Preventative Tree Care
Beautiful, healthy trees are part of our landscape, whether in the forest or in the city. We want our trees to live long because they represent our triumph in the struggle for balance between advanced civilization and our natural eco-system. It shows that we can be progressive and yet environmentally responsible.
As we learn more and more about trees and what they require, we have developed methods to facilitate their longevity even in an urban setting. This is called preventative tree care. It involves keeping our trees healthy, as well as reversing diseases should they get any.
One of the first things that an arborist would do is conduct tree inspections, looking at the overall structure starting from the roots, the bark, and the canopy.
The expert would also look at the site where the tree is planted and determine if there are environmental factors negatively affecting it. He may inspect the ground using a soil probe to determine moisture, compaction, and root decay.
The top of the canopy has scaffold branches that spread out. These are inspected for either fullness or decay by determining the growth of leaves. Tree inspections are also about looking for other telltale signs of poor health including lean, cracks, and cankers.
The expert would then write a recommendation for the owner depending on his findings. A responsible professional would always impart tips and methods the owner can do to sustain and/or nurture the health of the tree. Some of these are listed below.
Watering And Soil Care
Regularly putting mulch around your tree keeps it healthy and strong. Organic mulching is beneficial because:
- It retains water, keeping the soil moist
- It acts as an insulator, keeping the soil cool during hot weather as well as shielding it from frost on cold days
- It keeps weeds away, removing competition for nutrients and water.
- It prevents the soil from being too compacted by foot traffic.
Gardening stores offer several mulching options, but the best materials to use are the organic kind like weed cuttings, wood chips, pine needles, soft bark (like cedar and cypress), and aged manure. You can even add in shredded cardboard and newspaper if those are the materials available to you. Just don’t use glossy magazine pages.
Synthetic mulching options such as rubber or dyed mulch especially for fruit-bearers are detrimental to the health of the tree and the people who will be eating its fruit. The breakdown of these chemicals will also affect the soil negatively. Choose organic mulching options. They are cheaper and healthier for everyone.
Free wood chips are sometimes given away at various points in Oakland County. Do a search or check in with your local officials and groups for these.
For watering, it’s best to maintain a consistent weekly watering schedule, adjusting the frequency if there are dry spells in the area.
Before you wet the soil, create wide (not high!) mulch rings around the root crown, making a well formation around each tree to make sure the trunk and flare aren’t covered. Mulch rings should be as wide as you can make it, with a height of 2 to 3 inches. Any higher than that and the mulch may cover the trunk and cause rot.
Place your water hose a few inches from the trunk, setting the valve to low. If the mulch is moving, your water is too strong. Once you get the right flow, leave it for 1 to 2 hours. The slow absorption of water is important as our target, the roots down deep, are reached.
Another important factor is soil aeration. Air is as important to soil as water is. All plants and animals breathe, and soil contains both plant roots and microbes. These microbes decompose waste material (including mulch) and turn them into nutrients for the plant.
That’s why it’s dangerous to over-water trees as water will take up the space that air should, making the soil more compact and less favorable to plant growth and microbe activity. The weekly watering schedule should be enough.
Natural soil aeration has been disrupted by all the development, construction, and foot traffic going around our neighborhoods. Whereas untouched places naturally have very healthy topsoil and ample gas, in cities and suburbs you get stripped and compacted soil. That is why tree fertilization and soil care are necessary.
Organic tree fertilization uses the right amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, (NPK) and organic matter to stimulate healthy microbe growth and soil aeration.
Once you choose the right kind for you, tree fertilization may be done through the deep root method or by spreading the fertilizer on top of your soil around the tree. The method doesn’t really make a difference because as long as you apply fertilizer on the soil, the roots will be able to reach the nutrients.
Soil aeration can be achieved through an increasingly popular method called air spading.
This new technology used by arborists to blow compressed air into the soil up to 10 inches deep without hurting tree roots and fibers. Air spading can also be used to excavate root flares and assess their health.
One of the most common (and gravest) mistakes people make is covering the root crown (also known as root flare). There are so many trees with their flares covered by soil, flowers, grass, and even mulch.
The crown is the low, widening part of the trunk attached to the main roots of the tree. It is part of the trunk, not the roots. One of the main purposes of the crown is to take in air, so this should never be covered like a telephone pole staked on the ground (except for palm trees). The more flares are uncovered, the better for the tree.
The consequence of covered root flares is decline in health. Covering will also soften main roots, making these prone to pest infestation and wounds. These wounds won’t heal properly and will start points of decay.
Gently digging around the trunk to expose the crown can be done by owners, but it is much better and safer for the roots with air spading.
Girdling is another root problem. If the growth of roots around the trunk is circular, it has the potential to choke the life out of the tree, literally. That circular growth may have been caused by:
- Not loosening up a root ball when the tree was transplanted from a pot
- A hole that was too round during planting
- Too many weeds and roots of other plants limiting the growth of yours.
The solution to this is to expose the flare and cut off the girdling root around it.
Once corrected, the tree will noticeably become livelier and healthier in time.
If you notice lichen at the bottom of the trunk, leave them. This fungi-algae combination acts symbiotically and doesn’t bother the tree in any way. In fact, it may be harmful if you injure its bark while scraping away the lichen.
Make sure your tree gets a root crown inspection from Rochester Trees every 2 or 3 years. This will ensure that the flare is exposed properly and that the roots are growing well and not against your tree. Systematic tree inspections by our experts include looking for root rot, girdling, pests, and other threats.
Get Your Free Preventative Tree Care Quote Now!
Tree diseases range from the common to the severe.
Some common but unsightly spots or bumps on leaves and branches that may be caused by fungi or insects are:
- Spindle galls (maple)
- Nipple galls (hackberry)
- Blisters or curls (oak)
- Western gall rust (pine)
- Black knot (cherry).
It is recommended to cut off the diseased parts that you see as far back into live wood as you can without damaging the tree. The cut off material should be disposed of properly or burned to avoid disease re-infection.
But if the decay is spreading, it’s too much, or you think professional help is urgently required, call on Rochester Trees.
There are some pests that aren’t easy to get rid of, such as the Emerald Ash Borer or the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. There is cause for concern as they can spread to other trees. One method to combating these is through tree injections.
Systemic tree injections are better than sprayed on pesticides and chemicals because they help nourish and protect from the inside. These tree injections are also more cost-effective as the treatments aren’t wasted through dripping and running off. Plus, it is injected directly onto where the tree precisely needs it.
Rochester Trees can identify these diseases and more to provide professional fungus and tree insect management services right away. It is advisable to act early if the decay is spreading fast to avoid hazards with falling branches and bark.
Preventing tree diseases is just a click or a phone call away. Rochester Trees has certified experts to give you professional preventative tree care services when you need it.
We recommend and use air spading as it has become an industry standard in arboriculture and preventative tree care. Air spading has been proven safe for flares, roots, and root systems so much so that companies are now using the technology for safe excavation around buried utility cables, lines, and pipes.
We also offer tree disease management that includes pest and fungi treatments. We are knowledgeable on effective methods including proper pruning, insecticide application, and tree injections.
We are dedicated to prolonging the life of your trees.
Talk To A Human
You’re not going to hit a ridiculously long phone menu when you call us. Your email isn’t going to the inbox abyss, never to be seen or heard from again. With Rochester Trees, we provide the exceptional service we’d want to experience ourselves!
Rochester Trees
(248) 290-6343
