Today is Earth Day and it is a day dedicated to preserving our environment through acts of environmental service and advocacy. Each year there is a theme assigned to Earth Day and this year’s theme is “A Billion Acts of Green.” Everyone who wants to take part in Earth Day is encouraged to pledge to commit an “act of green” as a way to be involved. We here at Cartwright Tree Care can’t think of a better way to get involved than by planting a tree!

Did you know that the state of Missouri is home to 77 communities that have been designated as a “Tree City USA” community? Kansas City and several of its surrounding communities, including Grandview, Lee’s Summit, Independence, and North Kansas City have earned this title. This is quite a prestigious recognition bestowed on over 3,400 communities around the nation.

Emerald ash borers have crossed the Mississippi River for the first time and have been found in trees along the West River Parkway in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to KARE11, the Minneapolis-St. Paul NBC affiliate, these invasive insects were first discovered in St. Paul about two years ago. Due to this new infestation, Minneapolis forestry crews will have to cut down about 100 or so trees in the West River Parkway, as well as in the Prospect Park neighborhood, where they were discovered late last year.

Spring is here and that means it is also thunderstorm season in the Kansas City area, so we thought we would take a moment to remind everyone that Cartwright Tree Care offers a 24-hour Emergency Response Service. Any time storms are in the forecast, our response teams are put on alert and will be ready and available to relieve you of the damage caused by limbs and debris that has fallen onto houses, cars and driveways, as well as provide an expert diagnosis of the damage to your trees. They will also determine cost-effective treatment options to restore your trees’ health.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently revealed the results of an 18-year study on 27,000 trees. The study revealed that tree growth, as well as a tree’s ability to produce viable seeds, may be more sensitive to climate change than previously thought. Some of the factors affecting tree growth and reproduction include earlier spring warming and summer drought.

We may be a long way from Pennsylvania, but we love what's going on in Philadelphia lately! The city has quite an ambitious goal for the next several years – to plant 300,000 trees by the year 2015. According to Philly.com, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) helped to jump start the effort yesterday with a new program that provides free trees to the faculty and staff. The goal of the project is to create a more sustainable landscape within the city, as well as create a greener campus at Penn.

Sometimes we like to share information here on the Cartwright Tree Care blog that will be helpful to you in caring for your trees, and sometimes we just like to share information that we find to be interesting or fun. Today is one of those days for interesting and fun information, so we’re going to talk about American’s National Tree – the oak tree.

We may not be landscape architects, but we do know a thing or two about how beneficial trees can be in regards to your landscape. When placed around your property in a strategic manner and maintained properly, trees can enhance the beauty of your home and lawn. But the benefits of trees don’t stop there – trees can in fact help increase your home’s energy efficiency!

A new study out of the Department of Biology at McGill University has shown that large older trees could be very important in the growth of today’s forests. The study was conducted by Dr. Zoë Lindo, a post-doctoral fellow, and Jonathan Whiteley, a doctoral student. The findings of the study highlight the importance of maintaining large old-growth trees in coastal temperate rainforests stretching from Southern Alaska to Northern California, according to Science Daily.

Have you ever put trees and electricity together? The two seem like polar opposites to some, but in the past few years there has been quite a bit of research that links the two together.