Plant Healthy Trees that are Perfect for your Yard Tuesday, March 13th 2007 Plant Healthy Trees that are Perfect for your Yard By Jeff Hansen, President of Hansen?s Tree Service The first sign of spring is so refreshing that you may want to bask in the moment, but you?ve got work to do- that is, if you want to plant trees. Early spring is the best time to plant trees because the cool weather allows tree roots to become established before heavy spring rain and humid summer heat. Read More Spring Lawn Care Leads to a Healthy and Beautiful Wednesday, February 21st 2007 Spring Lawn Care Leads to a Healthy and Beautiful Lawn By Jeff Hansen, President of Hansen's Tree Service If you're like many homeowners, you're probably getting ready to tune up your lawnmowers. But don't mow your lawn just yet: there are many tasks that need to be performed before the first mowing! Even if you neglected some important fall lawn care tasks, April isn't too late to work toward a lush, emerald-green lawn. Read More Early Spring is the Perfect Time for Tree Care Tuesday, February 13th 2007 Early Spring is the Perfect Time for Tree Care By Jeff Hansen, President of Hansen?s Tree Service With the warm weather, the bright sunshine and the green foliage, how can anyone not enjoy springtime? But before you break out the barbeque or get too comfortable relaxing in your yard, there are several tree care steps that must be performed in the early spring to keep your trees looking their best, as well as to prevent disease and storm damage. A Check-up for your Trees Inspecting your trees in the early spring is necessary for their general health. Read More Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10		Get into the Holiday Spirit with Fragrant Firewood Saturday, December 15th 2007 Get into the Holiday Spirit with Fragrant Firewood By Jeff Hansen, President of Hansen??s Tree Service Nothing sets the mood for a holiday gathering like a brightly burning fire. With each gentle flicker of the flame, a fire warms your home as it rejuvenates your soul. But that??s not all: firewood scents your home with fragrances found only in nature. Let??s Get it Started In order to get the most scent out of your fragrant firewood, you must know how to start a steady fire. You should only use seasoned firewood, or wood that has dried for six to twelve months, since it catches fire more easily than freshly-cut wood. Then, in a stove or fireplace, place firestarters or a few crumpled balls of newspaper on the fireplace floor or stove grate. Next, crisscross small, dry kindling on top of the starter or newspaper without packing it too tightly. Begin placing larger pieces of wood on top of the kindling, and the pieces should get bigger as you go up. When filling the fireplace or stove, you might want to combine both softwoods, which easily ignite, and hardwoods, which can burn for a long time. Stop filling the fireplace or stove with wood when it is over two-thirds full. Next, light the starter. If the fire is in a stove, keep the damper and draft control completely open at first. You might even want to keep the stove door slightly open until the wood catches fire. After there is a steady fire, keep it going by making sure that there is always a flame and by adding more wood if the fire starts to weaken. Now that you understand how to start a good fire, let??s discuss the scents of different types of firewood. Not All Scents are Created Equal Firewood is like fine wine: every variety is different, yet some are more pleasing than others. Here are some olfactory-pleasing varieties of firewood: ?X Many people enjoy the scent of apple wood and other fruit trees, such as cherry and pear, since they emanate delicate and fruity odors. ?X Juniper and cedar have more of a pungent note. ?X White oak has a pleasing, rich scent. ?X Black walnut gives off a nutty aroma. Although fir, spruce and pine smell like freshly-cut Christmas trees, it is best to avoid these woods since they contain a lot of resin, which can build up inside chimneys and produce fires. To give off a pine smell, you can always place a couple of natural pine cones in a fire. Bring on the Heat This holiday season, you want firewood that not only smells good, but that gives off a decent amount of heat, too. The good news is that some of the best scented firewood also have high heat values. Apple wood and white oak both generate lots of warmth, whereas black cherry wood and black walnut give off moderate amounts of heat. So this holiday season, kindle a glowing fire in your hearth and appreciate the natural fragrances that different varieties of firewood have to offer. There??s no better way to celebrate the holidays than in front of a warm, cozy hearth. Jeff Hansen is president of Hansen??s Tree Service, a full-service tree and lawn care company that performs diagnosis, treatment, pruning, tree removal, stump removal and lawn care. Hansen??s is fully accredited by TCIA and ISA, and serves residences and companies throughout the entire St. Louis metro area. With nine fully certified arborists on staff, Hansen??s educates the public on the values of proper tree and lawn care, its maintenance and the importance of environmental responsibility.