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Growing shade trees in your yard has many wonderful benefits. Underneath a big shade tree is the perfect location for a backyard BBQ or for kids to spend time outside. It will also keep your home cooler during warmer months of the year.

To get the full benefit of shade trees, you have to plant the correct species and care for them correctly.

NC Tree Trimming has recommendations for the best trees to plant for shade, as well as some expert advice on caring for your shade trees so they continue to grow strong and healthy.

Planting Trees for Shade

All trees can provide shade, but there are some species that are built for optimal shade. These types of trees usually have a thick, wide canopy that reaches out about as far as it does upward.

In the following parapgraphs, we’ve provided some examples of shade trees based on whether they would be best planted in your back or front yard.

Back Yard Shade Trees

Shade trees in the back yard are primarily for your own benefit. Next-door neighbors and passersby usually won’t be able to see these trees , so they can be purely for shade and enjoyment.

In addition to shade, these trees can provide year-round color as well as some extra privacy.

Here are a few popular options:

• Magnolia
• Sugar maple or silver maple
• Weeping willow
• Weeping cherry
• Red oak

If you have the space, a live oak is another beautiful choice. Live oaks are considered the fastest growing shade trees, and they can get very large. A mature live oak is able to grow up to 80 feet tall and as much as 100 feet wide.

Most of these back yard tree suggestions get pretty big, so you definitely want to do a little research to find out if the tree will have enough space to reach maturity.

If there is not enough room, the tree’s root system can destroy your fencing or even your home. You will also need to prune the tree every year to keep it manageable. A tree that grows too large for its location will most likely have to be cut down, which is an unfortunate and sometimes costly situation.

Front Yard Shade Trees

In the front yard, you are planting trees for your enjoyment as well, but they will be a lot more beneficial for increasing curb appeal and value to your home since they can be seen.

Purchase shade trees for the front yard that are somewhat smaller so they don’t overpower your home. These trees should pair with your landscaping in size and color, while still offering plenty of shade for front yard relaxation and play.

These are some of the shade trees NC Tree Trimming recommends:

Red maple
River birch
Dogwood
White oak
Ginkgo tree

These species trees are beautiful throughout the year, and they’ll display even more color in the fall months.
Another excellent choice for your front or side yard is the ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae. This hedge-like tree can be planted in a row with others to create privacy and shade.

With these suggestions in mind, we recommend that you plant what you like. In all honesty, any type of tree can grow to become a “shade tree.” Assuming the trees you choose are suitable for the weather in North Carolina, they will provide your yard and home with some shade.

Benefits of Planting Shade Trees

The reasons to have shade for your home are numerous — there are a few that you maybe don’t automatically think about.

Shade, Obviously – When temperatures {soar|get too hot, you won’t need to run indoors if you have a nice, shady yard. Put a chair or hammock under your best shade tree and relax outside as long as you like.

Climate Control – Trees can regulate the temperature in your yard and inside your house. Not only do trees protect you from the glaring sun, but they can also make it feel 10-15 degrees cooler under their canopies. This means less solar radiation on your roof and siding as well, which should also result in lowering your energy costs!

Better Air Quality – Trees produce oxygen and remove pollutants from the air, so there is cleaner air around your home. Arbor Day Foundation research states that one mature tree absorbs around 48 pounds of CO2 from the air.

Safety for Animals – If you’re into bird watching or think squirrels and chipmunks are adorable, your shade trees can give them all they need to build a habitat, find nearby food and raise babies.

Fun – What child doesn’t want a backyard tree house or tire swing? If you have children, shade trees can offer hours of fun and countless memories.

How to Care for Shade Trees

Caring for shade trees is very simple as long as you’ve planted the right species for the weather in North Carolina. Trees are strong and hardy after a couple of years, needing little attention or maintenance.

Consult a certified arborist from NC Tree Trimming if you have any questions about the care of your trees, or to help you determine the best tree for your property.

Once you have chosen the best shade tree(s) for your yard, follow this easy care guide until your shade tree is well established.

Planting Your Shade Tree

The east, west and south sides of your property get the most sun, so plant your new trees on one of these areas of your yard. This is two-fold: 1) the trees will provide the ideal amount of shade and 2) they will also receive the maximum amount of sun for healthy growth.

