Uncategorized

Growing shade trees in your yard has many wonderful benefits. Underneath a full-grown shade tree is the best place for a backyard BBQ or for kids to enjoy some much-needed time outdoors. A shade tree will also keep your home cooler during warmer months of the year.

To get the full benefit of shade trees, you need to plant the right species of tree and care for them properly.

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

Planting Trees for Shade

Any tree can technically provide shade, but there are some types of trees that are built for optimal shade. These types of trees typically have a thick, wide canopy that extends out nearly as far as it does upward.

Below, we’ve provided some examples of shade trees depending 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 the homeowner’s benefit. Neighbors and passersby usually won’t be able to see these trees , so they can be planted purely for shade and enjoyment.

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

Here are popular choices:

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

If you have a large enough space, a live oak is another fantastic choice. Live oaks are said to be the fastest growing shade trees, and are able to get very large. An older live oak is able to reach up to 80 feet tall and up to 100 feet wide.

Most of these back yard tree recommendations get very big, so you need to do a little research to find out if the tree is going to have enough space to grow to its full potential.

If there is not enough room, its root system can destroy your fencing or even your home foundation. You will also have to prune the tree every year to keep it manageable. A tree that is too big for its area will probably have to be cut down, which is an unfortunate and sometimes expensive 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 value and curb appeal to your home than the back yard trees.

Buy shade trees for the front yard that are a little smaller so they don’t overshadow your home and landscaping. These trees should complement your landscaping in both size and color, while still providing plenty of shade for front yard play and relaxation.

These are some of our favorites:

Red maple
River birch
Dogwood
White oak
Ginkgo tree

These species trees are colorful throughout the year, and they’ll display even more color in the fall months.
Another great choice for your front or side yard is the ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae. This tree looks like a hedge and can be planted in a long row to provide privacy as well as shade.

With options in mind, we encourage you to plant trees you like. In all honesty, any tree can grow to become a “shade tree.” As long as the trees you choose are suitable for the climate in New York, they will provide your yard and home with shade.

Benefits of Planting Shade Trees

The reasons to have shade n your yard are numerous — and there are some that you probably wouldn’t typically think about.

Shade, Obviously – When temperatures get very warm, you won’t have to run indoors if you have a nice, shady yard. Place a chair or hammock below your biggest shade tree and enjoy time outside as long as you want.

Climate Control – Trees can control the temperature in your yard and inside your home. Not only will trees protect you from hot sun, but they can make it feel 10-15 degrees cooler below their protective 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 expel pollutants, so there is cleaner air surrounding your home. Arbor Day Foundation research states that one mature tree absorbs around 48 pounds of CO2 out of the air.

Shelter for Animals – If you enjoy bird watching or think squirrels and chipmunks are adorable, your trees can provide them all they will need to build a shelter, find nearby food and raise babies.

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

How to Care for Shade Trees

Maintaining shade trees is pretty simple as long as you’ve planted the type of trees for the climate in New York. Healthy trees are strong and durable after the first few years, demanding little attention or care.

Consult an arborist from NY Tree Trimming if you have questions about the care of your shade trees, or even to help you decide the perfect tree for your yard.

After you have determined the perfect shade tree(s) for your yard, follow this easy care guide until your shade tree is fully grown.

Planting Your Shade Tree

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

Pruning Your Shade Tree

Trim 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 NY Tree Trimming for tree trimming in New York. A certified arborist will arrive at your home and deliver professional care for the tree.

Watering Your Shade Tree

Watering a new tree is crucial. This will help them form a deep and strong root system and will give the tree stability in the long run.

Fertilizing Your Shade Tree

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

We hope this blog post was helpful! Remember, when it comes time to trim or prune a new shade tree, NY Tree Trimming can help! Call us and a certified arborist in New York will visit your home, assess the tree and determine the best care plan for its long-term health and growth.

