Got Nature? Blog

Purdue Forestry & Natural Resources extension specialists gathered for a Facebook LIVE event held May 5th to answer questions on a wide range of topics from woodland management to wildlife habitat, ponds to invasive species and more.

Topics ranged from what to do about moles, voles and Canada geese causing damage in your yard, to how to pick the right tree for your landscape and how to measure the worth of your trees. The presentation also included segments on what to do about algae in your pond to how to know if you need to restock it as well as what to do about invasive plant species and how to protect your trees from deer damage.

Get advice from extension specialists Jarred Brooke, Lenny Farlee, Brian MacGowan, Lindsey Purcell, Rod Williams and Mitch Zischke in the video below.

If you have any further questions feel free to send your questions by submitting our Ask An Expert form.

Resources mentioned:
Purdue Extension – The Education Store
Purdue Report Invasive Species Website
Midwest Invasive Species Network Database
TreesAreGood.org
Find a Forester in Indiana
Improve My Property for Wildlife, Purdue Extension
Online Mole Program, Event May 14th, Purdue FNR Extension
Have you seen a hairless squirrel, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue FNR Extension
Stocking Fish, The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Tree Selection for the “Un-natural” Environment, The Education Store
Selecting a Nuisance Control Operator, The Education Store
Forest Products Price Report (pdf), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Indiana DNR Nuisance Goose Control Options (pdf), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Turtles of Indiana, The Education Store
Salamanders of Indiana, The Education Store
Frogs and Toads of Indiana, The Education Store
Snakes and Lizards of Indiana, The Education Store
Aquatic Plant Management, The Education Store
Native Grasses, The Education Store
Preventing Deer Browsing on Trees/Shrubs, Video, Purdue Extension Youtube Channel

Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Our recent cold mornings resulted in late freeze damage to many trees and shrubs. This damage to newly emerging shoots and leaves follows a few hours of temperatures below the freezing mark. Damage is usually characterized by wilting browning of new growth, particularly leaves and needles. It may take a few days, or until temperatures begin warming again, for damage to become evident.

The photos below reveal some late freeze damage in southern Indiana, shared by a concerned tree owner. It is often dramatic and can cause concern for homeowners and landscapers. Fortunately, the damage is largely aesthetic, and plants will quickly resume growth.

 

 

 

 

What can you expect? Typically, the damaged or dead leaves will fall and new leaves will emerge, although somewhat slowly. A reduction in growth and leaf size can be anticipated as well. Just remain calm and wait for the tree to recover. If the tree was vigorous going into winter and had a good store of carbohydrates, it can withstand an environmental hit such as these cold extremes.

If branches or stems don’t show any evidence of bud or leaf emergence, lightly scratch the bark with your thumbnail. If the green cambial layer is revealed, the tree is likely just slowly emerging from dormancy. If there is no green tissue evident, it is likely dead. Prune out the dead branches to a living later branch and assess the plant.

Resources
Question: What are these pretty green flower shaped growth spots? Will they damage the tree?, Got Nature? Post, Purdue FNR Extension
Iron Chlorosis of Trees and Shrubs, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Tree Diseases: Oak Wilt in Indiana, The Education Store
Tree Diseases: White Pine Decline in Indiana, The Education Store
Mechanical Damage to Trees: Mowing and Maintenance Equipment, The Education Store
Surface Root Syndrome, The Education Store
Tree Appraisal and the Value of Trees, The Education Store

Lindsey Purcell, Urban Forestry Specialist
Purdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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For such a small creature, moles can cause big headaches. Their tunneling behavior can cause extensive damage to turf areas if left unchecked. While the damage is easy to identify, solving it can be tricky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purdue wildlife specialist, Brian MacGowan, shared tips and control techniques including trapping, repellents, toxicants, and cultural methods as well as answer your questions on the topic on Facebook LIVE, Thursday, May 14th.

You can view this topic along with question and answer time on the Purdue FNR Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PurdueFNR/videos/3372718849422210/.

If you have any further questions feel free to place your question in the comment section on our Purdue FNR Facebook page on the video link above or you can send your question by submitting an Ask An Expert form.

Resources
Moles, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Adjuvants and the Power of the Spray Droplet: Improving the Performance of Pesticide Applications, The Education Store
Preventing Wildlife Damage – Do You Need a Permit?, The Education Store
Attract Hummingbirds to Your Yard, Video, Purdue Extension Youtube Channel
How to Stop Woodland Animals from Digging in Your Flower Pots, Video, Purdue Extension Youtube Channel

Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources

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Hummingbirds are a popular attraction in any backyard. The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only species of hummingbird that nests in the Hoosier state. These colorful visitors are migratory and arrive from their wintering grounds around mid-April. So now is the time to place the hummingbird feeders.

