Watering Your Trees

The ongoing drought in many parts of the country - obviously has many homeowners worried about the health of their trees. Quite a few people are wondering when and how they should be watering trees. Unfortunately a lot of home and property owners do not know how to water trees. Simply placing a sprinkler near trees or spraying a tree down with a hose will not necessarily water it. These methods will not work with trees because most trees get water through the roots. Water sprayed on the trunk or the surface of the ground may not reach the roots. Therefore you will have to water the tree through the roots. Fortunately there are a number of good methods of doing this. Watering a tree through the roots makes a lot of sense because you will actually use less water. The easiest method of watering a tree is ground soaking. This can be done by soaking the ground with water. A good way of doing this is to lay a hose right next to the tree and let water run out. You will have to leave the hose there for around 30 minutes to get the water to reach the roots. A variation on ground soaking is to use a sprinkler to soak the ground. If you use a sprinkler you should use a small one that covers the only area immediately around the tree. There are special tree sprinkles available from hardware stores for this purpose. Tree sprinklers can be attached to buried-sprinkler systems as well. In some cases it can be possible to use water diverted from an irrigation ditch for soaking. If you can simply let the ditch water run over the ground around the base of the tree. Another popular water conserving method of watering trees is to drip stakes. A drip stake is a metal or plastic stake that you drive into the ground at the base of the tree. Once the stake is in the ground a hose is attached to provide water. This method takes the water right to the roots so they are the most efficient method of tree watering. Deep drip stakes can be purchased from hardware and other stores and online for a fairly low price.

When to Water Trees Always water your trees when you notice that the ground has dried out. If the ground on your property becomes very hard it might be a good idea to water trees. You should also consider watering trees if it has not rained in your location for more than a month. All trees will need water but leafy species like Aspens and willows will need more. You should try watering because trees can die fairly quickly if there is no water in the ground. The last you will want is to pay for tree removal for your favorite poplars or spruce. If there has been drought in your area, it would be a good idea to have a professional tree service take a look at your property. The experts at such a service can tell you what care your trees need and takes the steps necessary to keep them alive. They can also tell you when and how you should be watering your trees.

Why You Should Hire a Professional Tree Service

Every summer tens of thousands of homeowners get ripped off because they do not hire a professional tree service. Instead of a trained arborist they hire the guy hanging around the Home Depot parking lot, a neighborhood kid or worse somebody who knocks on their door to take care of their trees.

Using such amateurs is an invitation to disaster because most of them do not know what they are doing. For example they probably will not be able to spot trees that are infected with deadly diseases or infested by tree killing pests. Nor will they be able to spray the trees to prevent the spread of such destructive maladies. Many of these amateurs do not know how to properly trim or prune trees. They often end up damaging trees and your property. Worse they can do hundreds of thousands of dollars to your neighbor’s property that you will end up paying for. To make matters worse, quite a few of the door to door tree maintenance guys are actually professional criminals. Instead of coming to work on your trees, these characters are interested in cleaning out your pocket books quite a few of them actually take money upfront and do not do the work. Others are actually casing your property for burglary. Or they will do a shoddy and substandard job and leave town. These people do not care about your trees or your property. As soon as they get their money they will be gone. There will be no way to get reimbursed for any damage they do to your trees or your property. Worst of all if their amateur work damages your neighbor’s property you will be liable for it. If a limb they cut off falls on your neighbor’s car you will end up paying for the repairs. If they damage the power lines or your neighbor’s roof you will be liable for the repairs. That means you could be sued and the damage will not be covered by your insurance. Therefore you should hire a professional tree service. A professional service will have the proper training, expertise and equipment. It will also be bonded and insured so that any damage done will be covered. More importantly a professional service that is established in the community wants a good reputation. They want to come back year after year to work on your trees. So they will do a good job. The traveling tree services will not. It always pays to hire a professional tree service, the extra money you spend will make life easier for you and your trees.

Pruning, Trimming and Tree Pests

Many people do not realize it but pruning and trimming done in the wrong way can actually hurt trees. The reason these activities can hurt trees is that improper pruning and trimming can actually spread some diseases that can kill trees.

Tree killing diseases like Oak Wilt actually spread faster if trees are pruned at the wrong time of the year. To make matters worse the waste left from trimming and pruning can also spread fungus if it is not disposed of in a proper manner. Such wastes can spread some of the insects that attack trees. The best way for a property owner to prevent the spread of fungus like Beech Bark and Maple Tar Spot is to have trees maintained by a professional tree service. A good service will employ professional arborists who can prune and trim trees in such a way as to spread diseases. Unfortunately many home and property owners do not do this. Instead of proper maintenance they hire the first person who knocks on their door or that guy hanging around in the Home Depot parking lot. Yes these characters are cheap but they are probably not professional arborists. They do not know how to prune or trim trees properly. Nor do they know how to prevent the spread of fungus. In addition to proper pruning and trimming a professional tree service can spray trees for diseases. This can prevent the spread of the diseases, some of which can quickly kill trees. Unfortunately the trees most vulnerable to these blights are the big leafy ones that are the most attractive like oaks, willows and maples. These are the trees most likely to enhance property values and provide shade. They also give neighborhoods and towns their character. The best way to maintain these trees and preserve property value is through proper tree maintenance done by professionals. A professional service will cost more but it can keep your trees healthy and preserve the beauty of your property.