Aspens...where do I start... If you plant aspens in your yard, be prepared for a bit of education and a bit of heart ache as well. You would think thatt these trees are hearty alpine tree ready for anything that nature throws its way. The opposite is true...at least in my yard. Ever spring I dig up the dead aspens, cut down the dying/diseased ones and hope that the healthy ones don't blow over (due to their shallow roots).

We had Greg at the la plata county extension office (an excellent free resourse) come over last year to help us figure out what was killing all of our aspens...our tree were covered with borers, caterpillars, cancers and fungus. We managed to clean up most of it and have stayed on top of the rest. If it weren't for the root suckers, I don't think that these fragile trees could exist anywhere!