Portland Tree Care

In Oregon, a plan for summer tree care is extremely important to ensure your trees survive the harsh heat and storms of the dog days ahead. That’s why the certified arborist at Westcoast Tree Care suggests the following Portland tree care tips for summer below.

Apply Mulch Around Your Trees

One of the best things you can do for your trees in the summer is to apply mulch around them. This is especially true for younger trees. As a quick, cost-effective technique, mulching provides your trees with a wide variety of benefits. Mulch helps to retain soil moisture during the hot days of summer while promoting the development of organic matter which helps to prevent soil compaction. Mulch also helps increase the growth rate of newly planted trees by providing a heat buffer, preventing weeds, and helping the soil to retain more nutrients.

Check out our previous blog post for the best mulching practices to make sure you are mulching the trees on your property properly.

Watering Your Trees Properly

In the summer, the trees on your property are faced with hot temperatures. In fact, a large, mature tree can use up to 100 gallons of water in one day if it’s available. Like us, the hotter it is outside, the more water your trees require. However, overwatering can negatively affect your trees by essentially drowning their roots. That’s why it’s important to make sure your trees are getting the right amount of water they need to survive any heat waves.

You can find some additional watering tips by clicking here to make sure your trees are getting the right amount of water they need this summer.

Preventative Pruning

Dead, dying, and damaged areas of a tree are dangerous to people and property below. Dead branches have the ability to break and fall at anytime, especially during summer storms. For the safety of your home and family, it’s important to get the trees on your property pruned by a certified arborist in order to avoid any hazardous and potentially fatal situations.

Check out the following blog post for additional reasons why regular tree care and pruning is important.

Prevent Elm Disease & Emerald Ash Borer

Dutch Elm disease is especially destructive to our beloved Elm shade trees in the United States. Caused by a fungus that is spread by the elm bark beetle, over 77 million elm trees have been lost in the past century to this toxic disease.

The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), on the other hand, is considered the most destructive pest ever seen in North America. Introduced in the 1990’s from China, EAB is responsible for killing over 50 million ash trees in 20 states. Once infested, there is a 99% chance your Ash trees won’t survive without treatment.

If you have either types of these trees, it’s important to speak with the certified arborist at Westcoast Tree Care about what preventative measures you can take and what insecticide injections your trees may need.

Prevent Additional Tree Pests

There are a wide variety of tree pests that can ravage the trees on your property and leave lasting damage. Furthermore, the warm summer weather boosts the population levels of these unwanted insects. This means it’s important to keep an eye out for the following summer pests and act fast if you notice any problems with your trees.

Spider Mites
Lace Bugs
Aphids
Sawflies
Root Rot
Wilt
Leaf Spot

Because treatment must be matched to the type of insect, the best results are obtained by working with a certified arborist. The professionals at Westcoast Tree Care can also help you identify factors that could be putting your trees at risk for insect infestation such as poor drainage, inappropriate mulching or failure to prune appropriately.

Westcoast Tree Care

If you don’t have a Portland tree care plan, it’s not too late to start maintaining your trees. The heat of the summer, pests, and diseases can make this a hard season for your trees. Investing in preventative tree care will help keep your trees healthy for the rest of the year. At Westcoast Tree Care, our services are customized to your property and are designed to be a proactive approach to maintaining the health and beauty of your trees.