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How to keep your trees healthy?

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Digital Arborist Expert
How to keep your trees healthy?

Whether you have a garden full of beautiful greenery, or just a few simple maple trees in your backyard, it’s important to give your garden the proper care it requires to stay healthy and strong. Trees are the most valuable aspect of our environment. They provide shade to our homes and communities, reduces energy bills, increases property values, reduces air pollution and soil erosion, and provide a natural habitat for wildlife. They also add beauty and a calming presence to our daily lives. Since trees are such a peaceful part of the background, that’s why they need our care to survive. Proper tree care is very important to their continued growth and ongoing health. In the summertime, you should give some more time to protect your trees. So, they can grow healthy and give you some more advantages. It is beneficial to keep trees healthy. However, if you don’t properly plant or maintain the trees in your yard, it can be a costly situation. Improper care can result in dangerous situations or the complete loss of a tree so it is important to learn as much as you can about tree maintenance. Below are some helpful tips to keep your trees healthy and strong.

Know Their Needs

Before you can properly care for them, you need to know what kind of trees are growing in your yard. What kind of soil does the tree prefer and how much water does it require? It is necessary to understand the tree’s preferred moisture conditions, even if it’s receiving enough water from rainfall. Ideally, the tree is planted in the proper location and thriving in the current soil conditions. If you are not sure whether your tree is properly located, get the advice of an arborist. Do your research to identify the trees you are dealing with, and then look at the following points:

  • How much water does your tree require?
  • Is your tree drought-tolerant?
  • Does your tree have sensitivity?

Tree maintenance tips to keep trees healthy 

  • Plant the right tree

This is the first, and most essential step in making sure you get years of happiness from any tree. Choose a plant that is well suited to your climate as well as the specific soil conditions. Then, find a place that will receive sufficient sunlight and provide enough space for its full-grown branches. Make sure you are not digging too close to power lines, underground utility lines, or your home. And, don’t plant it too deeply, that’s the number one mistake people make. When planting a tree always consider how tall and wide the tree will be when it’s grown up, is it shaped like a tall column or like a round ball? You may love that beautiful tree, but will it fit when it’s fully grown? During the autumn season, it’s also important to remember whether any leaves will fall onto your driveway. Wet leaves can be slippery, and it’s risky for people who walk on them. So, keep an eye out for falling leaves, and drive cautiously to avoid patches

  • Water Properly

Water is food for your trees and plants, that’s why proper watering is one of the most important ways to maintain the greenery on your lawn. Over the summer months, you will want to ensure that you water your trees deeply. Because an occasional soak is much more effective than a frequent missing of water. Generally, during the winter, your trees do not need to be watered, unless they have been planted recently. Mature trees require one inch of water per week. On the other hand, new trees need somewhere between 4 to 10 gallons of water per week during the first two growing seasons. Though recently planted trees need regular watering, mature trees also need to be watered during drought periods.

Make sure to water deeply to saturate the whole root region. Before watering again, let the soil partially dry. Don’t rely on lawn sprinklers to do the job. They rarely wet soil and can result in shallow roots. After a tree is established, normal rainfall will normally provide enough water. But you still need to water during extended dry periods in the summer.

  • Protect the Roots

Trees always need healthy roots, and those roots need healthy soil. To ensure that the soil around your tree is healthy enough to maintain its greenery, you will want to make sure that the soil is not compacted because soil compaction prevents water and oxygen from reaching the tree’s roots, and that may kill roots. Protect the roots and soil within your tree’s critical root region, which is identified by the tree’s drip line. To find the drip line, assume a circle around your tree that correlates to where the branches spread. Be sure not to change the soil grade or compact the soil in this sensitive area, as this could harm tree roots, and weaken them, often killing them or making them more susceptible to storm damage. You can also consult a professional arborist before removing or adding soil under tree canopies. Also, make sure vehicles and heavy equipment should never drive over the root areas of trees. 

  • Use Mulch 

Mulching is the most beneficial thing you can do for the health of a tree. Mulches are materials placed around the base of your trees to improve soil structure, oxygen levels, temperature, and moisture availability. Properly applied mulch can improve the overall appearance of your property. On the other hand, mulching should not be done carelessly, because improper mulching can damage your tree's roots and causing more harm than good. 

Apply a 1 to 4-inch layer of mulch like pine straw, compost, wood chips or shredded bark, tree leaves, cocoa hulls, or other biodegradable mulch. The mulch should start about 1 to 2 inches from the base of the tree, extending as far as the drip line or at least 3 feet away from the trunk's base. Mulch will not only protect your tree from lawn equipment but will also reduce weeds and maintain moisture in the soil. Mulch also cools the soil and improves the texture of the soil.

  • Fertilize when needed

Don’t assume that all trees need annual feeding. But, growing trees need to be fertilized throughout the year. They may need occasional fertilizing until become grown. On the other hand, mature trees don’t need feeding. Feed only if your trees aren’t growing well or have yellowing foliage. The greatest amounts of fertilizer should be applied during the early spring and summer months. As the tree gets older, several light applications a year are preferred.

In the forest, natural materials enrich the soil around trees. But in our gardens, we clean and remove all those natural nutrients, such as tree leaves, grass clippings, etc. Fertilizer solves that problem and acts as nutrients for plants. Apply a slow-release fertilizer regularly to release nutrients into the soil. Also, test your soil periodically to see exactly which nutrients are needed.

  • Regularly Prune Your Trees

Pruning your trees is essential to keeping them healthy and strong, as well as maintaining safe conditions around your home. Maintaining a regular pruning schedule allows the trees to grow structurally stronger while also reducing any risk of weak branches falling unexpectedly. Proper trimming improves the structure of the tree while also removing any dead branches of the tree. On the other hand, improper pruning can actually damage your plants and leading to the spread of disease. To keep your trees safe during all seasons, you will want to prune them properly. Do major pruning when the tree is dormant. Then, in summer, focus on cleaning up and removing out dead or damaged tree branches.

Analyze the tree’s overall structure and select which branches need to be removed. For people who are new to pruning, it’s a good idea to hire a professional who can simply do the proper pruning for you and also teach you pruning techniques. Here are the basic guidelines of pruning:

Crossing branches: Branches that are crossing each other can create a wound in the bark. Generally, remove the branch that is smaller in diameter to allow the stronger branch to grow. 

Dead and broken branches: Remove the dead branches so that the tree will self-heal. Leaving dead branches on the tree can create rough breaks where organisms will enter and weaken the tree.

Low branches:  Removing low branches is mostly for aesthetic reasons, as it allows more light into the space below your tree. Remove low branches that are prone to damage, such as those that are near to a roadway and might be hit by vehicles.

Conclusion:

By identifying your trees and understanding their needs, caring for them with the proper watering, pruning, and mulching techniques, and protecting their roots, you can guarantee that your trees and luscious greenery will continue to grow healthy and strong throughout the year. That’s why the digital marketing Jacksonville agency always creates awareness among people to keep your trees healthy to avoid further problems. If you care more for your trees, you can hire a tree service company, they will be able to detect tree problems early and suggest pruning or other steps to extend the life of the tree.

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