At this time of year when it rains so heavily, people often get wet spots in their yard where the water collects or cannot drain fast enough. There are several solutions to this problem, and you should try some of the simpler ones first. Try to find where the water is coming from before you take any action as well, it may just be that your downspout needs to be re-directed from a low spot in your yard.

If there is an area where the water is constantly flowing over and it prevents anything from growing there, you could create a creek bed. This way it will look more like an aesthetic feature rather that a messy trail of water.

If the water all flows to one place, you could create a dry well, which is simply a hole that is filled with gravel. However, this will catch the water, and because it is filled with gravel then the water drains easily into it. You can also add a plastic container at the bottom which will hold the water while it is absorbed into the soil around it.

Have you noticed your spruce trees looking odd lately? Unfortunately, there are diseases that are affecting Spruce trees in our area.

The first is cytospora canker. This is caused by a fungus, and it does affect some types of spruces more than others. It is most common in Norway and Colorado Blue Spruce, but does affect others. It rarely kills the tree, but it does make it visually unappealing and sickly. It starts at the bottom of the tree and works its way up, causing the needles to become purplish at first, then turn brown and drop, leaving bare branches and twigs. Younger spruces are rarely affected by this fungus, because this is a stress-induced disease. What this means it younger trees usually have space to grow and are smaller, but as trees grow there is less room for them to have a healthy root system, and wounds open up at the base of the tree because branches are larger and heavier.