From Root To Tip: Keeping Your Trees Healthy At All Stages
Few homeowners realize the importance of creating a beautiful, healthy landscape and adding to the value of a home. We take for granted those annuals that effortlessly grow in, the flowers that bloom each year, and the trees that stretch their lush canopies toward the sky, all without our assistance or interference.
And then we realize that it takes a little work for a landscape to look and feel beautiful.
Tree care starts with selection
Tree care starts when you select your trees for planting. What you do with your seedling will determine how a tree develops, matures, and produces shade, shelter, and fruit for you. Following proper tree care protocols will ensure that you can create the most beautiful landscape and add to your home and property value. These expert tips for tree care at all stages will allow you to design and maintain the landscape beauty of your dreams:
Choose the right type of tree. Selection of the right kind of tree and planting it in an ideal location for its growth will give you much better odds at creating healthy and robust vegetation. Consider the purpose of the tree---is it for shade and shelter? Aesthetic value? Do you want it to produce fruit? Answering all of these questions will help you decide on placement and function as it grows and matures.
Plant properly. Whether your tree has bare roots, a ball, or comes in a container, you will want to make sure you follow directions for proper placement and depth to ensure that the root system becomes firmly established. A trained arborist can assist you in the planting process, offering advice, tips, and tricks to give your new sapling every advantage needed for growth.
Know how to mulch. Once planted, mulch becomes a protective layer around root systems because it: a. Insulates soil against extreme heat and cold b. Helps retain water so roots stay moist c. Resists weed growth d. Prevents the soil from compacting around the root system e. Reduces damage from weed trimmers and lawnmowers
Know when and how much to water. Newly planted trees must be watered the same day that planting occurs. A thirty second to one-minute bath after it’s been set up should be sufficient to inspire initial growth. During the first few years of growth, a tree needs deep, periodic watering to firmly establish the root system. Covering the soil with moisture-rich mulch will help make watering efforts more efficiently, and you’ll be able to watch your young tree mature and flourish under your expert care. Under or over watering trees is a common mistake; your tree needs a delicate balance to experience optimal health and growth. Check with your arborist to see what water requirements are needed at your tree’s state of growth and monitor both roots and vegetation to ensure that it is growing properly.
Prune properly. Pruning will either improve the health of your tree or cause damage and invite disease, depending on whether you do it properly. Follow these simple guidelines for proper pruning techniques and when to ramp up your efforts, as well as when to back off. Winter--Pruning a tree when it is dormant will help it to burst forth with new growth in the spring. Consider waiting to do this cutting back until the coldest part of winter has passed. Summer--Defective limbs can be seen more easily in the summer, and corrective measures can be taken to ensure proper growth of limbs and branches. Cut back branches after seasonal growth has slowed or is complete. Spring--Flowering trees and shrubs should be pruned after flowers have withered; this gives your tree the best chance for growth. Proper pruning will enhance the flowering process and have your trees and shrubbery looking more beautiful than ever before. Fall--Decaying fungi tend to spread their spores more efficiently in the fall, leaving open wounds from pruning susceptible to disease and infection. It’s best to leave pruning tools in storage for a later time.
When in doubt…. call in the professionals!
With few people having detailed knowledge of tree care and maintenance, it is in your best interest to hire a trained arborist to assess and maintain the health of your trees. At Fey and Sons, LLC, our highly trained professionals are well versed in all aspects of tree planting, care, maintenance, and removal. Whatever your question or concern, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today to see how we can restore health to your landscape and value to your home. Visit https://www.sarasotatreeservice.com/ for more information.