With spring just around the corner, now is the perfect time to clean out our gardens and make sure our trees are healthy and ready for the warm weather ahead. Healthy trees don’t just happen. While they may be low-maintenance, they still require protection from disease and potential storm damage. That’s why it’s important to safeguard your landscape with the following preventative tree care steps.
Clean Up
Spring cleaning includes your trees. This involves removing leftover Christmas lights as well as any debris that have collected beneath your trees such as fallen twigs and dead leaves. While Christmas lights can make your trees look beautiful during the holiday season, they can also strangle your tree over time by limiting their outward growth.
Inspect
Preventative tree care also includes inspecting your trees after the harsh winter season. This includes keeping an out for any signs of disease or damage. If something looks out of the norm or you feel uncertain about the safety of a tree, it’s important to contact a certified arborist to remove any potential hazards. Only a tree care professional can diagnose a wide variety of problems and help you maintain the health of a tree while keeping you and your loved ones safe.
Prune
While the ideal time to a prune tree is during the winter, it’s important to remove any dead, damaged or broken branches before your tree starts to bud. Pruning is essential when it comes to maintaining the health of a tree and the safety of your home. Pruning dead or diseased branches will help a tree thrive by allowing nutrients to circulate fully throughout its entire system. Pruning will also rid a tree of any hazardous branches that can put the safety of your loved ones and property at risk. However, pruning can be especially dangerous and should only be done by a certified arborist. A tree care professional is trained and equipped to work safely in trees while managing the health of a tree in the process.
Mulch
Once you have inspected, pruned, and cleaned up the area around a tree, it’s a good idea to add a fresh layer of mulch. Doing so will help a tree to retain moisture and suppress any weeds from growing. If you are unsure about how much mulch to add, a three-inch layer is usually ideal. However, it’s important not to pile any mulch against the trunk of a tree as it can disturb aeration and moisture levels leading to rot around the base.
Water
Once the soil has thawed, watering is a great way to ensure the health of a tree. If the soil around the tree is fairly dry, apply enough water to moisten the soil to the depth of 10 inches. However, it’s important not to over-water. Keep in mind that too much or too little water can cause a tree to become stressed. As a general rule of thumb, the bigger the tree, the more water it will require with the average amount equal to 10 gallons per inch of diameter of the tree.
Contact Westcoast Tree Care
At Westcoast Tree care, we can provide you with a wide variety of spring care services to prepare your trees for the hot, summer season ahead. Our certified arborist can diagnose a diverse range of tree care problems and answer any questions you may have. If you would like more information regarding the health of your trees, contact us at 1.800.767.8733. We can provide you with a no-cost, no-obligation quote to prepare your trees for the upcoming spring season.
