Porcupines are nocturnal, solitary animals that most people are unaware of unless they see the damage they can cause to trees. Porcupines feed on the young bark, leaves and terminal twigs of trees. Damage is usually found high up in the branches of trees but can be found anywhere in the branches and even on the trunk of trees.             Porcupines prefer the inner bark, or phloem, which is more nutritious than the cambium or xylem tissue.              They use their teeth to scrape the bark, producing grooved tooth marks about 5mm wide. Smaller tooth marks are [...]

Establishing trees in the summer comes with its own set of challenges. Trees CAN be established in the summer, but it is necessary to understand the importance of consistent watering. I have always preferred hand-watering to any form of irrigation, as it requires a “hands on” approach and leaves nothing to chance. The tree that you bring home has a root system, in a pot, that has been providing water and nutrients for the entire canopy of that tree while being grown in the nursery setting. When you plant the tree in the ground, that does not change. That root system is intrinsically tied to every leaf on that tree. [...]