Watch this short video to see how easy it is to make and fill your hummingbird feeder along with resources showing when and where they migrate.

Resources
Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Yard (pdf), The Education Store-Purdue Extension
Preventing Wildlife Damage – Do You Need a Permit?, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Managing Woodlands for Birds, The Education Store
Selecting a Nuisance Wildlife Control Professional, The Education Store
How to Construct a Scent Station, The Education Store
Question: How do I properly relocate raccoons from my attic?, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension FNR
Birds and Residential Window Strikes: Tips for Prevention, The Education Store
Nuisance Wildlife, Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources

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Do you have issues with wildlife digging in your flower pots and disturbing or even killing your plants? Extension wildlife specialist Brian MacGowan has a few simple tips that you can try in order to deter these animals and save your plants.

Resources:
Preventing Wildlife Damage – Do You Need a Permit? – The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Selecting a Nuisance Wildlife Control Professional, The Education Store
How to Construct a Scent Station, YouTube, Purdue Extension
Question: How do I properly relocate raccoons from my attic?, Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension FNR
Nuisance Wildlife, Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension Specialist
Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources

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The Purdue Extension Pond and Wildlife Management website has been updated with a contact search function to better help you find the right professional biologist or conservationist in your county to serve your needs.

The newly created County and Habitat Management Contacts page allows individuals to search for experts within their county by simply selecting it from a dropdown menu. Within each individual county is a listing of Indiana Department of Natural Resources contacts, extension specialists and more.

In addition, the contacts page lists various agencies and services that can also help with questions about pond or habitat management. These resources include the Indiana DNR, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Pheasants and Quail Forever, Purdue Extension, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Soil and Water Conservation Districts and event private consultants.

As fishing, hunting and other wildlife recreation continues to be popular in Indiana, Purdue Extension has developed this new program to help Indiana landowners manage their ponds and wildlife.

Along with the search features to help you find professional contacts, you will also find these topics and resources on the website:

• The Pond Ecosystem
• Fish Population Management
• Pond Construction and Maintenance
• Aquatic Vegetation Management
• Evaluating Your Property
• Forest Management
• Grassland Management
• Habitat Management Planning

To better understand and manage pond ecosystems in Indiana for fishing and wildlife habitat this website provides detailed information to help you reach your goals.

Resources:
Salmon and Trout of the Great Lakes: A Visual Identification Guide, The Education Store, Purdue Extension Resource Center
Pond Management: Stocking Fish in Indiana Ponds, The Education Store
The Nature of Teaching: Adaptations for Aquatic Amphibians, The Education Store
Illinois & Indiana Sea Grant, using research, outreach, and education to bring the latest science to communities and their residents
How to Score Your White-tailed Deer, Video, The Education Store
How to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence, The Education Store
Assessing Your Land’s Potential for Wildlife, The Education Store

Jarred Brooke, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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While our FNR Purdue Extension specialists can’t be with you in person at workshops, meetings or in the field right now, they are still here to assist you. Don’t hesitate to reach out.

Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources, purdue.edu/fnr/extension
Ask An Expert

Wendy Mayer, Communications Coordinator
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Diana Evans, Extension & Web Communications Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Many woodland landowners are interested in improving their properties for one of Indiana’s most abundant game animals, white-tailed deer. This publication titled Managing Your Woods for White-Tailed Deer outlines different options landowners have to enhance white-tailed deer habitat in their woodlands. Learn the pros and cons of mature forests vs. young forest stands along with finding answers to these and other questions you may have:

• Can mature forests cause less forage?
• What does lacking oak trees mean for managing deer?
• Which plants do deer eat?

This 16-page publication filled with plants and forest photos is a free download from the Purdue Extension resource center, The Education Store. View other deer publications and video resources as you place keywords in the search field located on The Education Store website.

Resources
Renovating native warm-season grass stands for wildlife: A Land Manager’s Guide, The Education Store, Purdue University
Bovine Tuberculosis in Wild White-tailed Deer, The Education Store
How to Score Your White-tailed Deer, Video, The Education Store
How to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence, The Education Store
Frost Seeding to Establish Wildlife Food Plots and Native Grass and Forb Plantings, Video

Jarred Brooke, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Purdue Landscape Report: We all have heard about dormancy and the restful time of woody plants in our landscapes. That “chill-out” time is nearing the end and it’s time to think about tree maintenance. Trees and shrubs have actually been growing for quite some time, we just can’t see it… yet. Woody plants begin growth after the chilling requirements have been filled. These requirements are different for every plant. Chilling units are hours of time spent above freezing. The number of hours required for chilling varies for different plants from less than 500 to 1,500 hours or more. Many people think the plant is tracking hours below freezing, but in actuality, hours below freezing has no effect on chilling but does increase cold hardiness. Our mild winter and early spring arrival is playing a role in this process.

