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Understanding Winter Desiccation
Colorado’s winters are tough!
If you’ve ever seen brown needles on an evergreen in February, or a normally healthy tree struggling to leaf out in spring, there’s a good chance you’re looking at winter desiccation or freeze damage.
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Why Winter Watering Is Critical For Tree Health
Colorado’s cold season may look quiet and dormant, but below the surface, your trees are still very much alive. One of the most important — and most overlooked — pieces of advice I give homeowners is this: Don’t forget to water your trees in winter.
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How Climate Change In Colorado Is Affecting The Urban Forest
Colorado’s climate has always been challenging for trees. High elevation, dry air, intense sunlight, and temperature swings make it a tough environment even in normal conditions. But over the last decade, our urban forests…
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How Road Salts Can Damage Your Trees
Every winter, communities rely on road salts to melt ice and keep streets safe. While salt helps people travel safely, it can be quietly harmful to trees along roads, driveways, sidewalks, and parking areas. Each spring, we get calls from homeowners wondering why the trees closest to the street look stressed, discolored, or dying—while trees farther from the road look completely healthy.
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Understanding Co-Dominant Unions
When homeowners look at a tree, they usually notice the canopy, the shade, or the overall shape—but what matters most to a tree’s structural safety is how the branches and stems are attached. One of the most common structural defects in urban trees is something called a co-dominant union, and it plays a major role in why trees split or fail during storms, heavy snow, or high winds.
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Why Bark Beetles Thrive on the Front Range
Bark beetles are native to Colorado forests—so why are they causing so much damage now? A combination of environmental factors has converged over the past several years, creating ideal conditions for bark beetle populations to thrive. Prolonged drought, warmer winters, and stressed trees have reduced natural defenses…
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The Importance of Pruning Your Trees
As an arborist, I often tell homeowners that pruning is one of the most valuable—and most misunderstood—forms of tree care. Many people assume that because trees grow naturally in forests without intervention, the same should apply in a residential landscape. But your yard is not a forest, and your trees face very different conditions.
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The Best Trees to Plant in Colorado Yards
Planting a tree in Colorado is an investment that can last generations. Whether it’s for shade, privacy, beauty, or to increase property value, the tree you choose today will shape your yard—and your neighborhood—for decades. But Colorado isn’t an easy place to grow trees. Dry air, alkaline soils, intense sun, sudden cold snaps, and long drought cycles all create challenges.
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When Your Tree Might Be at Risk of Failing
Trees are strong, resilient living structures. They withstand storms, wind, snow loads, and decades of growth. But like any living organism, trees can experience structural problems that increase the risk of failure—especially as they age, face harsh weather, or develop hidden defects. As certified arborists, our job is to identify these risks early and help homeowners keep their trees safe and hea
Great Western Tree Care
Mon - Fri: 8a to 5p
9575 Spruce Mountain Rd
Larkspur, CO 80118
(720) 535-8769