Pruning Your Shade Tree

Prune during the first year or two after you first plant the tree in order to shape it and help it form a strong foundation. To be safe, and for the best results, call NC Tree Trimming for tree trimming in North Carolina. A certified arborist will arrive at your home and deliver professional care for the tree.

Watering Your Shade Tree

Watering a new tree is very important. This will help them form a deep root system and will give the tree stability over the course of its lifetime.

Fertilizing Your Shade Tree

Fertilize a shade tree just like you would any other tree in order to aid healthy growth. Fertilizer is not necessary for caring for a shade tree, but it can help your tree to grow faster and produce more leaves, which are the source of your shade.

We hope this blog post was helpful! Remember, when it is time to prune or trim a new shade tree, NC Tree Trimming can help! Call us and a certified arborist in North Carolina will visit your property, examine the tree and decide the best care plan for its long-term growth and health.

Tree trimming is best left to the pros. It’s dangerous work, climbing high up trees, using chainsaws and lowering heavy tree limbs to the ground; and it is sometimes dangerous for the tree too. Trees that are improperly pruned can experience a lifetime of damage.

Rather than putting yourself in harm’s way and putting the tree at risk, find someone who is trained and experienced to do the job for you.

This will lead to stronger trees and a safer environment near your home for several reasons:

• Healthy trees are stronger and not as likely to cause damage during severe storms
• Cared for trees don’t attract or spread parasites and diseases
• Pruned trees grow more flowers or fruit
• Pruned trees create shade and allow air to flow through their canopies and your landscaping

NC Tree Trimming highly encourages pruning trees that are very close to your home or any that are an integral part of your property.

Is Tree Trimming Necessary?

It is not required. But it is important. Trees are very hardy and can survive on their own across the world, in many different climates and locations, without pruning.

That said, there are many benefits of professional tree pruning, so it’s definitely recommended for any trees that you value. This can include sentimental trees, fruit trees and blossoming trees or trees that offer an important job for your home, such as shade or home to wildlife.

Tree Trimming Gone Wrong

Tree pruning is a complex project. You need the correct equipment and a lot of information to guarantee the job is done right. The vast majority of homeowners don’t have either of these!

But that’s not a problem, because there are several companies available who know how to correctly trim trees for an affordable cost to you including all of the certified arborists throughout North Carolina we work with!

Here are the 5 most common mistakes people make when attempting DIY tree pruning that can lead to many tree problems. These are things that an experienced arborist from NC Tree Trimming will know, and that’s exactly why their services are worth the price!

Pruning Too Much

When done the right way, pruning is an ongoing process. Starting when your trees are just 2 or 3 years old, they should be trimmed by an expert if you value them and desire to keep them strong and healthy.

A big mistake people often make when pruning trees by themselves is cutting too much of the tree all at once. This happens because they have let the tree’s growth get out of hand and try to fix it all at once. Ideally, you should only cut off 5-20% of the tree’s crown at a once. It is much easier to do this during a time of year that the leaves are off, but a certified arborist will be able to properly trim trees any time of year.

Removing Bark from the Tree

After you cut a tree branch and gravity starts pulling it down, it can tear off bark from the trunk right along with it. This exposes the tree’s inner layers, putting the tree in danger of attracting diseases and making it easier for insects to scurry their way in.

To ensure this doesn’t happen, an arborist will make special cuts underneath large branches before making their actual removal cut. Knowing exactly how to place these initial cuts takes pressure off the branch collar and lowers the stress at the exact point of the main cut so the limb doesn’t tear.

Trimming in the Wrong Place

An experienced arborist knows exactly where to cut each limb to protect against damage. This cut should be made just beyond the branch collar, the exact place where the branch connects to the trunk.

Cutting too close to the branch collar exposes the tree to decay, mildew and pests. Cutting too far from it leaves a stump when the tree recovers. Most DIY tree trimming leads to an improper cut, leaving either structural or aesthetic problems.

Pruning Large Branches

Branches larger than 4 inches in diameter really shouldn’t be trimmed unless it is absolutely necessary. Cutting off a branch of this size can result in imbalance in the tree and expose it to insects and decay as the tree recovers from such a large loss.

