There are countless ways to improve your trees and shrubs that don’t involve a ladder and a chainsaw. As trees begin to “relax” from the stress of summer, here are some helpful tips for getting out and getting your hands dirty:

Get out and mulch your trees! Adding or re-applying a 2-3” layer of mulch around the base of your trees will pay dividends. Here are the benefits:
- It keeps the mower and weed eater away from the base of the tree. Mechanical damage accounts for a considerable portion of stress and mortality for young trees.
- It normalizes soil temperatures. Mulch helps keep the spoil profile warm when it’s cold and cool when it’s hot, which helps extend your tree’s growing season.
- It helps retain moisture and feeds the tree. Mulch breaks down and creates the optimal food for your tree to convert into resources used to help grow. It also acts as a natural sponge that helps maintain moisture around the critical root zone.
- Beware of the mulch volcano! Do not pile up mulch around the base of the tree. This can cause serious rot and decay that will eventually harm your tree.
- Mulch also suppresses competitive weeds.
Do some pruning! Before the leaves, drop dead wood is obvious. Therefore fall is a great time to prune out dead branches and limbs.
- Make sure to make proper pruning cuts outside of the branch collar, at appropriate unions. A detailed breakdown of proper pruning will occur in the Winter newsletter, so be ready.
- Remember to spray cuts on Oak trees immediately with pruning seal.
- If you have to hop on a ladder and cut above your head, DON’T DO IT!
- Make sure and use a sharp pair of loppers or pruning shears to make a clean cut. Clean cuts seal over quicker than poor, jagged cuts.