An important maintenance task is supplemental fertilization during early spring weather, especially if there wasn’t any type of fall fertilization. Let’s take a look at how a tree uses and gains energy during the year to understand why and when trees need good nutrition. After the leaves have fallen there is no way to generate food because without leaves, there is no photosynthesis. There are huge demands on the carbohydrate reserves due to increased metabolic functions to support new leaves, flowers and fruit. Supplemental nutrition can help if storage levels are low or depleted until the new photosynthates are available. That’s a huge demand on its reserves! The tree must rely on stored carbohydrate reserves in its woody parts such as stems and branches to grow. Hopefully, the tree was healthy and developing those reserves going into fall or supplemental nutrition was offered with fall fertilization. If not, then the tree exhausts much of its energy and is in need of new resources.  In some situations, it may be considered safer for the tree to apply fertilizer in the spring. Fall applications, if applied too early in the fall season, can create the risk of forcing the plant into becoming metabolically active right when cold weather hits, creating growth susceptible to freeze damage.

Many woody plants begin the new year’s growth with stored food from the year before. An application of fertilizer in the spring gives an additional boost to this new growth. It is important to note that not all trees and shrubs need fertilization, however, most can benefit from this application, especially the younger actively growing trees. In forests, soils have an abundance of nutrients, but in our landscapes and urban forest areas, that’s not often the case.  As we sweep away leaves, twigs and fallen bark, we’re removing potential recycling of nutrients for the soil. Additionally, the grass around our trees is unnatural and often outcompetes trees for available nutrients and water. That’s why we need to fertilize our trees, spring or fall. Look for signs that your tree is lacking nutrients in the soil. If you see these signs, fertilization may be necessary.

• Shorter than normal annual twig growth
• Undersized leaves that are fewer in number
• Dead branches and branch tips
• Leaf veins darker than leaf margins
• Leaves any other color than dark green, such as yellow or red

However, never fertilize without getting a soil test. If your trees are experiencing any of the above symptoms, have your local arborist inspect the tree to determine the best treatment. Also, Review Consumer Horticulture: Fertilizing Woody Plants (pdf) for more details on fertilizer application techniques and rates.

Now for just a little about tree pruning. All of that new tree growth is going to prompt the pruning activities… be patient!  Once trees start budding and blooming in the spring hold off until after the flush.  Pruning in the spring can limit bloom potential and remove newly expanding leaves that will be needed to produce new food products for energy.

Generally, the best time to prune is several weeks after the spring flush or during the summer months. Early spring pruning should focus primarily on pruning for safety to remove any dead, dying or decayed branches. Aesthetic or structural pruning can be completed much later and when the tree is better prepared to seal those pruning wounds with energy reserves.  For more information refer to the publication Tree Pruning Essentials from the Education Store on pruning topics.

Resources
Consumer Horticulture: Fertilizing Woody Plants, The Education Store, Purdue University
Tree Planting Part 1: Choosing a Tree, Video, The Education Store
Tree Installation: Process and Practices, The Education Store
Tree Pruning Essentials, Video
Corrective Pruning for Deciduous Trees, The Education Store
Tree Pruning: What Do Trees Think?, The Education Store

Lindsey Purcell, Urban Forestry Specialist
Purdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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The Purdue Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Rainscaping Education Program was highlighted in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Education Accomplishments Report (pdf) for fiscal year 2019.

This report highlighted all of NOAA’s greatest accomplishments related to education in five main goal areas: science informed society, conservation and stewardship, safety and preparedness, future workforce and organizational excellence.

The Rainscaping Education Program was featured in the Conservation and Stewardship section of the report. The Purdue Rainscaping Education Program offers state-wide training for Purdue Master Gardeners, conservation agencies and organizations, stormwater professionals and landscape companies and consultants. Through two-day workshop sessions, the program provides an introduction to rainscaping and rain gardens, including segments on site selection, plant selection, garden design, installation, maintenance and community engagement.

“It is wonderful to have the innovative and collaborative work of the Purdue Rainscaping Education Team recognized for its efforts,” Kara Salazar, assistant program leader and extension specialist for sustainable communities said. “The team has been working together since 2013 to develop and implement the interdisciplinary program addressing the need for community education on sustainable landscape practices to prevent polluted runoff.”

Salazar and John Orick, Purdue Master Gardener State Coordinator, are co-leads on the project. View  the full Rainscaping Team.

The featured segment on the Rainscaping program from the NOAA annual report is below.

Resources
What is Rainscaping? Purdue Rainscaping Education Program Video, Purdue Extension
Q&A About Drainage Water Recycling for the Midwest,  The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Become a Purdue Master Gardener, The Education Store
Plan Today For Tomorrow’s Flood, The Education Store

Kara Salazar, Assistant Program Leader and Extension Specialist for Sustainable Communities
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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