Arborists and tree/shrub identification

Question for some of you Arborists and experts in our community. If we took some pictures (and put them here) and asked some basic questions, is it possible for you guys to help identify tree and plant species? I end up with care and maintenance issues but without know what I am dealing with, it gets very hard and frustrating on knowing what to do sometimes... with pruning, fertilizer, etc.

Thanks ahead....

 

I will be glad to give it a shot. I cant promise firm answers/identification from photos, but lets see what you have.

I enjoy a challenge!

 

ok, then let me get organized and get a few. Is it best to have a photo of just the leaf? Or maybe leaf and bark?

 

Best would be leaf, bark and an overall pic of the tree/shrub/perennial.

Also, if you find any insect/cultural problem you cant identify, a pic of that would be great too.

This could be fun. The Arborist game show!

 

ok, I started to get a few shots last night but my 3 year old insisted we go looking for bugs so I was not able to finish. But thanks for the guidance and I will get back with our "first round" later tonight. And yes, we found a really cool spider, I think a type of Wolf spider. Very large and hairy, a grey color and man was he fast. We found him under a mulch bag.

And let me ask this in the meantime. I have about 8 "Dahlia Barbarossa", the really large flowering Dahlia's and what is not clear to me, is what should i do with each blossom after it is "done" and get brown and dried. Should I cut it, and if so, where? I have several colors and so far, they have looked great. And yes the Japanese Beatles like them... a Dutch Treat for them.

 

For your Dahlia- you can cut the flower head off, going down to the next leaf node. Meaning, the next set of leaves you see from the stem. Try to get them before they dry up and go to seed. This should encourage more blooming. Jap beetles get very slow at night, or early morning. One thing I have done, with a small population, is simply shake them off the plant into a plastic bag, tie it up, and that was the end of it. You have to do it a few times, but it helps keep the buggers from eating your flowers.

There are all kinds of cool bugs around Broadlands. I saw a praying mantis shedding his skin this morning, which is something Ive never seen before - quite cool.

 

we just saw that too, the Mantis was on our front steps, very cool. And last night we also found our first tick of the season too - unfortunately. It was on my wife's leg, but had only been there a few minutes so we got him easily. Just a reminder to watch out for these guys in tall grass and shrubs!