Conservative pruning every year ensures that the tree service company only has to cut off branches that are 2-3 inches in diameter, which results in a more attractive shape for the tree and less chance of harming the tree or exposing it to disease and insects.

Topping the Tree

Tree topping is an outdated type of pruning, and for good reason! During this service, tree trimming companies would cut the top off of the tree to achieve the desired height. It was not attractive nor was it beneficial for the tree, so the vast majority of arborists do not practice tree topping anymore.

As a DIY tree trimming, you might think this is a good way to lower the height of your tree with just one cut, but once you have cut the top of a tree off, there’s almost no chance that it will ever return to a natural shape.

The Solution? Call NC Tree Trimming

Your tree may never recover from poor trimming.

Performing this job yourself might seem like a good way to save a little money, but you might end up with way more cost trying to revive damaged trees, so it’s really safer (and more economical in the long run) to hire a certified arborist in North Carolina from NC Tree Trimming.

Limbs will not grow back. The tree will grow more, but not in the same places, which {can result in|produces strange shapes that might require years to correct. The tree could end up looking bad for the rest of its life, all because of just one pruning error.

Incorrect trimming could also lead to death of the tree. Removing too many limbs (and, therefore, leaves) can alter the tree’s photosynthesis process, meaning it won’t get enough water or enough carbon dioxide and sunlight to continue healthy growth.

Cutting off too many branches could also send the tree into a state of shock. Shock can be overcome, but it takes a great deal of patience and care. Even with the right maintenance, a tree experiencing shock may still die.

Avoid all of these tree pruning mistakes and call NC Tree Trimming to speak with a tree care specialist in North Carolina able to devise a long-term plan to ensure your tree continues blossoming and looking beautiful for years to come!

Trees are living things, so it stands to reason that they can get “sick” like humans and animals. A disease or other tree issue might take a while to show itself because of the overall size of the tree, and once you notice a symptom, it could be too late to revive the tree.

A certified arborist from NC Tree Trimming can diagnose and treat common tree issues so that there is a much greater chance of keeping the tree. Learn about our service here. Not only can an experienced arborist keep a tree from dying, but they can also help trees get healthier growth and more flowers or fruit with professional tree trimming.

Have you ever noticed a tree on your property that has always seemed OK but all of the sudden looks like something is wrong? In the next blog post, we’ll explain some of the most typical tree problems and diseases and what these symptoms mean.

If you spot any of these things on any of the trees on your property, act fast to have the best chance of saving the tree and the ones around it.

Tree Diseases & Common Problems

These 7 things are the most common problems addressed by professional arborists in North Carolina. As soon as you think one of these things might be wrong with your tree, contact someone with the knowledge and equipment to help!

Tree Diseases

Leaf Rust – Leaf rust is a fungus that is common in both plants and trees. The name comes from the brown and yellow spots this disease creates on the leaves.

Leaf rust is a problem because it interferes with the leaves’ photosynthesis, the process by which it breathes. Leaf rust can be treated with fungicides and selective trimming of the affected leaves. It might be recommended to remove entire branches with leaf rust.

Witches’ Broom – This tree disease results in a large mass of twigs, dead leaves and branches that resemble a broom shape. It is caused by insects, unusually rainy weather or fungus. The formation of a clump of twigs and leaves is the tree’s reaction to infection or danger.

Some instances of Witches’ Broom are fatal for the tree, others are just considered a growth malformation. An arborist can diagnose the problem.

Mildew – Mildew is a type of fungus that grows on almost anything in wet conditions, but even after the wet conditions are over with, mildew can remain and thrive. It usually appears as a powdery substance, usually white, and it often shows up on the leaves of the tree first.

The the best method for eliminating mildew is to apply a fungicide that includes sulfur. This will treat the current mildew and stop future mildew growth on the tree. You might also need to trim the tree to remove limbs, fruit, flowers and leaves that were affected by the mildew

Gall – Gall is a tree condition that occurs when insects build small nests on the leaves or branches of a tree to leave their eggs in. Most types of galls are not dangerous for the tree, but they are not attractive.

Gall will appear as bumps on the tree, in various sizes. They can be white, brown, gray or some shade in between.

