Purchase a quality tree to last a lifetime

   Trees are expensive additions to our properties. They are around for our lifetimes, if we care for them well enough. One of the best things we can do is to purchase a quality tree to start.
    Here are some of the things to watch for when purchasing a tree. Three major items to pay attention to and look for on leaves and trunk are: injury, disease or structural problems.
    Injury can be very apparent on the leaves or the trunk. If the leaves do not look healthy green then move onto the next tree. Watch and make sure the leaves have no deformity, twisted stems or galls on the underside. It will be harder to look for mites, but other insects may leave holes or curl the leaves.
    Get to know the tree and its diseases or shortcomings before you start looking at area nurseries. If you don’t spend the time doing that then when you get to the nursery and look at the same species in a row and one looks odd, don’t buy the odd looking one.
    One good reference to check on the characteristics of trees is “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” by Michael Dirr. Your local library may have it or request it. He gives a comprehensive description of each tree species along with disease and insect issues.
    Here is a short list of pre-existing weaknesses:
    —Soft areas such as cankers or weeping areas on the trunk such as wet wood or slime flux in elms.
    —Cracks along the trunks. This can happen when a tree lives through a severe storm. Torsion cracks have a spiraling along a trunk, which is a sign that this tree was in a violent storm. Cracks can also mean damage from frost.
    —More than one leader coming from the main trunk that is at the same juncture means there will be no strong branch unions and the tree could split apart in the future.
    —Girdling roots are a big issue with containerized trees. If you are looking at containerized trees, remove the tree from the container and see if the roots are circling around the base of the pot. When you go to plant it, spread them out or cut through them and redirect the roots. I have seen 40-year-old trees topple because no one thought about doing this when it was planted. After 40 years, no one wants to discover the trunk was compressed at the base by girdling roots.
    —Decay along the trunk might appear as a different color from the bark. Watch for an open wound or mushrooms growing at the base or along the trunk. Not that this has happened, but you never know.

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