Practical advice on picking, planting, and caring for trees, backed by arborist knowledge and 20+ years of Northern California homeownership.
A fig tree usually fails to fruit for one of six reasons: it is too young, overfed with nitrogen, winter-damaged, short on sun, drought-stressed, or pruned wrong. Here is how to diagnose and fix each one.
Identify and treat adelgids on hemlock, fir, and spruce. Hemlock woolly adelgid is killing eastern hemlocks across 23 states; here is what works and what does not.
Conifer bark beetle deep dive: how to identify mountain pine beetle, southern pine beetle, and Ips engravers on your pines, what to do, and when to call an arborist.
Identify Japanese beetle damage on linden, Japanese maple, and birch, skip the trap that makes it worse, and treat both adults and lawn grubs the right way.
Serpentine trails and blotchy translucent patches on birch, holly, or oak leaves point to leafminers. Contact sprays don't reach them. Here's what does.
Identify and treat scale insects on trees. Tell soft scale from armored scale, time horticultural oil to the crawler stage, and stop sooty mold and honeydew damage.
Which trees to buy and why
44 articlesWhere and how to plant
13 articlesKeep your trees healthy
50 articlesWhen and how to trim
11 articlesGarden projects with trees
12 articlesBrowse everything on the site
130 articlesThe trees worth planting, based on real experience.
Match your yard to the right species.
Get it right the first time.
When, how, and what not to cut.
11 reasons your yard needs them.
9 things to know before you dig.