Your yard is your oasis from long days at the office or too many days spent indoors in a row.
It’s also your home’s most shapeable characteristic. That’s why the trees in your yard are so important and should be regarded with high respect.
But, how do you care for your trees so that they grow healthy and strong and mature to their fullest potential? It starts with a little bit of TLC and some water. But it doesn’t end there.
There’s more to happy trees than good soil, too. There are certain things you can do for your trees to help them be their best.
If you need help learning how to keep trees healthy, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’re discussing seven of the most common and important tree care tips that are specifically known to keep trees thriving. Keep reading to learn more.
7 Surprising Tree Care Tips for Beautiful and Healthy Trees (All Year Round)
The best rule to follow when it comes to proper tree health is what some professionals call the ‘PINE’ method:
- Prune
- Inspect
- Nourish
- Extend
This is a simple way of remembering that you should prune unruly or broken branches and inspect your trees for dying limbs, signs of disease and insect damage. You will nourish your trees with water and mulch and extend the growing season by planting new trees in the fall months.
Beyond this method, however, are some other critical tips you should follow to keep happy, healthy, trees, all throughout the year.
1. Transplanting
If you have trees that are planted too closely together or trees that will outgrow the space where they were originally planted, you’ll need to transplant. Of course, larger trees are more difficult to transplant, so it’s best to perform this step as early in the growth process as possible.
Try transplanting trees on days with high humidity in early spring before the leaves begin to bud. Make sure to prepare your planting site before digging up the tree so that the transplanting process doesn’t take longer than necessary. Follow regular planting instructions when you replace the tree.
2. Staking
Staking is actually controversial for a few reasons. While, of course, you never intend to harm the tree by staking it, you could be doing just that.
Staking a tree incorrectly can actually cause the tree to rely on the artificial support and end up with growth issues. A tree that has been staked is more liable to grow taller but not wider because the root and trunk growth have been reliant on the support of the stake.
Talk to your local nursery about how to properly stake a tree. Make sure to mention what type of tree it is and your intention for its growth later in life.
3. Protecting the Critical Root Zone
Before fertilizing or mulching your tree, you should make yourself aware of the tree’s Critical Root Zone (CRZ). This is the area that surrounds your tree where the roots grow out to their ‘drip line’. Improving conditions in your CRZ will only make your tree more healthy.
When figuring out your CRZ, you need to measure the diameter of the trunk at four and a half feet above the ground. The resulting number is your DBH. If the DBH of your tree is 20, for example, then the CRZ is approximately 30 feet around the tree.
4. Fertilizing
Young, growing trees should be fertilized throughout the year with the most significant applications in early spring and summer. Once the tree has matured, several light applications per year are preferred.
Choose a standard fertilizer depending on the type of tree that you have. You can find both organic and inorganic fertilizers for fair prices at your local nursery.
5. Mulching
The most important thing you can do for your tree’s health care is to provide it with mulch throughout the year. Not only does this give your tree a well-groomed appearance, but it also improves soil structure and oxygen levels in the soil. Not to mention that it makes temperature and moisture more readily available to your tree.
Mulch also protects your tree from over-watering and excessively fertilizing. Lay your mulch about two to three inches thick but about a hand’s width away from the base of the tree. Don’t lay mulch on top of old mulch.
6. Pruning
Tree pruning is not always necessary, but if you want to keep a preferred shape or form about your tree, then annual pruning will help. It’s also important to keep in mind that some pruning can actually slow the growth of your tree because it must heal before it can continue to grow. For this reason, you should never prune your trees more than once per year.
7. Winter Tree Care Tips
It’s safe to say that Spring and Fall are the best times of year to perform any maintenance on your trees. Before winter, especially, you can prune and mulch to get rid of dead, diseased, and overlapping branches and start protecting the roots for winter.
Some trees may benefit from a dormant spray. Consider ornamentals, deciduous trees, and fruit trees and shrubs. A good dormant spray will control insects and their eggs as well as protect against disease that could be relative to cold weather.
Final Thoughts
Keeping an annual tree care routine will ensure that your trees are happy and healthy as they grow strong. Just keep these tree tips in mind when you plant your saplings this fall so that you’ll have a handy reference point. Your trees deserve the best, after all.
Otherwise, it’s always a good idea to observe your trees and become familiar with diseases and what they look like. You’ll do better to save a tree if you catch a disease in the beginning stages, and you’ll know what disease looks like if you’ve got a close eye on your trees.
If you have questions or need help with your trees, click here to get a quote! We offer complete tree service with exceptional service.