Tree trimming is best left to professionals. It’s a dangerous job, climbing high up trees, wielding chainsaws and dropping heavy branches to the ground; and it can also be dangerous for the tree too. Trees that aren’t pruned the right way can suffer from a lifetime of issues.

Instead of putting yourself in harm’s way and the tree at risk, hire a professional who is knowledgeable and experienced to do it for you.

This will result in much healthier trees and a safer environment surrounding your house for several reasons:

• Healthy trees are stronger and not as likely to cause damage during severe storms
• Cared for trees won’t attract or spread parasites and diseases
• Pruned trees produce more flowers or fruit
• Pruned trees provide shade and allow air to flow throughout their canopies and your property

NY Tree Trimming strongly encourages pruning trees that are near your home or any that are a focus of your property.

Is Tree Pruning Necessary?

It is not necessary. But it is important. Trees are strong and are able to grow on their own all over the world, in many different climates and locations, without pruning.

However, there are many benefits of tree trimming, so it’s definitely recommended for any trees that you care about. This includes sentimental trees, fruit trees and flowering trees or trees that offer an important service for your house, such as shade or wildlife habitat.

Tree Trimming Gone Wrong

Trimming a tree is a complex task. You are going to need the right tools and a lot of information to guarantee the project is done correctly. The vast majority of homeowners don’t have any of these!

But that’s OK, because there are many arborists out there who know exactly how to correctly prune trees for an affordable price to you including all arborists throughout New York we work with!

Here are the 5 mistakes homeowners make when attempting DIY tree trimming that can lead to many tree problems. These are things that a professional arborist from NY Tree Trimming will know, and that’s exactly why their services are worth the price!

Trimming Too Much

When done the right way, pruning is a never-ending process. Beginning when your trees are just 2 or 3 years old, they should be trimmed by an arborist if you care about them and intend to keep them healthy.

A big mistake people often make when trimming trees themselves is cutting too much of the tree at a time. 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 the actual removal cut. It is easier to do this during a time of year that the leaves are off, but a certified arborist will be able to safely prune trees any time of year.

Trimming in the Wrong Place

A certified tree specialist knows exactly where to trim each limb to prevent damage. This cut should be done just beyond the branch collar, the specific 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 away from it leaves a stump when the tree recovers. Most DIY tree pruning results in an improper cut, leaving either structural or aesthetic damage.

Pruning Big Branches

Branches any larger than 4 inches in diameter shouldn’t be trimmed unless it is absolutely necessary. Cutting off a branch this large can lead to imbalance in the tree and expose it to insects and rot as the tree recovers from losing such a large branch.

Conservative pruning every year ensures that your tree trimmer only has to remove branches that are 2-3 inches in diameter, which leads to a more attractive shape for the tree and less chance of damaging 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 process, tree trimmers would cut the top off of the tree to get the desired height. It was not attractive nor beneficial for the tree, so the vast majority of tree care companies do not practice tree topping currently.

During DIY tree pruning, you may think this is an easy way to reduce the height of your tree with just a single cut, but once you have cut off the top of a tree, there’s virtually no chance it will ever return to a natural shape.

The Solution? Call NY Tree Trimming

Your tree may never recover from poor pruning.

Attempting this project 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 much safer (and more economical in the long run) to hire a certified arborist in New York from NY Tree Trimming.

Limbs will not grow back. The tree will grow more, but it will not grow back in the same places, which leads to odd shapes that could require years to correct. The tree might end up looking bad for the remainder of its life, all because of a single pruning error.

Improper trimming could also result in death of the tree. Cutting off too many limbs (and, therefore, leaves) can affect the tree’s photosynthesis process, meaning it won’t get enough water or enough sunlight and carbon dioxide to continue healthy growth.

Cutting too many branches might also send the tree into a state of shock. Shock can be overcome, but it does take a great deal of patience and care. Even with proper care, a tree undergoing shock may still die.

Avoid all of these tree pruning mistakes and call NY Tree Trimming to speak with a tree care specialist in New York able to customize a plan to ensure your tree continues to blossom and look beautiful for years to come!

