Follow these tips to apply excellent summer tree care this season.
Spring and summer are the seasons when your trees look especially beautiful; growing bright green leaves and providing cool shade to your property. However, while your trees may look healthy and thriving, you still want to ensure you provide them with the care they need to grow strong, survive the fall and winter seasons and live a long life. If you want to provide the best summer tree care, keep in mind the following tips.
Water Your Tree Wisely
You can wisely use water while preserving the health of your trees by following these guidelines:
- Deep watering: Young trees need regular watering for optimal growth and health. Deep watering prevents weak surface roots from forming and encourages the growth of deep robust roots.
- Look for signs of drought stress: Are the tree’s leaves wilting, yellowing, or curling at the edges? Check the soil moisture once a week, four-to-six inches below the surface, to ensure it isn’t too dry. Optimally, after watering, the soil should be moist but not saturated.
- Inspect your irrigation system: Leaks or clogged spray heads can disrupt the delivery of water to your trees. Expand the drip line away from the tree as it matures, and apply water out to the tree’s drip line.
- Water deeply: Your lawn and trees will benefit from deep irrigation. Watering only the top few inches of soil can encourage weak shallow roots for both your lawn and trees.
Replenish Tree Mulch
Summer tree care includes replenishing the mulch around your trees to help preserve moisture and moderate soil temperature for the roots. If your trees don’t currently have mulch, cover the soil with a two inch layer of pine or aged hardwood mulch. Start a few inches from the trunk base and extend out one to two feet or more from the tree in all directions. It is important to not have mulch piled against the tree’s trunk.
Prune When Appropriate
Pruning trees is a practice that can help improve tree health and encourage strong growth. The best time to prune is typically when trees are dormant in the fall or winter, but it is always beneficial to check your trees for signs of dead, diseased, or damaged branches throughout the year. In summer, you may notice damaged branches after heavy storms. When pruning be careful not to cut into the limb’s “collar”. The collar is the raised area where the limb meets the trunk and is where the tree will naturally grow over the wound.
Inspect Overall Tree Health
Summer is a great time to check your tree’s general health. While the crown is full, you can look for signs of pest damage, disease, or rot. If you suspect disease, you can contact the licensed tree experts at Scientific Plant Service to inspect for weak branch attachments and other signs of potential problems.
Summer is a good time to schedule your tree’s fall deep root fertilization treatments. These treatments can boost your tree’s health every year and help keep them growing vigorously.
Scientific Plant Service Is Your Go-To Source In Landscape Healthcare
Scientific Plant Service, located in Baltimore, is a privately owned corporation, chartered in Maryland in 1957 by Frank J. Burke. We started as a full-service Arborists specializing in the care of shade trees and ornamental shrubs, but today we are a Lawn Care company that is a huge part of the community. From aquatic environments and snow management to deer and mole control, SPS has services tailored specifically for your lawn and landscape.
We offer services in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia, including: Harford, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Calvert counties in MD, as well as Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church in VA. For more information, contact us online, or call us at 410-321-0970. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.