There are plenty of ways to care for the trees in your yard without paying a landscaping company. When you follow the right tips for tree care, you’ll help them stay healthy. There are factors to consider when picking out a tree for your yard. You will need to consider the appearance, shade, size, and the hardiness zone. These tree care tips will help you keep your trees healthy and strong.
Tree Care Tips
Pick a Healthy Tree
If you’re planting a tree in your yard, take care to pick one that’s healthy. Check the roots when looking at trees in a nursery. Healthy bare-root seedlings are moist and fibrous. Balled and burlap trees should have firm root balls that match the tree size, and container-grown tree roots should fit inside the container.
For existing trees already in your yard, you can perform a scratch test on the tree’s bark to determine if the tree is healthy.
Planting
When planting a new tree in your yard, follow these guidelines for your tree to thrive once it’s in the ground. Dig a deep, wide hole for your tree’s that completely fits the tree roots. Place the tree at the proper height and straighten it as you fill the hole with soil. Be sure not to overfill or compact the soil too much. Add a stake to support the young tree.
Tree Care with Mulch
Out of all of the tree care maintenance tips, mulching is one of the most important. Mulch helps a young tree retain water while also protecting it from cold and hot weather conditions. Mulching around your trees will also help keep weeds down and the soil from becoming too compact.
Before spreading out the mulch, remove the grass from the area first. Next, apply mulch at a depth of 3 to 4 inches extending 3 to 6 feet from the base of the tree. Keep mulch from touching the trunk of the tree because it can cause disease and insect problems.
Watering
Overwatering and underwatering can be harmful to trees. Although your local climate will determine the amount of additional water your trees need, trees prefer moist, but not soggy, soil. If you don’t know whether your trees need watering, check the soil’s moisture around the tree at a 2″ depth. If the soil is at all moist, it does not need watering.
Pruning and Tree Care
The trees in your yard need proper pruning to stay healthy. Prune trees in the winter to help encourage growth in the spring. Winter pruning should be done right before spring when the coldest part of the season has passed. During the summer, pruning will help to slow down branch growth. Prune flowers after they have faded.
The trees in your yard can grow to be tall, strong, and healthy with these tree care tips.
TMK Inspections provides home inspections to Southeast Pennsylvania. Contact us if you are buying or selling a home.