You do not have to treat the tree if there are galls, but they can affect the growth of new trees. Treat galls by killing the pests. You should also clean out from under the tree when the leaves fall off, because this is where the insects survive during winter.

Other Tree Problems

Poor Trimming – There’s an art to tree trimming, as well as many types, and if you don’t know what to do, you could harm the tree beyond recovery. Consider the type of tree, season and other factors. Under-pruning (or not pruning at all) can be just as big of a problem. Only a trained arborist should be trusted to prune trees to keep them healthy.

Lack of Water – Young trees can be significantly impacted by drought. If you decide to plant new trees, you will need to supplement how much water they get from rainfall. A tree that doesn’t get enough water will have its growth stunted. The first sign you are likely to see is scorched, dry leaves. Find more tips for new trees here.

Too Much Sun – Do some initial planning before planting trees in a sunny area. Many types of trees can handle it just fine, but too much sun can happen to any tree if the sun is too hot for a long period and rainfall is light. A tree that is getting a lot of sun needs even more water to fight against wilting, drooping leaves.

Certified Arborist Services in North Carolina

An experienced arborist from NC Tree Trimming will quickly diagnose what’s going on with your sick tree and formulate a plan to rescue it if at all possible.

Here is what an arborist is trained to do:

• Evaluate trees from below and from the limbs of the tree if possible. Getting into the canopy is often necessary to understand exactly what is creating the symptoms.
• Treat your tree through additives and fertilizers in the soil or solutions applied to the leaves. The arborist will have expert knowledge about the disease impacting the tree and the most effective treatments.
• Prune tree limbs to eliminate dead or diseased branches and to encourage healthy growth. Even if heavy pruning is necessary, they will know how to remove branches so that the tree survives both the issue and the pruning.
• Remove the tree from your property if nothing can be done to save it. The worst case is that the tree is too far gone, and cutting it down is the only choice to protect your property and surrounding landscape.

They can also inform you about the other trees that you have om your property and how to best care for them so you don’t find yourself in the same situation again.

Some tree issues look very similar to one another, requiring an expert opinion to correctly diagnose and treat the issue. If your trees are looking dry, disfigured or dying, call a certified arborist from NC Tree Trimming for an inspection before it’s too late for your tree.

When it comes to the question, “What time of year is best for tree trimming?” The answer can be vague.

Tree type often dictates when many species are able to be trimmed, along with pest population and activity, local tree and plant diseases and other plants and trees in the landscape.

With the help of a certified arborist in North Carolina, you can determine what time of year is ideal for pruning your trees to prepare them for success next season and every year after that.

Best Season to Prune Trees

Without any other context, NC Tree Trimming recommends tree trimming in the winter. This would be sometime from November to March in North Carolina. This season is ideal because the trees are usually dormant, so pruning will lead to the least amount of harm, if any.

There are a lot of benefits to trimming trees during the winter:

Less risk of insect damage and disease – Insects and plant diseases are mostly inactive in the winter in North Carolina. During the rest of the year, everything from insects to fungus can harm a freshly trimmed tree because the tree is most vulnerable and these issues are more common when there is warmer weather.

Easier to determine the shape of the tree when there are no leaves – Leaves get in the way of your arborist from seeing the complete shape of the tree. When branches are bare, it is much easier to see diseased or dead branches and branches that are touching versus those that are just close together.

Trees can heal before spring – By performing major pruning in the winter, your trees have several months to rebuild callus tissue on the tips of the remaining branch collar. By the spring season, you’ll barely be able to tell where the branches were trimmed, and the tree will be able to use its energy to produce brand new, healthier leaves, fruit or flowers instead of healing new cuts.

Less chance of harming nearby landscaping – Most of the surrounding trees and greenery will also be dormant, so there is a lower risk of damaging them. Most of the time, a tree is surrounded by annual plants in the spring and summer, but there are no plants to be disturbed during the winter since these annuals already died out.

Do All Trees Need Trimming?

Yes, all trees will benefit from annual trimming. Tree trimming each winter is good for the trees, but it is also a precaution for the safety of your property and your family. Let us explain:

Pruning Makes the Tree Healthier

Dead and diseased limbs are removed, as are stubs that are prone to pests and disease. Limbs that can rub against one another are also pruned so they don’t weaken one another or create an open wound on the tree.

