Making the Cut: Proper Pruning Techniques to Give Young Trees a Strong Start As we begin another annual pruning cycle at the Arboretum, it’s a good time to highlight the importance of proper pruning—especially for young trees. Most of our
The Hickories – Carya sp. While oaks may be our primary focus at Starhill Forest Arboretum, we could hardly call ourselves stewards of an oak-hickory forest without giving the genus Carya—the hickories—a strong presence in our collection. The genus Carya
Proper pruning techniques to get young trees off to a great start (This article was first published in our Spring 2020 Newsletter) We’re wrapping up another annual pruning cycle at the Arboretum. The majority of our pruning is completed in
This article was first shared in our Fall 2015 newsletter: An exciting opportunity to add an extremely rare tree species to the Starhill Forest collection arose this year. The Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia) is a critically endangered small tree in
BLACKJACK OAK There are few Illinois native oaks one might consider small or even medium in size, but blackjack oak fits the bill. Commonly found growing in poor soil, particularly xeric sandy or rocky sites throughout west-central into southern Illinois,