Blog | Legacy Tree Solutions

At Legacy Tree Solutions, we are passionate about nature – and we want to bring the magic of the natural world to your home. On this blog page you’ll find tips and information that can help you make decisions about your surroundings. Please read through the articles and get started expanding your knowledge.

We find that most of our clients can tackle many landscape tasks, but when it comes to trees, people often need more support. Perhaps you have a problem tree and wonder if you need tree removal in Cortez. Or, maybe you have many overgrown trees on your property in Dolores, but tree trimming strikes you as possibly too costly. If you’re not sure where to start, team up with us. We’ll bring you our deep understanding of trees, plants, soil, climate, pests, and more, and work with you to create a healthier, safer, and more beautiful landscape.

Tree Storm Damage: Prevention and Wound Care

We just had some serious storms come through Cortez and the surrounding county. Several trees received serious damage while other had nothing. Why is that? Here are some answers: Which way was the wind blowing? Usually our winds come out of the west. Trees, like humans, can respond to a load (weight or any force exerted on a tree) by reinforcing cell walls and tissue structure to strengthen parts of the tree. A consistent wind from the west will cause the tree to reinforce th

trmontano

Aug 74 min read

Drought Stress — What's Really Going On

The main strategy trees employ in dealing with our hot dry summers is the ability to close off their stomata. If you remember from biology class, the stomata are the little openings on the underside of the leaves that allow for gas exchange into the tissues of the leaves. CO2 drifts into the stomata where it is critical for photosynthesis. The stomata also happen to be the exit site for water as it leaves the leaf and drives photosynthesis. This is important, as the water eva

trmontano

Jul 12 min read

Our spring weather has stressed your trees; here's how to help them through summer

Because of an unusual spring, some of you may have noticed some alarming leaf and needle death in your trees. Here is what is going on. When a certain number of winter/spring days average above a temperature threshold, plants and insects will begin developing for the upcoming season. We call thpis Growing Degree Days. (click here to learn more). Our unusually warm winter and spring triggered this development earlier than usual. For trees, this process entails transforming st

trmontano

May 132 min read

How to train your trees to survive the drought

Trees are like people, they will adjust their behavior to whatever their environment is giving them. If a tree is getting water everyday, it will grow its roots shallowly and it will expand its water conducting vessels to maximize an ample supply of water. It will also put on large solar arrays of leaves because it is in no way short on water. If the water suddenly gets turned off, that same tree is susceptible to serious tissue damage in several ways. The first thing it wil

trmontano

Mar 133 min read

How Trees Take Up Water

Lissa Farrington

Feb 40 min read

The Root of the Issue for Trees

There are many misconceptions about roots, such as the roots of trees being strictly outside the drip line (outer branches) of the trees, or that trees have a tap root that grows deep into the earth. I hope I can shed som e light on this dark and mysterious aspect of trees. Besides anchoring the tree to the ground and storing extra sugars and other precious nutrients, the main purpose of roots is to actively collect resources. Trees are extremely good at seeking out resource

trmontano

Jan 125 min read

Why Are My Trees Turning Yellow?

A chlorotic maple - note the green veins Yellowing leaves is a symptom in trees called chlorosis. This is a situation in which the...

trmontano

Aug 18, 20253 min read

How much water is enough?

How much should I be watering my trees? It's a question I get all the time. The answer is: it depends. Let's look at some of the details that will influence your tree's watering needs: What is the species of the tree? This will inform us what its native growing environment would be. Our native trees such as Piñon and Juniper do not need much, if any, supplemental water if they seeded and grew themselves. If they were planted into the landscape then they will need some suppl

trmontano

Jul 25, 20255 min read