Pruning trees every winter is a good way to get expert eyes on the health of your trees so that early signs of decay, disease and pest infestations can be identified and handled immediately.

A Cared-For Tree Serves Its Purpose Better

When a tree is overgrown, it starts to be hard for water and nutrients to reach every branch. This can leave the tree looking scraggly and sick and definitely not doing what it’s meant to do.

Trimmed trees, on the other hand, produce more fruit, healthier leaves and provide better shade. They are much fuller and healthier and less likely to create landscaping problems. So regardless of why you decided to plant a new tree, routine trimming each winter will improve the results you desire from it.

Trees are More Beautiful After Pruning

If the curb appeal of your landscaping is important to you, tree trimming is important! Pruning trees creates an attractive, uniform size and shape. This is important if you have a lot of identical trees on your property.

Trimming lower branches and upper branches that grow at improper angles improves the overall beauty of the tree while also strengthening tree health.

Less Chance of Falling Branches

Tree trimming – done the right way – encourages the remaining branches to grow stronger and healthier. Therefore, storms and high winds won’t damage your trees the same way they would an unkempt tree. Your home and family will be safer living under and around trimmed trees.

Another safety issue for overgrown trees is that they can block the view of traffic lights, road signs and driveways. Tree trimming, crown raising and other specialized tree care services will keep the tree at a manageable size and prevent it from blocking various views.

Call NC Tree Trimming for Tree Trimming

Working with a certified arborist in North Carolina gives you access to their expert knowledge on the subject of tree trimming. We highly recommend relying on their expertise if you have trees on that you’d like to keep healthy for a long time.

An arborist doesn’t only consider the immediate situation. Instead, an arborist will take the time to inspect your trees and study their unique scenario (including their location and factors that could put them at risk). After collecting all the information, an arborist will create a long-term plan based on the trees’ needs and stick to that course of action until your goals for your trees are achieved.

This plan could require years to implement, but rest assured, it will lead to healthy trees that you and your family can enjoy for many years to come.

This kind of ongoing maintenance will promote healthy tree growth, help your landscaping fight off plant diseases and increase flower or fruit production from the trees. It will also fortify your trees so there is not as much risk of falling trees or branches.

Being proactive about tree trimming will save you a lot of money over time as well. Preventative care is far more cost-effective than the cost of emergency tree services, storm damage restoration or curing a sick tree of a disease that has gotten out of hand (and one that was easily preventable).

If you care about the health of your trees and the curb appeal of your landscaping, trust a certified arborist for tree pruning and maintenance from NC Tree Trimming. Discover our service area here. We work with arborists across the entire state of North Carolina. Call now!

Tree pruning in North Carolina is an important professional service that can beautify and reinforce your trees so they will withstand pests, diseases and severe weather – and look breathtaking doing it!

Pruning must be completed if you want healthy trees, but it must be done correctly by someone who knows what they’re doing. Like a certified arborist from NC Tree Trimming. Homeowners may be able to prune and trim trees safely while they are still small, but you also may do permanent damage to the tree in the process.

To properly prune trees, you need to know all of the following:

• When is the best time to prune your species of trees
• How much of the tree should be trimmed at a time
• Where to cut the branches so you do not damage the tree

Removing too much from a tree might kill it or cause structural damage, but minimal pruning done annually benefits trees in several ways. Professional pruning helps to improve the appearance of trees, makes them healthier, removes dying or diseased limbs and expedites fruit or flower production.

Ideally, pruning must be completed each year, but as trees mature, you may be able to wait two years between major pruning services. Regardless of how regularly you have your trees pruned, ensure your arborist is qualified to perform the type of tree pruning your trees need. This won’t be an issue if you call NC Tree Trimming in North Carolina!

Types of Tree Pruning Methods

There are 7 different ways to properly prune a tree so that it grows stronger and healthier year after year.

Depending on the shape, species and health problems of your trees, one method might be more effective than another, but each technique has various benefits to consider.