Trees are living things, so that means 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 see a symptom, it could be too late to revive the tree.

A professional arborist from NY Tree Trimming can help you identify and treat tree issues so that you have a much greater chance of saving the tree. Learn about our service here. Not only can an arborist prevent a tree from dying, but they can also help trees get more healthy growth and bloom more flowers or fruit with professional tree trimming.

Have you noticed a tree on your lawn that has always seemed OK but suddenly seems like something is wrong? In the next paragraphs, we’ll explain some of the most typical tree problems and diseases and what these symptoms mean for a tree.

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

Tree Diseases & Common Problems

These 7 things are the most frequent problems addressed by experienced arborists in New York. As soon as you think one of these things might be wrong with your tree, reach out to someone with the training and tools to help!

Tree Diseases

Leaf Rust – Leaf rust is actually 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 bad because it inhibits the leaves’ photosynthesis, the process by which it breathes. Leaf rust can be treated with fungicides and selective tree trimming of the diseased leaves. It might be necessary to remove whole limbs with leaf rust.

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

Some cases of Witches’ Broom are fatal for the tree, while others are only considered a growth malformation. An arborist can tell you for sure.

Mildew – Mildew is a fungus that grows on just about anything in moist conditions, but even when the moist conditions are gone, mildew can persist and thrive. It appears as a powdery texture, usually white, and it usually shows up on the leaves of a tree first.

The trick to treating mildew is to use a fungicide that contains sulfur. This will eliminate the current mildew and prevent future mildew growth on the tree. You might also need to trim the tree to remove limbs, fruit, flowers and any leaves that were affected by the mildew

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

Gall appears as as bumps on the tree, in a range of sizes. They are often white, brown, gray or some color in between.

It is not necessary to treat the tree if there are galls, but they can limit the growth of recently planted trees. Treat galls by killing the pests. You should also clean out from under the tree after the leaves fall off, since this is where the pests live during winter.

Other Tree Problems

Poor Trimming – There’s a science to tree pruning, as well as many types, and if you aren’t sure what you’re doing, you could harm the tree past the point of recovery. Consider the type of tree, season and other factors. Under-pruning (or a lack of pruning at all) is just as big of an issue. Only a trained arborist should be trusted to prune trees to keep them healthy.

Lack of Water – New trees can be severely impacted by drought. If you plant new trees, you will need to supplement how much water they get from rainfall. A tree that is not getting enough water will have its growth inhibited. The first symptom you are likely to noticed is scorched, dry leaves. Find more tips for new trees here.

Too Much Sun – Do some initial research before planting trees in a full-sun area of your property. Most species of trees can handle it just fine, but too much sun can become a problem for any tree if the sun is harsh for an extended period of time and rainfall is light. A tree that is getting too much sun needs even more water to fight against wilting, drooping leaves.

Certified Arborist Services in New York

An experienced arborist from NY Tree Trimming will be able to quickly identify what’s happening with your sick tree and put together a plan to save it.

Here are the things an arborist is trained to do:

• Inspect trees from below and from the branches of the tree if necessary. Climbing into the canopy is often necessary to identify exactly what is causing the symptoms.
• Treat your tree through fertilizers and additives in the soil or solutions applied to the leaves. This person will have knowledge about the disease affecting your tree and the best treatments.
• Prune trees to get rid of dead or diseased branches and to encourage healthy growth. Even if heavy trimming is necessary, they will know how to cut off branches so that the tree survives both the disease and the pruning.
• Remove the tree from your property if there is no chance to save it. The worst case is that the tree is dying, and removing it is the only choice to protect your property and surrounding landscape.

They can also educate you about the other trees that you have and how to best maintain them so you don’t return to the same situation again.

Some tree problems look very similar to one another, requiring a professional eye to accurately identify and treat the issue. If your trees are looking dry, unhealthy or disfigured, call a certified arborist from NY Tree Trimming for an inspection before it’s too late.

