News stories tagged with "trees"

(03/15/11) The pails are up and the sap is flowing. Weather plays a large part in the making of maple syrup. Last year's early spring ended the syrup production season abruptly in some parts of the state. Entering this year's maple syrup season, which usually runs from early March to mid-April, maple producers are eager to put last year behind them. Todd Moe spoke with a couple of syrup producers who say conditions are ideal for the start of the North Country's sweetest season.

(02/14/11) It's still too early for serious pruning outdoors. But horticulturist Amy Ivy has some tips for cutting younger branches from spring-flowering trees and forcing them into early bloom indoors, long before the trees outside are beginning to open their buds.

(02/15/10) Martha Foley and horticulturist Amy Ivy have tips for nurturing small seedlings this spring.

(12/22/09) It's the holidays... which for some of us means time to deck the halls with boughs of holly and, oh yeah, pick out a Christmas tree. We sent reporter Jennifer Guerra to find out which tree is greener - real or artificial. more

(10/08/09) Trees may live for hundreds, thousands of years, but there are limits on their growth. Trees can only move so much water, and only to a certain height. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss the hydrology of trees.

(08/13/09) If you've driven almost anywhere in the North Country this summer, you've probably seen those purple boxes hanging by the side of the road. They're traps for an invasive bug that threatens to decimate New York's ash trees, about 8% of the state's forests. The emerald ash borer was found in New York two months ago, in the western New York town of Randolph. Federal and state environment officials destroyed that stand of ash trees. And they've hung more than 5,000 of the purple traps, half in the North Country, to see if they find any more emerald ash borers. So far, they haven't. Russell Martin is a forest technician for the Department of Environmental Conservation. He lives in Newton Falls and he's logged more than 12,000 miles in a Chevy Venture van setting and checking on the purple traps. David Sommerstein joined Martin on an expedition off Route 11 between Canton and Potsdam.

(06/22/09) Last week, New York's Conservation Department announced that yet another invasive species has arrived in the state. This one, the Emerald ash borer, could be devastating. Millions of trees have already been ravaged by the tiny, green beetle, from Michigan to southern Canada. Brian Mann spoke with Robert Davies, head of the DEC Division of Lands and Forests.

(04/20/09) Buds are swelling on trees around the region, but there is still time to prune this month. Martha Foley chats with horticulturist Amy Ivy about another early spring garden chore.

(03/31/09) Right around now, anyone with a sugar bush is busy with the business of turning maple sap into syrup. It's a familiar rite of spring for many, and a delightful discovery for others. Tim Driscoll has been helping one friend or another with syrup season since childhood. About a dozen years ago, Tim and some of his old pals decided to revive a neglected sugar bush on the edge of Eldon Lindsay's dairy farm, in Kars, Ontario. They built a very simple sugar shack out of recycled barn board -- a grizzled clubhouse in the woods. The four friends sell just enough syrup to cover their costs. It's where sap boils away amid tall trees and quiet beauty. Ottawa reporter Lucy Martin dropped by to sample fresh sap, syrup and stories.

(03/09/09) Martha Foley and horticulturist Amy Ivy share tips and ideas on forcing birch, cherry and maple cuttings to bloom indoors this season.