How much is too much? When a wintery storm is forecasted, our thoughts turn to potential hazards. Naturally, we start to worry about ice on our sidewalks and driveways. Are we, in our excitement over the storm, applying too much deicer? Exactly how much deicer is effective?

It’s hard to miss the basketball-sized clusters of green leaves decorating the bare upper branches of trees as they reach up to the winter sky. Those basketball-sized clusters of leaves are most often mistletoes. There are several different species of mistletoe in North America, and even more in other parts of the world. Some prefer conifers. Others prefer deciduous hardwoods. Probably the most common species that prefer hardwoods in the eastern half of the U.S. is the American mistletoe, also known as the oak mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum). This is the species I’m most familiar with and that decorates the trees on our farm and in the surrounding region.