While trees are an excellent addition to any property, they require care and maintenance to keep them healthy and looking their best. Unfortunately, even with the best intentions, tree care mistakes are all too common. Below are the eight most common tree care mistakes that compromise your tree's health.
1. Excessive Mulching
Mulch around the tree base helps you prevent moisture evaporation during low-rainfall and hot seasons. Thus, mulching can ensure your tree receives adequate moisture and minimize irrigation to compensate for evaporated water. However, excessive mulching, also known as
volcano mulching, is dangerous to trees.
Excessive mulch will trap excessive moisture, which generates moisture-related damage to tree roots, like fungal infections and rot. A moderate three to four inches of mulch is adequate to protect your trees.
2. Improper
Pruning
Tree pruning can remove sick, overhanging, and dead branches that might cause property damage and physical injury and deprive the tree of essential nutrients. However, pruning requires accurate precision and timing to maximize its benefits.
Off-season pruning, such as pruning before fall, excessive pruning, and the use of pruning paint can have negative repercussions. Pruning before fall can accelerate fungi and bacterial infections. Excessive pruning can stunt tree growth. Finally, pruning paint traps fungi and bacteria on the cut parts. Consult an arborist for pruning expertise.
3. Staking
Stakes help young trees develop a straight trunk. However, you must time the support installation right. Early staking will protect your sapling from the flexible movement that encourages strong trunk and root development. Staking in high-wind environments is fine if you remove the stakes periodically. Thus, you should practice the right staking tightness, timeliness, and length.
4. Topping
Significantly tall trees might affect overhead electrical wires or overreach from their allocated growth space. You might think the best way to control your tree's excessive growth is to indiscriminately prune large branches or log off the top.
However, topping can considerably affect your tree's healthy development and compromise its immunity against pests and diseases. Also, it will increase the risk of damage from strong weather elements since it becomes significantly weaker. If you must control your tree's growth, remove the overgrown one and start afresh with a new tree.
5. Improper Irrigation
Irrigation is a beneficial method to supply your tree with sufficient water during dry seasons. However, you must control the amount of water your tree receives, especially young trees that require a constant water supply to grow healthily.
Inadequate water will decrease your tree's health and cause it to wilt and die. However, excessive moisture will also suffocate your tree. Use a combination of age, weather, species, and soil type to decide how to water your trees.
6. Deep Plantation
Tree roots require adequate water, nutrients, and oxygen supply to encourage and sustain healthy development. Deep plantation can deprive your tree of these necessities. The roots might compensate and grow upwards or even surround your trunk. This growth can destabilize the tree. If you plant the tree deeply the first time, you should replant it to reposition it in a much more appropriate depth.
7. Equipment Damage
Lawnmowers and strimmers have sharp edges that might damage tree bark and roots. This damage may seem insignificant but might provide adequate leeway for dangerous microorganisms to attack your tree and destroy it. If you must landscape your lawn, ensure the sharp edges do not come near the tree.
8. Disease Prevention and Management
If you notice any signs of disease on your tree, do not ignore it and hope your tree will manage somehow. Such ignorance can help accelerate disease spread and finally overwhelm your tree. Instead, call an expert to further examine and treat your tree, which gives it adequate care to fight off the disease and prevent its ravage.
An arborist can ensure you avoid these eight mistakes. They have the necessary tools, experience, and knowledge to properly care for and nurture your tree.
Contact us at McClain's Tree Experts for tree services.
