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Category: Blog

A Plus TreeA Plus BlogBlog
23 Feb 2021
water_sprouts
0 Comments By Sophia Huang Blog, Tree Care , , , , , , , ,

5 Tree Myths…Debunked

[caption id="attachment_11862" align="alignright" width="300"] Rapid growth of weak branches on overly pruned tree.[/caption] Canopy Loss in Trees, Young Tree Pruning,  and Tree Disease... 1. The More I Cut, the Less Often I Have to Prune Over-pruning can make trees undergo growth spurts because they're trying to compensate for canopy loss. Canopy loss results in a reduction of photosynthesis that fuels the tree. The rule of thumb is to never prune more than 25% of the living canopy. Prune more than this, and you may find yourself contending with a lot of rapid-growing shoots. The tree is expending energy stored in...

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19 Jan 2021
chlorosis_leaves
0 Comments By Sophia Huang Blog, Tree Management , , , ,

3 Causes of Chlorosis in Trees

Yellow trees against autumn skies are a beautiful sight. But yellow trees year round are a sign of unhealthiness and decline. While drought, pests, and chemical burns can cause non-seasonal leaf yellowing, one of the most common causes for this is chlorosis. What is Chlorosis? Chlorosis is leaf yellowing from chlorophyll loss. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that enables trees to convert sunlight into sugars. To make chlorophyll, trees need sufficient quantities of nutrients like magnesium, iron, and nitrogen. Without these, leaves gradually lose chlorophyll and eventually starve the tree. Some of the most common nutrient deficiencies are iron and...

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16 Oct 2020
madrone lignotuber
0 Comments By Sophia Huang Blog , , , ,

The Hidden Power of Lignotubers

Rising from the ashes... [caption id="attachment_11659" align="alignleft" width="194"] Circle of redwoods, aka fairy ring, growing out of shared stump and lignotuber.[/caption] Take a stroll through the redwood forest, and you will notice rings of redwood trees ascending from a shared parental stump. Look closely at the ring's center, and you may see the charred remains of the parent tree nearly obliterated by past forest fires. Yet, redwoods can resurrect themselves from their semi-buried lignotubers. What are Lignotubers? Lignotubers, also known as basal burls or bud collars, are the swollen growth at the base of many trees. The term comes from...

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09 Oct 2020
0 Comments By Sophia Huang Blog, Tree Management , , ,

Tree Care: 3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts

Easy Tips for Healthy Tree Success! Do you have unhealthy trees on your property in need of a little TLC? No matter how young or old, how small or large your trees are, these 3 easy DO'S and DON'TS will help ensure strong, healthy trees that provide assets, instead of liabilities, to your landscape. Do: 1. Prune Well Young tree pruning establishes sound structure, removing any weak and competing branches. This is called structural pruning and ensures fewer tree failures as the tree grows. When the tree is mature, prune as needed to reduce end weight on heavy branches, which...

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06 Jul 2020
0 Comments By Sarah Gaskin Blog, Field Ops, MonthlyPlus

Humble and Heroic: The A Plus crew rescues another life

Jayce, Julian, and the crew were driving back to the yard when a tow truck slammed into a sedan right in front of them. The sedan flew off the road, rolled, and landed upside-down into the adjacent water canal. Without hesitation, Jayce stepped on the gas to get even closer, brought the truck to a stop, then he and Julian jumped out. The driver of the sedan was trapped inside, screaming for help and gasping for air as the water filled up. For what felt like 5 min, they tried to break the window with rocks (which is harder than...

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01 Jul 2020
0 Comments By Sarah Gaskin Blog, MonthlyPlus, Weekly Wisdom

MonthlyPLUS Newsletter: JUNE 2020

JUNE, you made the heart swoon. Happy end of another month! Not a month goes by in A Plus where we seem to break a new record, or tackle a crazy insane job, or in this case...rescue another life. Yes, this happened again. First, it was Ingalls who rescued a man in the woods. Then, last week, it was Jayce and his crew. Read the full story here (we posted as a separate post) ...   ENDLESS WEEKS AT BURNEYS Nick, Kyle, Jade, Juan, Tanner, Steve, and their crews have been on consecutive projects in the California woodlands of Burney...

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06 Jun 2020
0 Comments By Sarah Gaskin A Plus CARES, Blog

Love and Respect.

During the first weeks of the Black Lives Matter protests, while many pushed out statements to show their support in the movement, we also took the time to discuss, examine, and evaluate our own A Plus culture and structure. Our CEO wrote an internal message to the entire A Plus team. We wish to share some snippets of his heartfelt sentiments: “I cannot share enough that it has been, it is, and will continue to be my life’s work to develop, foster, influence, lead, coach, mentor, and learn how to provide a SAFE place for everyone to work. Myself, along...

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01 Jun 2020
0 Comments By Sarah Gaskin Blog, MonthlyPlus

MonthlyPLUS Newsletter: MAY 2020

MAYbe, we are just that good. Well team, we've done it again! Another excellent month of SAFELY performing essential services to our community. Our safety record is running strong and we are even better than we were this time last year. Operating through another month where many counties are still shelter-in-place, we're very proud of our A Plus team. We've proven time again that we're not afraid of challenges and it seems we thrive in finding solutions. We've also got some pretty cool stories to share. So, enjoy!   AN UNSTOPPABLE CREW WITH RAVE REVIEWS [caption id="attachment_11359" align="aligncenter" width="607"] Anthony,...

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01 May 2020
0 Comments By Sarah Gaskin Blog, MonthlyPlus

MonthlyPLUS Newsletter: APRIL 2020

So long APRIL, we don't miss you! Hola A Plus friends, We successfully flew through another month here at A Plus, and during the strangest times we've known in our life! We sincerely hope every one of you and your loved ones are well and taken care of. And yet again, we maintained another incredible month of safety. We can't thank all of you enough for continuing to take our #1 DONE seriously: DONE SAFELY. The crews continue to crush it and handle the work like PROs, while adjusting to the ever-changing norms. Since we haven't been able to get...

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26 Feb 2020
0 Comments By Stacy McIntosh Blog, Field Ops , , ,

Emergency Tree Work in Foster City – Monterey Pine Crushes Car!

I want to take a moment to recognize the professional and amazing work of the Alameda crew! Thank you to Danny, Daniel, Jose, and our newest members Callo and Andre! I got a call at 3:30 this morning from a client saying a 38"DBH Monterey pine had fallen... and smashed a car! Thankfully, no one was hurt. I rushed to the job site to survey the damage and found many of Foster City's Public works and Police department on the scene already - they were so worried about the situation and could not imagine how we would get this tree...

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