yes. You can be a tree advocate and attend. You can be a master gardener, master naturalist attend. But, really, you are targeting a commercial audience to and maybe a lot of these companies, especially as I've seen in my neck of the woods, they are really being born from the need to remove ash trees right now. And a lot of these companies, they can be taking down two ash trees every day, and they can be doing this for the next couple years.

Chris Enroth: 29:14

But what happens when the ash trees when that jobs are when those jobs are done, now it's time to do a little bit of tree health assessment. Maybe you have some clients that need a little bit of help, not cutting down a tree, but just maintaining a tree or figuring out what's wrong with a tree. And so that's is this that that primary goal is to educate that commercial audience, whether it's continuing education, maybe it's something new for them to learn.

Sarah Vogel: 29:42

Yeah. Absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head there. Removal is obviously a big business. And and I'd like to add to what you said.

Sarah Vogel: 29:52

Oftentimes, it's born out of, well, I've already got this clientele from my landscaping company. I'm gonna get a bucket truck and do some of that because it's been requested from my clients. And so just that move from one to the other, there's a lot more to learn. Right? And and we only know what we know.

Sarah Vogel: 30:10

And so, yes, I don't know that we'll ever run out of trees to remove, but some of the tree care professionals that I talk to, I joke with them and say, you know, if chopping off parts of a tree is the only thing you need to know about tree care, I'm glad you're not a pediatrician. So we wanna learn those those prior steps. Right? You wanna learn how to how and that's things that our tree care professionals should know. Yeah.

Sarah Vogel: 30:41

They're not gonna get as much money in removal, but there's gonna be a lot more trust built up maybe with the community that they're putting in trees that are going to live beyond the first five years because we see a lot of that, things dying because of those those things that I mentioned, the four horsemen of tree failure. Yeah. Exactly right. Into the future, we want we want our tree care professionals not just to know how to remove parts of them or take the whole tree down because it's hanging over the roof. But maybe they invest time and money into learning how to plant them, and that supplements their business.

Sarah Vogel: 31:16

Or, you know, how to how to prune for different different things, like reducing the size, or maybe somebody needs I get a lot of requests for, where do I find somebody that will prune my fruit trees? So food food production could honestly be one. But, yeah, we we want we want our professionals to know more than just that one that one trick.

Jenny Lee: 31:38

Not just our, you know, professionals, but those that are doing and caring for trees on a regular basis within their jobs that aren't necessarily professionals and don't necessarily have the training or the background in tree care and maintenance. So, you know, your park staff and even your seasonal staff that work at parks, your school groundskeepers, your municipality workers, and your lawn care service people. I mean, you know, a lot of schools will contract out to local lawn care services to tend their their grounds, and part of that, you know, tree care is lumped in that contract, and they may not necessarily know proper tree care and maintenance. So we're trying to reach out to those individuals as well.

Chris Enroth: 32:28

Having some conversations with, commercial tree care workers, I can also add that lot of clients, they see the volcano mulching, and they see the tree topping, and they say, I want that. You know, whatever my neighbor did, I you you need to make sure you do that. And so, again, another maybe way to persuade, some of our our tree care professionals to attend is to say, hey, client. Extension said that's not a good idea. So you can point to us and say Mhmm.

Chris Enroth: 32:59

This is your reasoning for, following best practices when it comes to tree management.

Sarah Vogel: 33:04

Yes. And that's the exactly the reason, you know, if if the client wants it, that means we need to help educate the client too, right, and the people in our community. So, again, our hobbyists are are sing single family, single person that has a yard with a tree. Keep an eye out, for more information to come out. If, if you get a hold you know, you as a as a viewer of Good Growing podcast, if you get a hold of this information and maybe the tree care community tree care series isn't something that you would enjoy, please pass it along, the opportunity to, local people, in your community, you know, whether that is your tree care professionals, your park staff, the guy who mows the cemetery, whoever may be out there.

Sarah Vogel: 33:49

Please pass it along because we think that it's great information that everybody could make use of.

Chris Enroth: 33:54

Well, that was a lot of great information about a wonderful upcoming online series and followed up by an in person series about community tree care. I am super excited. Sign me up, guys. I'll I I will be there. Well, the Good Growing podcast is a production of University of Illinois Extension, edited this week by me, Chris Enroth.

Chris Enroth: 34:16

A special thank you to Sarah Vogel, Jenny Lee. Thank you both for being here this week and talking all about the community tree care series.

Sarah Vogel: 34:25

Our pleasure. Thanks for having us.

Jenny Lee: 34:27

Sounds great. Thanks, guys.

Chris Enroth: 34:28

And of course, a special thanks to Ken Johnson in Jacksonville for hanging out with me today. Sorry, Ken, we didn't talk about bugs. I tried to throw Emerald Ash Borer in there for you, but it's about the best I could do today.

Ken Johnson: 34:42

That's right. We had a good run.

Chris Enroth: 34:44

We did.

Ken Johnson: 34:46

Thanks, Sarah and Jenny. Was good. I'll get my credit card out here and sign up. And thanks for being on. Chris, again, thank you as always, and let's do this again next

Chris Enroth: 34:55

week. Oh, we shall do this again next week. We are gonna be answering your late fall winter questions, so send them in to us. Our emails are in the show notes below. Plus, Ken, I don't think we followed up on all the weird stuff that we grew this year.

Chris Enroth: 35:09

So we have to give a report what went well in the garden and what didn't go well. I think I know what category I'm gonna fall mostly into. So Me too. Yeah. Listeners, thank you for doing what you do best, and that is listening, or if you're watching us on YouTube watching.

Chris Enroth: 35:25

And as always, keep on growing.