Caring For Your Mature Tree Investments
By Jerry A. Chenault, Urban Regional Extension Agent
Consumers take care of their riding mowers, boats, houses, and other investments. But what about those investments that increase your property value, purify your air, beautify your surroundings, provide cool shade, or protect you from winter’s harsh winds? The investments I’m referring to are your trees! Trees like other personal property need preventative care, which is like putting money in the bank.
Regular maintenance for your trees helps to promote vigor, good plant growth, and will increase your property value. Trees need preventative maintenance like fertilizing, pruning, inspections, and mulching. Let’s take a closer look at each of these investment elements.
Fertilization
Trees need certain nutrients in order to grow and thrive. Urban landscapes often need a bit of help to provide these essential elements, so fertilization is necessary. The only way to know for certain what type and amount of fertilizer your trees need is to have your soil tested at a soil testing laboratory. Otherwise, you might be just guessing and a huge investment is at stake.
Mature trees have a large root system that normally extends 2 to 3 times the size of the leaf canopy. That’s important to know when fertilizing these roots. It’s also important to know that many lawn fertilizers contain broadleaf weed killers (herbicides) that can certainly be harmful to your trees if applied incorrectly. Remember that expansive root system!
Mulching
Mulching reduces stress on trees by helping to maintain moisture in root zones, by keeping down competing weeds and grasses, and by preventing life-threatening injuries from lawn mowers and string-line trimmers. By keeping a 3-inch deep layer of mulch on as much of the root area as possible, you’ll be making a huge step toward protecting your financial investments. Utilize a layer of organic mulch of shredded leaves, pine bark, or pine needles for example, and avoid placing the mulch up against the tree trunk. Maintain a 1 to 2-inch wide “mulch-free” area around the base of the tree to avoid trunk decay from moisture.
Pruning
Pruning is often necessary to remove tree limbs that are crossing (rubbing), diseased, broken, or insect-infested. Sometimes limbs must be removed for other safety precautions as well. But since each cut has the potential to either cause damage to the tree besides increasing sprouting growth, great care should be put into each pruning decision. Pruning should always be done sparingly and with caution.
Pruning mature trees often requires special equipment along with special training and experience. A professional arborist can determine what pruning is necessary and can assist in performing the job safely, correctly, and without damage or personal injury.
Inspection
By providing annual inspections of mature trees, you can prevent or reduce the severity of future disease, insect, and environmental problems. Be sure to check for vigor: new leaves or buds, leaf size, twig growth, and crown dieback, which is the gradual death of the upper tree parts.
Further signs of poor tree health include trunk decay. Look for loose bark or deformed growths such as conks or mushrooms. Watch closely for abnormalities such as insects and spotted or dead leaves or twigs. Don’t hesitate to report your findings to a certified arborist.
Removal
Although tree removal is certainly a last resort, it is a tool that must be used sometimes. An arborist can help decide when a tree should be removed. Removal is generally recommended when a tree is:
· Dead, dying, or considered irreparably hazardous
· Causing an obstruction, or is crowding and causing harm to other trees and the situation is impossible to correct through pruning
· Being replaced by a more suitable specimen
· Being removed to allow for construction
With proper maintenance, trees can be attractive and add considerable value to your property. Poorly maintained trees on the other hand can be a significant liability. Pruning or removing trees, especially large trees, can be dangerous work. It should only be performed by those trained and equipped to work safely in trees. For more information on mature tree care, contact a certified arborist, a garden city, or an Extension agent.