Pecking birds leave their marks

Warm weather makes my phone ring more often, as gardeners seek advice on their plants. Here are a few samples of their questions.

Q. I have a rather old, rather large sugar maple tree in my back yard, and I noticed that it looked as though woodpeckers were pecking on it all the way around to the point where sap is running down out of it. I am concerned because I was told woodpeckers only peck on diseased trees. What should I do about it? — J.W., Lynchburg
A. Nothing needs to be done. Your tree is a food source for yellow-bellied sapsucker, a member of the woodpecker family. It pecks on tree trunks every year at this time, leaving a ring of tiny holes around the tree or sometimes a checkerboard pattern made by stripping away the bark. Sugary sap runs out of these holes, and it provides the energy necessary for this bird’s annual migration northward. Sapsuckers have their favorite trees, and they feed on them every year as they pass through our area. The damage done by sapsuckers is rarely ever serious enough to harm a tree.

Q. My very large jade plant looks bad. Its leaves are turning ash-gray and falling off. I was wondering is this a problem or is it something they go through? — M.T., Lynchburg
A. Jade plant grows best when given plenty of sun and neglect. This succulent houseplant, also called money plant and Chinese rubber plant, prefers to go bone dry between waterings. Adding water before your jade plant needs more water will certainly cause its leaves to drop off. I put “jade plant diseases” into a search engine on the Internet and found a Pennsylvania State University Web site, which mentioned powdery mildew. It causes a gray scab on the foliage of jade plant, and your plant could be suffering from that.

Q. We have some boxwoods we transplanted last year about this time. And I’ve noticed other people’s boxwoods look like this, too. They’ve really got a lot of orange on them. I’m just wondering what is causing that. It seems like the ones in the sun have the most orange. They don’t even look like boxwoods anymore.
— B.B., Lynchburg

A. Your boxwoods have orange leaves in winter due to a water deficit in their leaves. This could happen for many reasons including root damage caused in the transplanting process. Other possible causes include poor soil drainage, planting too deep and excessive sun. If your boxwoods are English, the best course of action is to transplant them again. Move them to a part of your yard where they get little or no sun. American boxwoods are better suited for sunny places.

Q. I own land here in the city and I have some timber I would like to sell, and I don’t know how to go about doing that. — S.H., Lynchburg
A. Your question is about forestry and my colleague in Halifax, Jason Fisher, is a forestry extension agent who can advise you on selling timber. His phone number is (434) 476-2147.