Understanding how to care for your trees throughout the seasons can help you maintain optimal year-round tree health for some of your most precious assets. There can be a lot involved in caring for trees.
In this article, we’ll share our best seasonal tree care tips to help you ensure your trees look their best all year long. Healthy trees require services like pruning, fertilization, watering, and more to continue to perform optimally. Knowing what your trees need (and when they need it) is important.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Seasonal tree care tips for spring
Caring for your trees in the summer
Tree maintenance in the fall
Winter tree care
Why hire Louisville tree services
Spring is the start of the active growing season for trees. Tree care in the spring includes important tasks like mulching, pruning, and fertilization…and we will talk about each of these.
You also always want to be assessing your trees for signs of potential trouble. Problems with tree diseases and pests sometimes emerge in the warmer months.
Mulching is a valuable step in preserving tree health. Mulch helps to insulate and protect roots. It also helps the soil to retain water. But the key to mulching is to avoid creating “mulch volcanoes.”
A mulch volcano is when mulch is mounded up against the trunk of the tree and then tapers down. This is unfortunately a common mulching habit even though it is incorrect. The proper way to create a mulch ring is to make a donut, with no mulch piled up against the trunk.
As far as tree fertilization, this service provides important nutrients that can boost health and performance. Your trees and shrubs are only as healthy as the soil they’re growing in. When trees are fertilized they typically grow stronger and healthier. They are also less likely to succumb to problems.
For good year-round tree health, you’ll also need to keep a close eye on your trees during the summer months. Summer can be a challenging time for your trees as they must deal with both drought and heat stress.
This is also a time of the year when pest and disease problems can run rampant. Pests, in particular, tend to strike when a tree is already struggling.
The residential landscape is full of potential tree pests that could end up damaging your trees. Here in Louisville, we have a number of different pests that can pose problems. Six that we see most often include bagworms, mites, emerald ash borer, aphids, scale, and other borer insects.
Tree diseases are another potential problem that can pose a threat to tree health. There are more than 25 common diseases in the Louisville landscape. Most of these issues are related to various types of fungus. The hot and humid conditions of the summer can make disease issues more prevalent.
During these hot and dry months, watering becomes more important than ever. As we mentioned, healthy trees require around one inch of water per week. Pay attention to whether or not “Mother Nature” is supplying that. If not, you may need to supplement with some additional water.
Drought stress can be quite detrimental to your trees. Some potential signs of drought stress in a tree include:
If you notice that your tree is drought stressed, you can talk to a tree care professional about what to do. It’s a lot easier to prevent drought stress than it is to help your tree recover from it, so whenever possible, aim to be proactive in watering. Do not wait until your tree is in rough shape to get started.
The fall is a wonderful time of the year to enjoy your trees. Some of the same Louisville tree maintenance tasks remain important in the fall. Tree fertilization, watering, and mulching are all still important.
As we head into the winter months, this can be a good time to consider tree pruning (or what would be called “dormant pruning”). There is one great reason why the winter makes a good time for Louisville tree pruning: Deciduous trees have lost their leaves which makes it easier for an arborist to see potential structural problems within the tree.
Structural problems include “V” shaped unions, including bark, splits, and cracks in the trunk which may be more difficult to see when the leaves are present. If structural defects are evident, a service called cabling and bracing can sometimes be used to add support to the tree and prevent accidents.
That being said, while winter is a great time for pruning, it’s not your only option. You can prune most trees throughout the year. Tree pruning tips include making sure you prune the proper amount. Removing too much of a tree during the pruning process can be harmful to your tree. As we mentioned above, even though pruning involves purposeful cuts, it’s still considered a mild stress on your tree.
Because of that, you want to make sure that no more than 25 percent of live growth is removed at any one time. You want to make sure that any tree trimming professional you hire is adhering to that guideline.
As far as how often to prune, tree pruning should be more about what the tree needs rather than any set schedule. That being said, a general rule of thumb is that trees should be pruned every 4 years. This pruning cycle is easy to remember: think Olympics, Presidential elections, and high school.
In addition to dormant pruning, during the winter you also want to watch out for potential snow and ice damage to your trees. If limbs are hanging after a storm, you’ll want to make sure to bring in a tree care professional to assess the damage.
While a lot of these seasonal tree care tips can be implemented on your own, there are key reasons to consider hiring a professional.
Tree maintenance in Louisville can be complicated and you want to make sure that it’s done right. For instance, with a service like tree pruning, there is quite a bit of horticultural know-how that must be executed. When mistakes are made, you can do more harm than good.
Hiring Louisville tree services also means having a professional eye on your property. That can make a huge difference when it comes to preventing problems with an issue like diseases or pests. Often spotting these problems early requires an expert eye.
There’s also risk involved in tree work, particularly more intense services like tree pruning (or tree removal, if your tree ends up needing it).
But a professional tree service in Louisville, KY will know how to get the job done correctly and safely. They will take all of the safety precautions necessary to avoid accidents. A mistake can truly be detrimental in this field.
When it comes to getting the best tree maintenance in Louisville, it is important that you are choosing wisely with tree care services. To do this, you’ll need to take some time to do your research and find a company that is going to best suit your needs.
What services do you need to have done and how can a professional help you?
As you spend time on different tree care companies’ websites, look for ones that employ Certified Arborists and other tree care experts who have in-depth experience with trees.
With the right company, you’ll ensure your trees are getting the proper care all year long. As you can tell from this guide, different times of the year can mean different needs for your trees. But a tree care expert will know exactly what’s needed.
At Limbwalker, we are committed to preserving the health and beauty of trees here in Kentucky. We got into this industry because we truly love trees. We know that they serve many valuable purposes and we want to do what we can to help homeowners enjoy them for many years to come.
If you’d like to learn more about tree services for your Louisville home, get in touch, get your quote, and get back to enjoying your yard.
