PORTLAND, Ore. — You may have noticed we’re slowly starting to see the spring colors popping, but the warm temperatures we’ve been seeing followed by cool overnight temperatures are confusing our plants and trees.
One local arborist says plants are more likely to become diseased this time of year because the temperature change can change from one day to the next. There are a couple of simple ways to make sure your plants can handle our transition from winter to spring.
Walk around the Rose City and you’ll see the trees are slowly starting to come back to life. If you ask Dash Schenck who’s an arborist with Davey Tree Expert Company, he says trees and plants are trying to figure out what time of year it is.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen big swings in temperatures, at least for plants. It’s that swing that has some trees becoming more prone to diseases.
He says there are things homeowners can still do to make sure they make it to spring.
“When buds from trees and plants are starting to break you can spray them for leaf disease, once they’re in full bloom you take a break because of the bees you want to be monitoring your trees so you know when those buds are breaking,” says Schenck.
Dash adds if you make sure you’re taking care of your plants through the year with water and fertilizer, they will be able to survive the back and forth we’ve been seeing with our weather.