American sycamores can grow to be large and stately with mottled bark of white and green and huge, shallow-lobed leaves. Their wood has a number of uses, including furniture, boxes, crates, paper and butcher blocks (because of its hardness). Sycamores are also widely used as ornamental trees throughout the East, South and Midwest.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Under constant, ideal conditions, Bradford pear trees could provide a quarter century of beauty. Unfortunately, the weather will never cooperate to protect these vulnerable ornamental trees for an extended time.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Urban Forestry Summer School on July 28 will use Catalpa Creek on the Mississippi State University campus as a living laboratory for training and demonstration.

MSU faculty will teach at the school, hosted by the MSU Extension Service and the Professional Arborists Association of Mississippi. The event will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. near the College of Veterinary Medicine on the MSU Henry H. Leveck Animal Research Farm, commonly called South Farm. Signs will direct visitors to the actual location.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Experts at Mississippi State University recommend that those planting trees in the landscape this Arbor Day do their homework before getting started.

“Most people see a tree they like and decide that they want to have one in their yard, but that is really not the way to decide what kind of tree to plant,” said John Kushla, an associate Extension and research professor with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service and the Forestry and Wildlife Research Center.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – People interested in learning about the basics of tree planting and care have the opportunity to do so at workshops being held across the state in May and June.

The Urban Forest Workshops are sponsored by the Mississippi Urban Forestry Council and are free to the public. MUFC and Mississippi State University Extension Service personnel will lead the sessions and educate attendees about planting, pruning, selecting trees, preparing for a storm and replacing trees. The workshops will be held in various locations: