Growing and Maintaining Healthy Trees

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How to Keep Mature Trees on Your Property Safe and Healthy

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Mature trees on your property can make the space look more welcoming and relaxing, while also providing needed shade for your home and surrounding vegetation. Trees even clean the air around them, improving the environment overall. If you have mature trees on your property, note a few tips for keeping them safe and healthy so you know they will thrive for years to come.

Avoid damage

Mature trees may seem very hearty and strong, but they're not indestructible. Running into the trunk with a lawnmower or weed trimmer, or constantly splashing the tree with water from the pool and all the chemicals it contains, can be very unhealthy for that tree. If necessary, build a small barrier or erect a small picket fence around the tree trunk, to keep your mower, pool water, pets, kids, and everything else away from the tree base.

Loosen the soil

Tree roots need adequate hydration as well as oxygen. However, if the soil under and around the tree is very compacted, it won't allow water and oxygen to flow through the dirt, and tree roots may suffer.

If necessary, till the soil on your property slightly so that the dirt becomes looser and less compact. Be sure you don't have unnecessary retaining walls that are directing water away from the tree and your property's soil, as this dryness can cause soil to become compact. A landscaper can tell you if any retaining walls on your property are holding back too much water and if they should be scaled down or removed.

Outbuildings

Roots of trees need to expand quite far from its trunk in order to get all the moisture and nourishment the tree needs. If outbuildings are in the way of those roots, have a tree surgeon redirect them so they can spread out properly and the tree can be nourished and healthy.

Lopping and trimming

Trimming trees is needed, not just to keep branches away from wires and other obstacles, but to keep the tree healthy. Tree branches that rub against each other will get weak and won't typically have enough exposure to sunlight and surrounding air to nourish the tree itself; trimming these branches will actually keep the tree healthy and strong. Proper trimming will also thin out the branches, so that branches closer to the trunk and the trunk itself will get adequate sunlight and air, and this also keeps the tree healthy.


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