Quality tree care is a long-term project that includes yearly monitoring. One of the challenges to homeowners working to develop a healthy shade canopy is that quality trimming includes care both at the base and top of the tree. A knowledgeable professional can help you determine the best way to support healthy growth in your trees.
Start at the Bottom: Sucker Removal
Older trees often develop suckers at the base. Some tree varieties are also more prone to sprouting suckers. These tiny trees drain energy from your trees and give back little. Even if they do leaf out, they’re often shaded severely and take more energy from the trunk of the main tree than they give back.
Removing suckers is often a yearly task that can greatly benefit your older or larger trees. A skilled arborist can help you find the best time to take these out. Because suckers can capture moisture at the base of a tree, it’s also a great time to look for fungal infections or other signs of disease that can threaten your mature trees.
Work From the Top: Take Out Dead Wood
Dead branches high in the canopy can be hard to spot when a tree is fully leafed out. However, it’s a good idea to bring in an arborist to make sure that dead branches are not a harbinger of more damage to come.
A single dead branch can be caused by wind damage or age. If there are leaves on the tree that are showing signs of curling or color splotching, there’s a chance that the dead branch is diseased and that the disease is spreading.
If the tree is determined to be infected by a pathogen or infested with a pest, a summer trimming is essential. Once the trimming is done, the tree can be treated or the pests removed.
Know Your Tree Variety: Historical Planting Challenges
If your home is older, it’s possible that most of the trees in your yard are of the same variety and about the same age. Pathogens can spread quickly in these conditions, and you may need to remove a tree to stop the spread.
Talk with your arborist about new tree varieties that are resistant to such pathogens. Increasing the variety of trees in your yard by adding a resistant tree to the space can protect your older trees in the future.
You can beautify your Boulder, CO yard by trimming and pruning your trees regularly with help from Roots Up Tree Company. Carefully trimmed and pruned trees will thrive in the coming years.