Posts by Wei Zhang

Stormwater runoff from utility-scale solar farms can be destructive. It doesn’t just erode the soil, but also the profitability when the stormwater-related operating costs and regulatory fines are considered. Low Impact Developments (LID) and Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), e.g. bioswales, bioretention and infiltration basins, are often the choice for stormwater management. Originally developed for populated…

Community forests are vital to our communities’ ecosystems by offering many benefits including providing shade and cooling temperatures, reducing stormwater runoff and flooding, removing pollutants from the air and water, enhancing residents’ overall health, and improving the quality of life in our communities. These benefits, however, can only be realized with healthy mature trees, which take decades…

  Urban trees are vital to our urban ecosystems. Green industry professionals understand the benefits large mature trees provide and their effects on health and quality of life of residents. However, urban trees face various challenges, including soil degradation, pollution (including deicing salts and pesticides), invasive pests, compaction, extreme weather conditions and many other stress…

Most communities have street trees and sidewalks. Either past, present or future designs have created conflicts between tree roots, trunk flares and sidewalks, curbs and gutter, and driveway approaches, walkways, and more competing infrastructure. The first essential step is to consider the trees infrastructure either as valuable or more valuable than the other infrastructure on…

A one-year warranty is a very common specification for landscape projects. One year may be enough for smaller shrubs and plants. However, it takes 2-5 years for medium-sized trees and longer for large-sized trees to successfully establish. Most ball & burlap trees lose 80+% of their root system during digging and transplanting. Container-grown trees come…

The common 1-year warranties on newly planted trees can be a liability for landscapers. For smaller-sized plants, it may be enough for them to establish. But medium- and large-sized trees may take 2-5 or even 10+ years to establish. That is because most farm-grown trees lose 80+% of their root system during transplanting. It has…

Municipalities impose water restrictions during droughts and when water is in shortage. The most commonly restricted areas is landscape irrigation. While lawns can be restored within weeks, it take decades for trees to grow to their mature size, when the benefits of trees are at the maximum. Water restrictions disrupt the growth of the trees…

Free Webinar on April 30th, 2026, 12:00-1:30 PM (EDT) Among some of the common questions regarding urban trees: Why can’t we save all the rain during the winter months for the trees during the summer droughts? Why most trees do not have deep roots? Why compacted soils are bad for your landscape? Why do trees…