Article in The Narwhal
Kyle was interviewed by Leah Borts-Kuperman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, with The Narwhal, a Canadian non-profit journalism organization focusing on fact-based journalism about our natural world. The article is about the threat that DIY mushroom-growing kits pose to our ecosystem: Golden oyster mushrooms are invading Ontario forests and altering how our forests grow, decompose and nurture important native mushrooms.
https://thenarwhal.ca/golden-oyster-mushrooms-invasion/
Spring Workshop Series
The first installment of our spring workshop series took place on March 28 and we had a wonderful group of engaged professionals in attendance. Here’s some of what they said about what they liked about the workshop:
“Going out to get a hands on approach with real world examples; Engaging with off topic questions to aid in well rounded understanding; Great learning environment!”
“Completely engaged with the entire presentation; Abundance of information, detailed explanations, all the connections between topics, including off topic tangents. Kept my mind engaged and excited throughout. Also, great location. Great pairing between you both!”
Our next two workshops are:
Fungamentals 2: Small Tree Planting, Pruning and Preservation – April 18 in St George, ON for $245+HST
Fungamentals 3: Practical Root Management and Air Excavation – May 9 in St George, ON for $285+HST
Designed for arborists and tree care professionals, these two full-day workshops in our Fungamentals series go in-depth into the interplay of trees and fungi and the importance of having this knowledge in our industry.
All days are limited to 15 participants. Lunch is provided, CEUs available and all attendees receive a Fungamentals ID Field Guide.
Get in touch for more information!
Registration closes for our April installment on Monday, April 13 at 5:00 pm.
CBC Radio – Fresh Air
It has been an exciting start to the year in the CBC studio as Fresh Air’s long time producer, Helen Bagshaw has retired. We wish her all the best as she starts this exciting new chapter of her life!
We welcome Samantha Lui as the show’s new producer and we look forward to working with her.
The next tree health call-in segment on CBC Radio’s Fresh Air program will be Saturday, May 2 starting at 8:30 am.
Kyle had the pleasure to be in-studio for the first time back in February to talk face-to-face with Ismaila Alfa and conduct their tree health call-in segment.
IQQQ – Damaged Bark & Tree First Aid
Question:
CBC listener – We recently returned from a week away and discovered a superficial removal of bark on a black lace elderberry and a lilac tree. Will they heal themselves, or do we have to take any action to help them repair?
Answer:
This is a common problem coming into springtime, especially after a harder, longer winter, as mammals tend to chew the base of trees and shrubs to try and get some sustenance. I’ve experienced this myself with losing trees, as have a number of clients.
Your best strategy here is to approach this from a tree first aid perspective. We need to bandage the wound while the wood is moist in the hopes that there are some cambium cells remaining that will be able to form a callus over that wounded tissue. Kind of like a scar. The amazing thing is this callus tissue actually has all of the properties of undamaged tissue and in a number of years can even lead to the wound being invisible.
What you need to do is take either thumbtacks or a staple gun and fix thick, black plastic pond liner or, in the case of an elderberry, you might be able to use something smaller. Once the black wrap has been applied, leave it for a full year. The idea is over the course of the year the unwounded parts of the tree will help to divert resources to this damaged piece and the black plastic wrap will help to prevent the wound from drying out. Once you remove it, you should expect to see some recovery. Don’t expect 100%, that doesn’t exist in nature. You can take this approach with everything from trees damaged by mammals over the winter to other circumstances like tree trunks getting hit by cars, and you have a recipe on your hand for a very useful technique that can do a lot of good with trees with a very small amount of work.
Best of luck to you!