When it comes to the question, “Which season is best for tree trimming?” The answer can be indirect.

Tree type will dictate when many species can be trimmed, along with insect population and activity, local tree and plant diseases and other types of plants and trees in the landscape.

With the help of a professional arborist in New York, you will be able to decide which season is ideal for pruning your trees to set them up for success next season and beyond.

Best Season to Trim Trees

Without any other context, NY Tree Trimming recommends trimming trees during the winter. This would be sometime from November to March in New York. This season is ideal because the trees are mostly dormant, so pruning will cause a minimal amount of damage, if any.

There are many benefits to pruning trees during the winter:

Less risk of pest damage and disease – Insects and plant diseases are usually inactive during the winter in New York. During the remainder of the year, anything from insects to fungus can affect a newly trimmed tree because the tree will be the most susceptible and these issues are more common in warmer weather.

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

Trees have time to heal before spring – By doing this major tree trimming during the winter, your trees have many months to build up callus tissue on the ends of the remaining branch collar. By spring season, you’ll hardly be able to notice where the branches were removed, and the tree will be able to use its energy to produce new leaves, fruit or flowers rather than healing new cuts.

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

Do All Trees Need Trimming?

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

Trimming Makes the Tree Stronger

Dying and diseased branches are removed, as are stubs that are prone to pests and disease. Limbs that can rub one another are also trimmed so they don’t weaken one another or cause an open wound on the tree.

Pruning trees every year is a good way to get expert eyes on the health of your trees so that early warning signs of decay, disease and insect problems can be identified and handled as soon as possible.

A Well-Maintained Tree Serves Its Purpose Better

When a tree becomes overgrown, it’s 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 intended to do.

Pruned trees, on the other hand, blossom more fruit, healthier leaves and better shade. They are much fuller and healthier and less likely to cause landscaping problems. So regardless of why you planted a new tree, routine trimming will improve the results you desire from it.

Trees are More Beautiful After Pruning

If the view of your yard or landscaping is important to you, tree pruning is a necessity! Trimming trees creates an attractive, uniform size and shape. This is especially important if you have several similar trees on your property.

Eliminating lower branches and upper branches that grow at improper angles improves the overall look of the tree while also promoting tree health.

Less Chance of Falling Branches

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

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

Call NY Tree Trimming for Tree Trimming

Hiring a professional arborist in New York gives you access to their knowledge on tree trimming. We recommend relying on their years of experience if there are trees on that you’d like to keep healthy for a long time.

An arborist won’t just look at the current situation. Instead, an experienced arborist will take the time to research your trees and study their unique scenario (including their location and other factors that could put them at risk). After gathering all the information, an arborist will suggest a long-term plan based on the trees’ unique needs and stick to that course of action until your goals for your trees are achieved.

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

This kind of annual care will promote healthy tree growth, help your landscaping resist plant diseases and enhance flower or fruit production from the trees. It will also fortify your trees so there is less risk of falling trees or limbs.

Being proactive about tree pruning will save you a lot of money over time as well. Preventative care is far more affordable than paying for emergency tree services, storm damage cleanup or restoring an ill tree of a disease that has gotten out of control (and one that was easily preventable).

If you care about the health of your trees and the curb appeal of your property, trust a certified arborist for tree pruning and maintenance from NY Tree Trimming. Find our service area here. We work with arborists across the entire state of New York. Call today!

Tree pruning in New York is a landscaping service that beautifies and reinforces your trees so they will fight off pests, diseases and severe weather – and look wonderful doing it!

Pruning should be completed if you want a healthy tree, but it must be done properly by someone who has experience in what they’re doing. Like a certified arborist from NY Tree Trimming. You may be able to prune and trim trees safely while they are still small and growing, but you also may be doing irreparable damage to the tree in the process.

