Native Plants
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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Tuesday - October 27, 2015
From: kyle, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Diseases and Disorders, Trees
Title: Precautions regarding pruning live oaks in the Austin area.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
Is it still recommended that we clean pruning shears and spray wounds when pruning live oaks in the Austin area?ANSWER:
I forwarded your question to Eric Beckers who is the Staff Forester with the Texas A&M Forest Service, and this is his response.
Yes we still recommend sanitizing tools between oaks or groups of oaks, and we certainly encourage the painting of all wounds on oaks. We also encourage the avoidance of wounds to oaks from February through June, and strongly recommend the destruction of oak wilt diseased red oaks.
The attached official pruning guidelines are for your information. This and other preventative information can be found at www.texasoakwilt.org
Thanks for asking,
Eric Beckers
Staff Forester
Texas A&M Forest Service
He also provided this link about pruning oak trees.
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