PHC Matters

Corrective pruning is a technique meant to maintain or enhance a tree’s health by removing dead, diseased, weak, or otherwise unhealthy or unsafe branches. Corrective pruning can be beneficial to both the tree or shrub as well as the landscape as a whole. See Our Pruning Before and After Gallery Benefits of Corrective Pruning The main benefit of corrective pr…

Growth regulators are a group of chemicals used to modify the various growth processes in plants. These chemicals help with many issues in a plant’s lifecycle, including suppressing vegetative growth and stimulating flowering, controlling plant height, enhancing plant branching, and enabling plants to flower during short-day conditions (during late fall and winter). …

Phytophthora root rot is a common fungal disease that afflicts many plants outdoors and indoors. The condition causes rotting within the plant stem and roots. Young plants are particularly prone to the adverse effects of the disease, but many plants, trees and shrubs can be affected. This article will focus on the causes, symptoms, and potential remedies that may hel…

In May of 2021, we began seeing darkened stems and black moldy growth on crape myrtles in Chester County, carrying over from an insect infestation in the fall of 2020. To recognize that these symptoms were not caused by crape myrtle aphids (common), samples were collected and submitted to the Insect Diagnostic Laboratory at Penn State. These samples revealed the firs…

There is consensus among plant health care professionals that the complex of insect and disease pests in landscape plants is becoming more explosive, harder to predict, and more difficult to manage. As invasive pests like Asian longhorn beetle (1998), brown marmorated stink bug (1998), emerald ash borer (2002), and spotted lanternfly (2014) have been brought in throu…

Homeowners approach us about plant health care, wondering precisely what services are involved and how those services benefit them. While the name sounds simple at first, plant health care encapsulates a wide range of different landscape maintenance techniques and plant health maintenance methods. Homeowners benefit from plant health care services in numerous ways. W…

As homeowners continue to look for ways to keep their landscapes beautiful, one particular solution has been growing in recent years: beneficial insect release. Beneficial insect release is when plant health care experts use insects rather than chemicals to control and manage pest populations. Pests can cause significant damage to a landscape, and releasing certain i…

The most efficient approach to protecting your landscape and plant health is through consistent maintenance and care. Our experts are offering some Plant Care 101 -information about preventive measures and building resiliency within plants. Plant care is also comprehensive and includes several different areas of landscaping and horticulture. Get a Free Plant He…

Malvern, PA – April 12, 2021 – Burkholder Brothers announces the opening of a new plant health care department called Burkholder PHC. This new department will work hand in hand with the Burkholder Landscape design, build and maintenance teams that have been servicing the Delaware valley for the past 30 years. New plant health care services will include all aspects of…