Knowledgebase
Trio of Qs #871717
Asked June 05, 2024, 1:00 PM EDT
Here's a threefer for your consideration:
• Along one boundary edge of my property I maintain a natural, unpruned treescape, woodlot in character, mostly fully mature oaks. Over time some of the trees have fallen due to wind and lighting strikes and disease. Is best practice to allow these trees to remain in place, decompose and return to the soll? Is spreading oak wilt a potential problem on removal?
I get a whiff of stink eye from a nearby neighbor with a more rigid sense of "control " over his own yardscape.
• In two of my beds with mixed perennial plantings, over the last couple seasons the leather fern or leather-back fern has exploded in spread, choking out competition. While I appreciate the dinosaur-style beauty and quality of ferns, they are becoming overbearing. Do you have recommendations on thining, like when and how? Are these tranplantable?
• Lastly any tips on reducing the spread of lillies of the valley? Their roots are nearly impossible to extricate. Like to avoid the chemicals. Ditto on buckthorn. They seem nasty and relentless. Control measures, please.
Thanks for your insights. Charlton
Oakland County Michigan
Expert Response
I can address the trees but, we have different experts for flowers and ferns. Would you please open a new question for those plants? That way, the question can be directed to that area of expertise. ( It also helps us account for how many questions in each expert category we answer each season, when they are submitted separately)
There are benefits to wildlife and the ecosystem to leaving dead trees in a forested area.
https://extension.psu.edu/dead-wood-for-wildlife
However, diseased oaks should be removed, as should any trees which could impact people or property by suddenly falling in a storm, or just falling due to decay. A good example would be the danger to children playing in the area and climbing on the trees. Other risks to consider are do the trees present a risk to a building, power lines, people sitting beneath the trees, vehicles parked nearby, fences below the trees?
If an oak has oak wilt, there is a special protocol to remove it so that wilt isn’t transmitted to other nearby oaks. Here is the oak wilt bulletin with more information and some links to follow for more details-
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/worried_about_oak_wilt
Have a certified arborist out to confirm you are not dealing with oak wilt or other diseases. You can find them by zip code search here-
http://www.treesaregood.org
