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Trees are an essential addition to any yard and landscape plan. Taking proper care of them can mean the difference between a healthy, vibrant addition to your property and a decaying, accident-waiting-to-happen problem. Proper management is something that can be learned through study and doing. Luckily, some of the essential tree care tips to caring for your trees are gathered below to help get you get started.
Ask Questions About Your Trees
Ask questions about your trees. Whether you’re shopping for a new home or shopping for a new tree for your current landscape, don’t be afraid to ask questions. You can start your research online, but nothing beats a real expert arborist who can visit your trees in person. They’ll help you find out what you need to learn how to adjust soil, water and care. This will help insure you get the look and quality you are after.
If you are looking to make an addition to your landscape, then you will want to first select the right tree for your home. The first tip to tree care is selecting the right tree for your land, the spot you’d like it and to shop for what qualities you are looking for. If you’re considering a fruit bearing tree, you’ll want to review the location as it may attract wild life at higher traffic levels. You can also select the planting spot in a manner that enhances your landscape and adds shade or contour where you need it most.
Prune Trees with Intention
One of the most important tree care tips to consider is that you should prune your tree with intention. You need to take a good look at the tree and consider what needs to be shaped, what looks weak, and where you want new growth. Make sure to know when it’s best to prune, and with most plants this is winter when they are dormant. If your plant has disease, an injury, or it needs pruning outside of these times, you may need to trim off season. This is a good reason to talk to a certified arborist to insure you get the right timing and benefit the tree the most. You can also get advice on how to protect your tree when pruning.
Just like any living thing, a tree needs the right nutrients to thrive and truly function. With different landscapes, soil can vary significantly and this means different nutrients might be lacking. If your tree isn’t sustaining new, healthy growth and looking vibrant, chances are it needs something. You can also easily get the soil tested which will tell you what is needed. Ask about what your tree’s specific needs are and you can adjust accordingly with our tree care tips.
Act Quickly With Tree Diseases
When it comes to disease, it cannot be stated enough that acting quickly and accordingly is the best way to help your tree. If you know how to treat the disease and can do it yourself, act immediately. If you notice something and aren’t sure what to do, then you should contact a professional quickly. This will help insure the health of your tree and prevent the disease from spreading to other areas of the tree or even to surrounding trees.
An often missed, but highly beneficial tip is to mulch your trees regularly. Spreading a high quality garden mulch at the base of a tree about every other month can promote healthy soil. It will protect the soil from wind, and other weather factors. Another key reason to use mulch is it breaks down and adds nutrients to the soil as it does, providing food for the trees. This environment encourages worms and other macro-organisms that will enrich the soil as well. It’s important to note you want to keep the mulch away from the trunk as that encourages rot and decay.
Care For The Soil Under the Drip Line
Another valuable tree care tip to remember is to take care of the ground around your tree’s roots. You want to keep the tree free from suckers, heavy weeds and over growth in general. With fruit bearing trees, make sure to keep any fallen fruit cleaned away from the base of the tree and do so regularly. The dead fruit will draw disease and rot to your tree trunk. The fruit can also cause a pest infestation. It’s important to consider aerating the earth around your tree. Be sure to stay at least three feet away from the base. Use a pitch fork to dive into the earth panning evenly out and circling around the tree. This is an especially important step when first planting a tree so that it can grow a better root system. This will help the water and nutrients to seep down to the roots where they are most needed and help the soil more readily accept the water.
It may seem like a strange tree care tip, but the truth is that trees add value to your property. It is critical that you take care of them and give them proper consideration. The right tree planted in the right spot can help with your energy costs. Conversely, a poorly pruned tree can fall into your home and cause damage. Give value to considering what care your trees need and it will enhance your property.
Inspect Trees Often
One tip that tends to get lost in the shuffle is that you should visit your trees often. This will tell you what they need by why of pruning, watering or fertilizing. It also helps encourage your care when you get to see rewards for your hard work up close and on a regular basis.
Truly one of the best things you can do for the health of your trees and overall property value is to hire a certified arborist to come through and help you with your trees. Expert eyes can spot disease before it becomes a larger problem. Professionals can tell when limbs are no longer productive and need to go, or if there are parts of the tree that are going to be hazardous long before the average homeowner. In fact, many arborists offer low-cost or free initial assessments.
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