SAVE YOUR ASH TREE

Click to learn how to protect your tree from emerald ash borer (EAB).

>

KEEP SPRUCES HEALTHY

Are the tips of your older spruce turning brown or losing needles? Click to learn more.

>

PLANT HEALTH CARE REPORT

Click to access the latest information on plant diseases and insect pests in our area

>

The Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic provides a service to the community, Arboretum Members, homeowners, professionals, and to the green industry. Its purpose is to promote sound management practices and answer questions on plant related problems, including selection of trees, shrubs and other plants appropriate for the Midwest, diagnosing and managing insect and disease problems, and general plant care.

Featured articles and help

• Trees & Shrubs For The Four Season Landscape

  Most gardens offer a bounty of color and beauty for short, intense flowering periods in spring and early summer, and again during fall color. A garden that commands attention and excites interest throughout the year doesn't just happen--it's...

• Trees and Shrubs That Attract Birds

  It takes more than a feeder and a birdbath to make your yard truly bird friendly. Birds need a complete habitat that provides food, shelter, nesting areas, and singing posts from which to defend their territories. Factors to Consider When...

• Invasive Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

  Identifying Invasive Plants When settlers began gardening, they had a constant struggle to keep the natural ecosystem from invading and overwhelming their small cultivated patches. Today, humans have so altered the Midwest landscape that the...

• Spruce Diseases

  CYTOSPORA CANKER Cytospora canker, caused by the fungus Cytospora kunzei (also known as Valsa kunzei var. piceae), is the most prevalent and destructive fungal disease of Norway and Colorado blue spruce. Occasionally, Cytospora canker is found on...

• Pruning Trees

  WHY Pruning is done for a variety of reasons. Most pruning is aimed at improving structure and safety, or for controlling size. Other objectives can be to open vistas, repair storm damage, and provide clearance for structures and traffic. Good...

• Pruning Deciduous Shrubs

  The objectives of pruning shrubs are to maintain vigor, remove damaged or diseased branches, help maintain the natural size and shape of a plant, and improve flowering and fruiting. There are four basic pruning techniques used for maintaining...

• Pruning Evergreens

  Evergreen refers to a group of plants that retain their foliage during winter. Most evergreens have a strong central branch leader, which requires little pruning except to control plant height, increase the density of branching, or to shear into...

• Winter Injury to Trees and Shrubs

  The frequency and severity of winter damage is determined by a number of factors, including the plant species or cultivar involved, the location and conditions under which the plant is grown, and the exact timing of weather extremes during the...

• Animal Damage

  Deer Damage Deer can cause two types of damage to plants: rubbing or battering by antlers and browsing. Battering usually occurs prior to the deer's rutting season, in late summer and early fall, as male deer rub their antlers against young trees,...

• Choosing an Arborist

  Choosing an arborist is similar to choosing any contractor. You should do some research and consider everything from the first impression to final cost. A tree that takes decades to grow can be destroyed or disfigured in minutes if the arborist is...