Crown Thinning Your Trees

Crown thinning is typical for larger, overgrown trees in North Carolina. This process removes weak branches within the crown of the tree to improve light and air flow through the crown. Air flow is important for disease prevention.

This pruning technique also gets rid of branches and limbs that are touching so they do not rub against one another and snap or create weakened areas that can be an entry point for insects and pests. Limbs that grow at strange angles are almost always cut off during crown thinning.

Crown Raising Your Trees

This tree pruning technique removes branches at the lower part of the crown so limbs start higher up on the trunk. Letting low branches get too big makes them difficult to cut off, and they can pull nutrients from the top of the tree, resulting in less fruit and a weaker tree.

There are many reasons you might want to raise the crown of a tree. Often, it is done in order to clear the line of sight for cars and pedestrians, but it can be done to make space for landscaping under the tree.

It is a common method for large trees that are too close to homes and buildings.

Crown Reduction

Crown reduction lowers the total size of the tree’s crown from its exterior edges. It shortens branches horizontally and vertically to maintain the tree at a certain size. By reducing the crown size, you can eliminate the need to chop the tree down because it won’t come into contact with traffic lights, power lines or street lights.

Even when the tree isn’t near structures like these, crown reduction will make the tree look much better because it eliminates irregular growth. This is a smart solution for trees that are various ages but are supposed to look consistent.

Crown Cleaning

Also referred to as deadwood pruning, crown cleaning is a minimally invasive trimming method that removes dying, broken or diseased branches so that the remaining parts of the tree will grow normally. These branches can only cause issues over time.

Crown cleaning helps to make the tree look a lot better, and it prevents limbs from rubbing together. And it is a safety practice that reduces the chance of branches falling, since healthy branches rarely fall.

Crown Restoration

Crown restoration is an intense trimming process for trees that have been significantly damaged (either by pests or weather). It needs to be done by an experienced arborist who knows how the tree is likely to grow over time and roughly how long it’s restoration is going to take.

Unlike most other tree trimming services, crown restoration occurs over a longer time period with conservative trimming that reshapes the tree. The arborist must have a plan to restore the tree, but also must be flexible as the tree begins to grow and reshape on its own, working with the tree’s new growth pattern.

Vista Pruning

If you are looking for trees to help improve curb appeal, you are actually interested in vista pruning. The goal of vista pruning is to help to make the tree more visually pleasing from a particular viewing point.

It entails many pruning techniques including crown thinning, crown reduction and crown cleaning – anything that makes the trees look prettier. Remember, though, that an arborist will never compromise the health of a tree, so the focus of vista pruning is still to maintain strong, healthy trees.

Espalier Pruning

Espaliered trees are pruned heavily to grow flat up against walls or a trellis. It is a different style of trimming that is sure to draw a lot of attention to your landscape. Espalier pruning needs to be started when the tree is young and then done routinely throughout the tree’s life span.

Some of the benefits of espalier pruning include allowing maximum sunlight to reach the trees, as well as making it much easier to produce fruit.

Professional Tree Pruning in North Carolina

Tree trimming can be harmful to a tree, your landscaping, and, of course, for you! NC Tree Trimming highly recommends professional tree pruning over DIY.

Aside from the possible dangers of tree trimming, you can do a lot of harm to a tree if you don’t know how to prune it properly. Over-pruning is one of the most typical mistakes made by homeowners maintaining their own trees.

Trees in North Carolina that get annual care from a professionals are much better off, and hiring a certified arborist from NC Tree Trimming to care for trees on your property is a choice you won’t regret. Locate your city in our service area. We work with arborists across the entire state of North Carolina!

Planting trees on your property has several benefits. Trees create much-needed summer shade, filter polluted air and increase curb appeal. Everyone should plant trees.

Once grown, most trees are simple to maintain: another benefit! Trees are strong and tend to continue growing even with minimal care. But, if you want to see your trees achieve their full potential, they need more effort.

Lack of care for growing trees might cause rotting, disease, under watering or pest issues.

The good news is that caring for trees isn’t very complicated, but you do need some tips to do it right. Research the trees you plant to know exactly what they need. Then properly care for them and watch them flourish.

Below, we’ll describe the five best tips on how to plant a new tree and seeing it thrive. You probably know the basics, so let’s dive deeper and lay out how to do each step correctly.

