Some of the best maintenance tips to look after your trees

Last Updated: November 25, 2024Categories: Tree care5.1 min read

If you have trees on your property then you know some of the benefits of them already no doubt. Apart from their aesthetic values, making the property and area more attractive they can also add value to your home or property. Trees need to be looked after though A healthy tree provides us with shade in spring and summer and helps to shield us from wind at other times. Trees also provide us with something else important. oxygen! So it makes total sense that we should spend time and money on tree maintenance.

Some of the best maintenance tips to look after your trees

By caring and maintaining the trees on your property you help them to live a long and healthy life as Mother Nature intended and that in turn helps the planet. There are many things you can do to help to keep the trees healthy and to identify any problems or indeed prevent problems arising. Pruning, fertilizing and soil management are some of the areas that need to be looked at regularly. Let us assume you are choosing to plant a new tree. Did you know that tree care starts at the point of selection? What you do in the next few years will affect how healthy your tree becomes. It’s strength, shape and how long it lives will all be shaped by your actions.

Selecting the tree and correct location to plant it in

You have an area in mind for your tree so now you need to select the right tree for that space. According to Bristol tree care experts, this means you need to have an idea of how tall the tree will grow and how big it’s canopy could be. You need to have enough space for this plus make sure the tree will receive enough sunlight to help it grow. Check for water pipes, underground utilities and power lines. Do not plant the tree too close to any of those and also make sure it is not planted too deep as this is a common mistake.

Don’t let your tree get too thirsty

Like all plants you will need to water your tree. Obviously if you have plenty of rain then you will not need to worry so much but if you have had no rainfall for several weeks then you need to check on the tree. A new tree will need between four and ten gallons of water every week during the first two growing seasons. Mature trees need about an inch of water each week.



Spread mulch

Mulch is a layer of materials (normally organic) that can be made of grass clippings, leaves, straw, hay, shredded bark, sawdust, manure and more. This is spread over the surface of the soil and helps to retain moisture in soil, reduces weed growth and improves the general health of the soil. Remove grass beneath your new tree and add 2 to 3 inches of mulch making sure not to cover the base of the tree trunk.

Fertilizing

We all like to keep our gardens and yards neat and tidy and that means raking up fallen leaves and removing grass clippings. Unfortunately by doing this we are depriving the trees of nutrients that they would naturally receive in the forest or other rural area. We can compensate for this by adding fertilizer. You should use a slow release fertilizer to give nutrients back to the true that have been removed from the surrounding area. Make sure that you regularly test the soil to see if any nutrients are missing or are low.

Some of the best maintenance tips to look after your trees - young tree

Pruning your tree

You should prune the tree to help improve its structure and growth. Removing any dead wood can improve the appearance of the tree and stop it from impeding the tree’s natural growth. Ideally you will prune a tree when it has lost all of its leaves. In the summertime you can concentrate on smaller twigs that are dead or damaged and generally just tidy up the look of the tree.

Get the professionals in to perform a health check

Once a year consider bringing in a certified arborist to look for any problems that you may not see or understand. They will look for any red flags that may mean there is a problem and they can help fix this. A health check may mean preventing something very early on that was likely to cause a big problem later.

What do professional tree services do?

You know some basic maintenance tips for planting your tree and looking after it. What if you don’t have the time or maybe even the inclination to tackle the tree maintenance yourself? Well there are plenty of professional companies offering tree service that you can call on. Are there any reasons why you should hire a professional arborist instead of tackling any problems yourself?

An arborist will need up to three years experience before they can become certified. Some companies will not employ any arborist with less than ten years experience. Basic tree care is simple but an arborist will sometimes have to deal with difficult and dangerous jobs that only a professional should take on. For example they may have to work closely to power lines or work very high up that a lot of people would feel uncomfortable about.

Arborists have the right training and equipment to carry out immense jobs. They are able to transport and transplant large trees safely into new locations. There are plenty of stories about regular folk attempting to transport a tree and it ending up going through the roof of their home. Some things should always be done by professionals and they can also take on parasite prevention, lightning protection, provide structural support, planting and pruning.

Summary of tree maintenance

A tree on your property as you know can provide many benefits as long as you remember to properly maintain it. Follow the maintenance tips to keep it healthy and strong and if you have any larger jobs needing specialist equipment you should probably bring in a certified professional arborist.


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