The March Ramble: Tree Trimming, Maple Sugaring, Bluebirds

March has certainly lived up to its reputation. Not so much as a lion, but we’ve certainly gotten and may still get a bit of everything. I had actually thought it was going to be colder, but we’ve had our spattering of snow, sleet, rain and sparsity of sun.

However, the National Phenology Network maps, which are based on the blooming of certain trees and temperature reports, are indicating that the area is as much as 20 days ahead of normal and has the potential to experience one of the warmest springs in 40 years. Reminds me about an article I read years ago that said it was only a matter of time before lemons would be growable in southern Jersey.

It’s been about 10 years since I had any tree work done around the house so last fall I had my favorite arborist drop by so we could set up some work. The last large maple near the house had a suspect twin trunk along with other safety pruning that needed to be done. I also knew that the white birch outside my office needed to have a leader removed because I was watching squirrels jump from the limbs onto the roof. I’ve been through gray squirrels and flying squirrels in the attic, and I didn’t want to have a repeat of sleepless nights, especially with the flying squirrels, which are nocturnal. And yes, there are flying squirrels on the East End, but most of you will never see them since they’re only active at night.

The estimate came in at around $8,000, and I asked that the work be done when the ground was frozen. In early March, the crew with three trucks and some fascinating new machines showed up. Since the ground was fairly soft, rubber mats were used for protection, but with one of the machines the mats weren’t necessary.

The first machine was a long flatbed truck with an articulated boom tucked behind the cab. No more tree climbing. It’s all done by machines for the most part. The articulated boom is extended as the three sections are unfurled using a remote control with buttons and a joystick. A gamer’s delight for sure. The boom extended to the top of an ash tree that was dead. Atop the boom is a box-like gizmo, and out of the front of the box two arms extended and wrapped around the treetop. The arms fully attached to the tree in a woody embrace and silently a chainsaw emerged from the box, sliced off the top of the tree and then the arms lowered the 6-foot section of trunk down to the ground.

This action is repeated several times, and in a fraction of the time a climber could have done the work, the tree is downed, trimmed and ready to be next year’s firewood. No ropes, no climber, no branches or tree pieces hitting anything below in the gardens or hitting the barn a few feet away.

Out on the road another machine is being readied. It’s on a trailer behind a pickup truck, and once moved off the truck (again with a handheld controller and joystick) the machine elongates like a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon.

The job is to prune and thin a fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) that was overgrown and hanging over the top of the barn. And if you’re looking for an interesting tree with magnificently scented flowers that are magnets for honeybees and others — this is it.

The operator moves the machine, which is on rubber tracks, climbs into the bucket at the end of the two-section articulated lift and rises halfway up the tree to do his work with a small chainsaw. The machine is stabilized with four outriggers, and when in position, he can go up, down, left, right and do all his work while the lift is stable in one position.

Not a twig hit the barn, and no reason to climb this unclimbable mass of multiple trunks, limbs and branches. When done, the bucket is lowered, the arms folded and stabilizers retracted, and the machine moves to its next location on its ground-friendly rubber tracks. The term “boy’s toys” could be appropriate.

Five hours later the crew was done, the one climber was back on earth and my property was safer, though I was a good deal poorer.

It’s maple syruping time, and from lower New York up through Vermont, the annual sugaring season is in full swing. I was driving on a road in Delaware County and passed a mountainside with blue tubing running down, from tree to tree. The main tube, the suction tube that’s attached to all the taps, empties the sweetness into a large stainless-steel vat. Parked a few feet away is a flatbed truck with a 5,000-gallon tank that’s decanting the steel vat.

I stopped to ask a few questions and found that there were 325 trees in this line that were producing about 1,000 gallons of sap for each decant. In all, these trees produce about 20,000 gallons of sap a year. No, the trees are not harmed.

When boiled down in the “sugaring” process, about 400 gallons of pure New York maple syrup is produced and graded by color and sugar content.

Yes, you can do this at home if you have the right size and type of maple tree(s). It’s a great project to do with kids or grandchildren, and much of the material you need (taps, pails, etc.) can be bought locally. Here’s a great link to explain and show how it’s done: bit.ly/3ZYTyM9.

If you’ve got a large open space, like a meadow or open field, you should have bluebird boxes in it. It’s probably too late to get boxes in this year for nesting, but you can still get them installed now for next year. The right box in the right spot is critical, though. Unfortunately, I’ve been seeing bluebird boxes being sold that are not going to work and may actually end up with dead bluebird chicks.

You can get a plan for a bluebird box here, bit.ly/2HGXBWt, and whether you build your own or buy one, the specifications are critical. What I see missing in many of the commercially built boxes is the inside or interior front panel must have horizontal grooves cut into the wood. When the chicks are ready to fledge they use these grooves to climb up and out of the box. Without these grooves, they are doomed. I’ve also noticed nesting boxes with copper and plastic grooves where the birds like to perch. In these cases, they’ll just slide off. What are these people thinking? Maybe these nesting boxes are made where no one knows about or has ever seen a bluebird?

Spacing the boxes is also critical. Tree swallows compete with the bluebirds for these nesting boxes, but if you install two boxes 20 feet apart, the bluebirds will nest in one box and the tree swallows in the other. When installing more than two boxes they should be in sets 300 feet apart to accommodate the birds’ territorial instincts. The size of the entry hole should also be as per the directions. Unfortunately, bluebird boxes won’t work on smaller properties, but maybe you can speak with a local horse farm, vineyard or school that has large athletic fields.

I run 28 boxes in 14 sets for a project I’ve been working on for the Department of Environmental Conservation for the past seven years. I use three-quarter-inch EMT (electric metallic tube) pipe in 10-foot lengths for the posts and attach the box to the post using a three-quarter-inch pipe flange with an EMT adapter. The pipe comes in 10-foot lengths, and you’ll want to cut off 1 foot. This makes it perfect as 3 feet should go into the ground and the box will then end up 6 feet high. The metal pipe discourages mice from crawling up and using the boxes for nesting in the winter, but a few still manage to set up house. In early February, I open each box and clean it out. The bluebirds will not nest in a box that hasn’t been cleaned out.

Why set up these nesting boxes? Well, tree swallows are pretty amazing to watch and the eastern bluebird is in decline and can use our help. Both of these birds feed mostly on flying insects and will eat hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes every day. Keep growing.