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

• When is the best time to prune your species of trees
• How much of the tree can be pruned at a time
• Where to cut each branch so you do not damage the tree

Cutting too much from a tree could kill it or lead to structural damage, but precise pruning done annually benefits trees in a lot of ways. Professional pruning improves the appearance of trees, makes them healthier, eliminates dying or diseased limbs and increases fruit or flower production.

Ideally, pruning should be completed once a year, but as trees get older, you might be able to go two years between major pruning services. Regardless of how routinely you have your trees trimmed, ensure your arborist is qualified to perform the type of tree pruning your trees need. This won’t be an issue if you call NY Tree Trimming in New York!

Types of Tree Pruning Methods

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

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

Crown Thinning Your Trees

Crown thinning is common for larger, overgrown trees in New York. This method eliminates weak branches within the crown to improve light and air flow through the crown. Air flow is especially important to help prevent disease.

This tree pruning method also eliminates branches and limbs that are touching so they do not rub against each other and break or create weakened areas that can be an entry point for insects and pests. Limbs that grow at strange angles are usually cut off during crown thinning.

Crown Raising Your Trees

This trimming method only removes branches and limbs at the lower part of the crown so limbs start higher up on the trunk of the tree. Letting low branches get too large makes them very hard to cut off, and they can pull nutrients away from the top of the tree, resulting in less fruit and a weaker tree.

There are a variety of reasons you may decide to raise the crown of a tree. Many times, it is done to clear the line of sight for automobiles and pedestrians, but it can also be done to make space for landscaping under the tree.

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

Crown Reduction

Crown reduction lowers the total size of the crown from its outer edges. It shortens limbs horizontally and vertically to keep the tree at a manageable size. By lowering the crown size, you can remove the need to chop the tree down because it will no longer interfere with traffic lights, power lines or street lights.

Even when the tree isn’t near structures like those listed above, crown reduction will help the tree look neater because it also eliminates irregular growth. This is a great idea for trees that are various ages but you want to look uniform.

Crown Cleaning

Often known as deadwood pruning, crown cleaning is a minimally invasive tree trimming technique that gets rid of dead, snapped or diseased limbs so that the remaining parts of the tree may continue to grow normally. These limbs can only create problems in the future.

Crown cleaning makes the tree look much better, and it prevents branches from rubbing together. It is also a safety practice that lowers the likelihood of falling branches, because healthy branches do not usually fall.

Crown Restoration

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

Unlike other tree pruning services, crown restoration occurs during a longer period of time with conservative trimming that reshapes the tree. Your arborist must have a plan to restore the tree, but also be flexible as the tree grows and reshapes on its own, working with the tree’s new growth.

Vista Pruning

If you are striving for trees that increase the beauty of your landscaping, you are most likely interested in vista pruning. The purpose of vista pruning is to make the tree more visually pleasing from a particular vantage point.

It consists of several pruning techniques including crown thinning, crown reduction and crown cleaning – any technique that helps the trees look more attractive. Remember, though, that a professional will never compromise the health of a tree, so the primary focus of vista pruning is still to maintain strong, healthy trees.

Espalier Pruning

Espaliered trees are heavily pruned to grow flat up against walls or a trellis. It is a unique style of tree pruning that is sure to attract a lot of attention to your lawn. Espalier pruning must be started when the tree is young and then continued very routinely throughout the tree’s life span.

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

Professional Tree Pruning in New York

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

Besides the many possible dangers of tree trimming, you can do a lot of harm to a tree if you don’t know how to trim it properly. Over-pruning is one of the most common errors made by homeowners trimming their own trees.

Trees in New York that get annual care from a professionals are usually much better off, and hiring an experienced arborist from NY Tree Trimming to prune the trees on your property is a choice you won’t regret. Locate your town in our service area. We work with arborists across the entire state of New York!

Planting a tree on your property has many benefits. Trees create much-needed summer shade, create privacy, filter contaminated air and increase curb appeal. Everyone should plant trees.

Once full-grown, trees are very simple to care for: another benefit! Trees are hardy and tend to continue growing despite minimal care. But, if you want to ensure your trees reach their maximum potential, they need a little more effort.

Lack of care for new trees might result in rotting, disease, under watering or pest problems.

The good news is that tree care isn’t all that complicated, but you will want some tips to do it correctly. Educate yourself with the new trees you plant to know what they need. Then care for them and watch them flourish.

Below, we’ll outline the five best tips on how to plant a new tree and seeing it grow. You probably are aware of the basics, so let’s dive deeper and lay out how to complete each step.

Tree Care Tips for New Trees

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

Water Your Tree

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

The root of the tree and the soil around it should be kept moist, but don’t let it get soaked, because this can cause some of the roots to rot.

The best practice is 4-10 gallons of water every week. Rain water also counts, and although it’s difficult to have an exact reading, a rain gauge can help get you close enough to supplement the rest. Your new trees will need this much water for the first 2-3 growing seasons.

Mulch Around Your Trees

Mulch is more than an attractive landscaping product. It also helps protect new trees, especially the roots underground. But laying mulch the wrong way can sometimes cause rotting and decay – so much so, that the tree will not survive.

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

Keep the mulch at least 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 nutrients that your land’s soil may not have naturally. Most new trees benefit from fertilizing, but you need to be using the right products and do it at the correct time in order for fertilizer to be most beneficial.

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

If you aren’t sure about which type of fertilizer to use, consult a tree care specialist for advice. Slow-release fertilizers are typically a good idea because they feed trees over time rather than all at once.

Follow through with these tasks in the first growing seasons after planting a tree, and then reevaluate your watering, mulching and fertilizing as the tree grows larger. As time goes on, there will be additional tree care projects that are more important for new trees.

Prune Your Tree

Tree pruning is very important – but very challenging – in the initial years after planting a new tree. As the tree grows, you may see a lot of small branches take off, attempting to become the trunk of the tree. While you may think this shows that the tree is healthy and that it is growing well, but it can actually lead to a weak tree over time.

Early trimming shapes the tree into what it is going to look like when it is much larger. As tiny limbs emerge from the lower trunk, they have to be cut off so they don’t suck water and nutrients from the branches at the top.

As long as there are trees somewhere on your property, they need to be trimmed routinely. When the trees get too big for you to trim them safely, you can rely on NY Tree Trimming to do it for you.

Monitor Your Tree

New trees are at the most risk for damage, disease and insect issues. But you’re never completely safe from these things. As your tree gets larger, monitor it carefully for evidence of disease or poor nutrition, including the following:

• Leaf color change out of season, especially leaves turning brown or yellow
• Premature leaf drop, regardless of whether these leaves look healthy or diseased
• Withering, regardless of proper watering
• Single limbs or branches dying
• Peeling bark

These signals likely mean a health problem. It is likely going to need professional maintenance if your plan is to save the tree. An arborist can often identify the problem by simply looking at the tree, although they will do testing whenever necessary.

If you determine the problem quick enough, you will probably be able to save the tree. Being proactive is the best way to protect your younger trees.

The steps above are simple but effective. Don’t underestimate the value of the basics! When your new trees have pruning, fertilizer and more,, combined with some sunshine and barring any severe, damaging weather, the chances are good that the tree will survive and look wonderful too!

Of course, you might already have a full schedule and don’t want to be responsible for these additional lawn care projects. In some cases, property owners don’t have the ability or the tools to give their growing trees the necessary maintenance.

No matter the situation, it’s ok to seek the help of a tree company for the care of new trees. A certified arborist in New York can advise you about the course of care for each type of tree you plant. Arborists love sharing their knowledge and skills with homeowners planting new trees on their land, and can be the difference between trees struggling and trees thriving.

Call NY Tree Trimming now for information on routine tree maintenance in New York – including tree pruning – for newer trees and old trees. A local tree service can determine the best plan for your trees! Locate your city in our service area here.