Spring is an excellent time to give your trees a tune-up and prepare them for their flush of new growth. Leesburg Arborist Jay Banks offers six tips for your landscape trees:
- Remove all guy wires and stakes from your trees that were planted last year or earlier. Any material that is wrapped around a tree trunk should be removed before the tree’s growth period starts to prevent girdling the tree and causing damage to the trunk.
- Remove mulch from around the trunk of your tree and inspect for rodent damage. During the winter mice will nest in deep piles of mulch and feed on the thin bark at the base of a tree. "From looking at a lot of trees in town, I’ve seen too many trees with mounds of mulch around them," says Banks.
- Prune any damaged branches. A torn branch will not heal quickly this will leave an open wound on the tree that can attract all kinds of invaders. A clean cut at the branch collar will close properly and tree chemicals are available to ward off disease.
- Inspect the tree over for any over-wintering insect egg masses. This will be easier to do without leaves on the tree.
- Make your mulch ring wider to help conserve moisture. Eliminating turf from around your tree eliminates competition for moisture and nutrients. There are 10 times as many roots under a covering of mulch than under turf.
- Do a soil test to see what nutrients are in short supply for your tree. A test form can be obtained from the County Extension Office. This test will help you to fertilize your tree with the correct nutrients that it needs.