Tree Care Tips for New Trees

These five tips will not only help keep trees alive, they’ll help them to grow faster, resist extreme gusts of wind, fight off diseases and pests and produce more leaves, flowers or fruit.

Water Your Tree

New trees need more water than well-established ones. The trees you plant on your property are no exception.

The root of the tree and the soil around it have to be kept moist, but don’t let it get too wet, as this can cause some of the roots to rot.

The rule of thumb is 4-10 gallons of water per week. This includes rain water, and although it’s hard to get an exact reading, a rain gauge can get you close enough to supplement the remaining gallons. Your new trees need this much water every week for the initial 2-3 growing seasons.

Mulch Around Your Trees

Mulch is more than an attractive lawn care material. It actually helps protect new trees, especially the roots. But laying mulch incorrectly can sometimes lead to rotting and decay – so much so, that the tree will not survive.

Place mulch exactly 3 inches away from the trunk of the tree and spread it out to cover the ground underneath the longest horizontal limb. For new trees, this isn’t going to be very far, but as the tree continues to grow, your mulch area will continue to grow substantially.

Keep the mulch 2 to 4 inches thick in all areas. Be vigilant in spreading it out consistently and far enough away from the trunk of the tree so it does not limit air flow around the trunk.

Fertilize Around Your Tree

Fertilizer provides the nutrients that your soil may not have naturally. Most new trees can benefit from fertilizing, but you have to use the correct products and doing it at the correct time in order for fertilizer to be most impactful.

The perfect time of year to fertilize is during early spring. Sometimes early summer provides the right conditions (mild temperatures and moist soil), but don’t count on it.

If you aren’t sure about which type of fertilizer to use, speak to a tree care professional for advice. Slow-release fertilizers are typically a good idea because they feed your trees over a period of time rather than all right away.

Follow through with these tasks in the first growing seasons after planting a tree, and then reevaluate your watering, mulching and fertilizing needs as the tree becomes more established. As seasons go on, there will be tree care tasks that are more important for your young trees.

Prune Your Tree

Tree trimming is very important – but very tricky – in the first years after you plant a tree. As the tree grows, you will start to see many little branches take off, attempting to become the tree’s trunk. You may think this shows that the tree is healthy and growing well, it can actually lead to a very weak tree in the future.

Early trimming shapes the tree into what it will ultimately look like when it gets much larger. As small limbs emerge from the lower trunk, they have to be cut off so they don’t steal water and nutrients from the upper branches.

So long as you have trees on your property, they need to be pruned periodically. When the trees get too big for you to prune them safely, you can count on NC Tree Trimming to do the job for you.

Monitor Your Tree

Young trees are at the most risk for damage, disease and insect problems. But you’re never completely safe from these things. As your tree grows older, monitor it closely for evidence of disease or poor nutrition, including the following:

• Leaf color change out of season, especially leaves turning yellow or brown
• Premature leaf falling, despite whether leaves appear healthy or diseased
• Wilting, even with proper watering
• Individual branches dying
• Bark peeling off

These signs likely mean a health problem. It is likely going to require professional care if your goal is to keep the tree alive. An experienced arborist can often diagnose the issue by simply looking at the tree, although they will do testing if deemed necessary.

If you catch the issue quick enough, you will probably be able to save the tree from dying. Being proactive is the best way to protect younger trees.

The steps above are simple yet effective. Don’t underestimate the importance of the basics! When your new trees have proper care, combined with some sunshine and barring any severe, damaging weather, the chances are probable that they will survive and will look beautiful!

Of course, you may already have a very busy schedule and don’t want to take on these additional lawn care projects. In some cases, homeowners don’t have the ability or the tools to give their new trees the necessary care.

No matter the situation, it’s ok to hire a local tree service for the care of new trees. A professional arborist in North Carolina can consult with you about the best course of care for each tree species you plant on your land. Arborists enjoy sharing their knowledge and skills with people planting brand new trees, and can make the difference between trees struggling and trees thriving.

Call NC Tree Trimming now for information on routine tree care in North Carolina – including tree trimming – for new trees and older trees. An arborists can determine the best plan for your trees! Locate your city in our service area here.