It doesn’t matter whether you have a flourishing garden with multiple trees and lush greenery in it or if you only have a couple of trees on your property, trees will always need special care. Watering them weekly and hoping that they stay green and lush won’t do the trick.
If you want your trees to stay in optimum shape, you’ll need to follow a good maintenance guide and have a bit of free time for execution. Luckily, we can provide you with this guide.
Avoid Damaging Your Trees
Sometimes, you might want to do all you can to see your trees grow to the fullest; however, trees don’t really need to depend that much on humans to grow, especially that humans might damage them while trying to care for them. For example, if you’re parking your car repetitively underneath your tree, they might become damaged because the grown had been tamped down, which will damage the roots in the process. If you want to make DIY projects around your trees, think again. Usually, the roots of a tree will grow three times the length of the branches of that tree, so damaging the soil in any way may inhibit their growth and result in inadvertent damage. According to Santa Fe tree care experts, you need to make sure that you avoid damaging your trees by simply letting them grow on their own.
Prune Your Trees
One of the first steps to keep your trees healthy and in tip-top shape is proper pruning. However, if you don’t know how to properly prune your trees, you might end up damaging them, which can lead to disease spreading in your trees. The people at Genesis Tree Service explain that you should recognize signs of bad pruning like jagged cuts, a tree leaning heavily to only one side, a tree that is blocking the sunlight from another tree, or a tree that is disproportionately heavy at the top or the bottom. If you notice these signs, then you might want to either re-educate yourself on the best practices of tree pruning or you can call in a professional service to do the trimming and pruning for you without inflicting any damage to the trees.
Protect the Roots
Aside from not damaging the soil in which the roots are growing, you need to constantly provide healthy soil for the tree roots to grow in. Healthy soil will allow more vibrant and lush greenery to grow. However, a damaged or a compacted soil will prevent nutrients, water, and soil from reaching the tree roots; thus, your trees won’t get the necessary nutrients it needs even when you try to nourish it. You can prevent this from happening by protecting the roots and soil that exist within the drip line, which you can do by not changing the soil grade or compacting the soil in this area.
Use Mulch
As you probably already know, mulching is an excellent way to protect your trees. In addition to adding to making the exterior of your house more appealing, mulching will be an easy protective method to use. However, like pruning, improper mulching can lead to adverse effects. Improper mulching can damage the roots without you even knowing. Start mulching about 6 inches away from the base, then add a 1-inch thick layer of mulch, then increase thickness to about 3 inches as you work your way to the drip line right below the tree canopy. You can make it 4 inches thick, but not more than that, as thick layers of mulch can invite rodents and diseases to infest the area. Of course, don’t make a mulch volcano, as this will make water run off to the sides.
Observe Your Trees
One good way to know what your trees need is to observe them. Sure, you should leave your trees alone so they can grow on their own, but you should also be aware of any changes that occur to your tree in order to notice any signs of diseases early on and manage them. Changes that you may notice could range from stunted growth to discoloration. Make comparisons to your trees’ current state and their healthy state. Also, make sure that you get a guide on different tree diseases and how to deal with them. If you notice signs of diseases, consulting an arborist will be the best course of action.
It is important that you give your garden trees the best care you can. Unless you want your garden to look pale and unattractive, proper maintenance of all parts of your garden should be performed. By knowing the right techniques for mulching, pruning, and protecting roots, you’ll certainly keep your trees healthy and lusciously green for a long period of time.
