Tree Maintenance Practices

Proper tree maintenance is important for healthy growth. Trees not only make your environment beautiful, they also provide shading, a natural habitat for birds if you love bird watching and when they are old and dying, you can turn them into logs for your furnace or fireplace. The following are some of the most important tree maintenance practices.

Tree watering

It is difficult to recommend an exact amount of water because of different climates and tree varieties. There are a few rules of thumb that you should consider when handling watering trees.

·         You should always water trees immediately after planning them.

·         You should always water your trees during the first two years. During the growing seasons, your trees are trying to establish roots in the soil and they have a hard time dealing with drought and heat. Providing the trees with water and covering the ground with mulch can help them retain moisture in the soil and roots even when it gets pretty hot outside.

·         Too much water can be bad for your trees too. Many people often make the mistake of overwatering the trees. Moist and soggy is quite different; you need to make the soil moist so it can dry after a while to allow oxygen to enter the soil.

·         After two years, your tree will have developed proper root structure, which can withstand a greater range of water conditions so you do not have to water it.

Tree pruning

Pruning is the process of removing parts of the tree branches or top of the trunk. There are many reasons why people prune trees. Trees can be pruned to remove dead branches and diseased leaves, to control the shape of the tree in growth and to encourage flowering. Tree pruning often depends on the individual tree species. The following are some simple pruning guidelines.

·         Winter pruning is the best time because the trees are dormant. This will result in a vigorous burst of growth during spring if you want your trees leafy and bushy. Winter pruning should be done when the coldest part of winter has passed.

·         Pruning in summer helps to direct the growth of the tree by slowing the growth of undesired branches. Summer pruning should be done after seasonal growth; it reduces the number of leaves on the tree. Defective limbs hanging too low can be seen easily and removed at this time.

·         If you are pruning to enhance flowering in the trees, you should prune the trees after the flowers fade. For trees that bloom in spring and for trees that flower in the middle or towards the end of summer, pruning should be during winter or the beginning of spring.

Avoid pruning trees during fall. Decay fungi often spread their spores extensively during fall. If the spores fall on the cuts, the healing of the wounds where the tree was cut may be slower or the tree may become disease infected. Just leave your pruning tools in storage during fall. 

Posted By: All American Tree Pro  http://allamericantreepro.com