Tree service professionals of Pennsylvania share ways to keep your trees healthy through the cooler months.
Prepare Your Trees for Colder Days With These Steps
Fall might seem like a time when you should be winding down tree care. In a sense that is true, but there are many things to do to prepare your trees for the months ahead. Fall is the best time to do some of the maintenance that every tree needs. A busy autumn can be the key to a beautiful garden in the spring. Below are some of the ways to prepare your trees for healthy growth now instead of waiting until spring.
Cleaning and Mulching: Out With the Old, In With the New
One of the first steps toward healthy trees is cleaning the ground around the roots. This means raking up dead leaves and removing fallen branches and other detritus from around the tree. The reason behind this is that decaying organic material tends to attract pests such as termites and wood borers and fungi such as armarilla. This decaying material also includes organic mulch.
If you have laid down mulch previously, it may need to be inspected for the problems listed above. If there is any indication of pests or infection, then the old mulch should be removed as well. Before laying down a new layer of mulch, there are a few steps to consider adding to the routine:
- Fertilizer: Now is an excellent time to add fertilizer to a tree’s roots. It will fortify the tree with nutrients that it can feed on in its dormant winter period.
- Watering: Giving the roots a little extra water at this time is another way to help your trees. Where you water is important. The tree should only be watered around the roots. Using sprinklers that get on trunks and leaves can actually promote disease.
- Mulching: Mulch is meant to be an insulating barrier against moisture evaporation and heat loss. Organic mulch even provides nutrients for the soil as it decays. It both protects the roots against weather extremes and provides nourishment. The placement of the mulch and its depth are very important to proper protection.
- Placement: Mulching trees and shrubs means creating a doughnut shape around the trunk. Building up the mulch on the trunk can invite unwanted pests.
- Depth: The mulch should be between two and four inches in depth to protect without smothering the roots.
Trimming and Pruning: Aesthetic and Healthy Cutting
Fall is also a great time for tree pruning and tree trimming. This helps avoid heavy sap drip as well as shock to the tree that might occur if cutting is done during the prime growing season.
Trimming is cutting back a tree for aesthetic or practical purposes, such as preventing limbs from falling on a roof. Pruning is done to reduce overgrowth and maintain the health of the tree. It is always best to have trees trimmed or pruned by a tree service company. Here are the reasons for that:
- Oversight of a certified arborist
- Safety concerns
- The right tools for the job
- Experience in tree risk assessment
- Advice on tree removal if needed
Planting Time for New Trees
If you are considering adding a few landscaping trees to your backyard, autumn is an excellent time to do that. It helps the tree acclimate to its transplanted space slowly instead of during a high growth period, which may cause shock and kill the sapling. Be sure to follow planting instructions, and never forget that tree health and plant health care are part of an arborist’s job as well. They can advise you on the proper procedures for planting or can be hired to do it for you.
About Greater Pitt Tree Service
Fully insured and serving Pittsburgh, PA and the surrounding areas for more than a quarter century, Greater Pitt Tree Service has highly trained staff that is ready to work for you. Call us anytime for 24/7 emergency service.