Even with mild summer temperatures, tree care in Salem, Oregon isn’t seasonal. In fact, there are a wide variety of things to do throughout the year to ensure the trees on your property are safe, beautiful, and healthy. With August still in ahead of us, Westcoast Tree Care would like to provide you with the following summer tree care tips.
Storm Prevention
Summer is the prime season for thunderstorms and heavy winds. To protect your home and property from falling branches, it’s best to consult with a certified arborist to assess the safety of your large, mature trees. It may be necessary to remove any weak or dead limbs before they fall unexpectedly causing harm and damage in the process.
Stress Prevention
It’s not uncommon for trees to become stressed over the summer months. Symptoms of a stressed tree include premature color changes or loss of leaves. While this is a normal process trees undergo during the fall, it’s a reaction to stress during the summer.
Stress can be caused by:
- Disease
- Insect Infestation
- Soil compaction
- Saturated soil
- Heat and/or drought
Identifying the cause of stress is important for the long-term health of your tree. Often inexperienced homeowners overlook the cause of a stressed tree and by the time they call in an expert, it may be too late to save the tree. That’s why it’s important to consult with a certified arborist when you spot the first symptoms of a stressed tree.
Proper Watering
All living things require water to survive and trees are no different. During the summer, it’s especially important to water your trees on a regular schedule to keep them healthy and beautiful.
For younger trees, our certified arborist recommends a deep-watering by running a garden hose over the root zone for approximately 30 seconds. The idea is to reach the full depth of the roots and maintain damp but not soggy soil. Older, more mature trees, on the other hand, should be watered at least once a week or every other week during the hot summer months (depending on how well the soil retains moisture). A good rule of thumb is to provide an older tree with around 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter. Keep in mind, however, it’s important not to overwater, as it can drown the tree roots which can hurt the tree.
Signs of overwatering include a puddle after watering, yellow leaves, wilting, brittle green leaves or fungus. If your soil is wet and you notice any of these signs, you may be overwatering your trees.
Add Mulch To Retain Moisture
Mulch is an excellent addition to landscaping since it can help to naturally retain moisture. Adding mulch (2-4 inches deep) around the base of your trees is a good way to keep them healthy. Mulch helps the soil to retain moisture while supporting and protecting young trees from the hot summer sun. This, in turn, will keep your trees cooler while preventing moisture loss from evaporation and improve soil conditions.
Summer Pruning
Pruning during the hot summer months is usually only done for corrective or safety purposes. There reason being is that leaves are what keep your tree cool and when pruned during the summer months can cause your tree to become stressed. Even more, disease and insects can invade open wounds during the growing season, causing your tree to become sick or even die. However, it’s important to remove any dead or dangerous branches to keep your family and property safe.
Salem Tree Care
At Westcoast Tree Care, we work hard to provide you with the best tree care services as possible. Whether you would like more information on summer watering tips or require any of our preventative tree care services, we are the professionals to trust. Our certified arborist would be more than happy to walk your property and provide you with a no-cost, no obligation quote.
Contact us at 1.800.767.8733 today!
