The spring season brings to mind plentiful rains and the greening of our environment. Trees awaken from their winter dormancy, shrubs, bushes, plants, and lawns all come to life. It isn’t a time most people think about drought.
While the state of Washington has seen above average snowpack for February, and a virtual elimination of statewide drought conditions, south eastern Washington remains in a moderate drought. That means protecting your trees from drought conditions is something our friends in Walla Walla, Washington should put into action now.
Westcoast Tree Care recommends proactive tree maintenance. We call it Preventative Tree Care. What this means is simple: Avoid issues with your trees health, structure, and appearance before they happen. Planning and taking steps now to protect your trees from drought will pay dividends down the road should drought conditions persist or worsen.
Today we’ve put together a set of tree care tips to aid you in protecting your trees from drought in Walla Walla, Washington.
Drought Tree Care Tips:
- Prune: Prune excess branches, deadwood, and foliage in the spring. Now is the perfect time for pruning. This will aid in reducing the trees demands for nutrients and water. At the same time you’ll be lessening the trees fire risk during dry conditions, as well as protecting your trees from rot and disease.
- Water: Deep water your trees. Consider investing in a soaker hose. While this is most likely unnecessary during the spring months, now is a perfect time to put together a water schedule. Once the weather warms up and we enter the summer months, it’s a good idea to avoid watering during the hotter hours of the day.
- Mulch: Adding a mulch layer around the base of your tree (ensuring the mulch is 4-6 inches away from the trunk) is an exceptional tree care application that goes a long way toward reducing water loss and adding nutrients to your trees. If your tree is growing in a lawn, remove the lawn from around the tree. Grass competes with the water your trees need. Replace the grass with mulch.
The Takeaway
Protect the investment you’ve made in your trees by preparing for the possibility of a continued drought in Walla Walla, Washington. We’ve provided you with a basic set of tree care tips to aid you in planning for and protecting your trees as the summer months approach.
Westcoast Tree Care offers our customers industry leading knowledge and expertise when it comes to their trees. We offer a variety of services including pruning, deadwood removal, hazard tree removal and more. Staffed by ISA Certified Arborists, you know you can count on Westcoast Tree Care to aid you in preparing your trees for drought conditions and more.
Contact us today to learn what we can do for you!
