Ways To Properly Care For Adelaide’s Trees

Trees just like humans need proper care and attention in order to stay healthy and serve their purpose.

Newly planted trees (from one to three years old) need to be pampered, watered and taken care of for them to grow to their full size and reach their potentials. Failure to do so will leave the tree vulnerable to diseases and pest or even death.

The following steps guide you through ways which you can properly care for your tree:

Watering

Make sure your tree gets enough water, it is recommended that your tree gets an average of 25 litres of water per week. Aviod water run-off by using the following method:

• Give your tree a minimum of 25 liters of water per week, or about equal to 1.5 inches of rain.
Prevent wasteful runoff by:
• You can use a slow-release watering can or bag. You just need to fill it up once a week and you are good to go.
• Place a 10 litre bowl with the perforated bottom at the base of your tree and fill the bowl up at least five days in a week.
• You can also turn on a water hose and keep it on low for about 30 minutes at the base of your newly planted tree.
• If in doubt, you can alsoway consult an Adelaide arborist.

Mulching

It is important you mulch your tree every season to keep the soil moist and prevent the growth of weeds and underground pests. When mulching your tree plant, you should:

• Always apply the 3-3-3 rule. This simply means 10cm of mulch in a 1 metre ring around the tree
• Remember to avoid putting it too close to the trunk.
• Make use of leaf litter mulch as it is most beneficial.
• Never get too close to your tree with lawn mowers or weed wackers.

It is also important you make use of trunk guard. These are just as they sound and are to be installed at the bse of your tree.
This will help you monitor the water and nutrient system of your tree plant. You can install deer fencing around your tree if the need arises.

Use The Right Tree Pruning Method

For pruning your tree, it is important you use the right tools in other to achieve better results.

1) Always use clean and sharp tools.
2) Be sure to sanitize your tools whenever you are pruning different trees.
3) Do not leave out any stubs as they will die anyway and cause harm to your tree by allowing water and insects into the tree.
4) When lopping large limbs that are over 3 inches thick, always use the three-cut method of tree trimming.

Make your initial cut no more than ¼ of the way through the branch
Cut about an inch above (important) cut A. When the 2 cuts meet the branch will snap off.
This has reduced the weight and chance of taring the bark. You can now make your collar cut.

When pruning your tree, ensure not to cut off more than one-quarter of foliage at a time. If you need to remove more of the tree then you should do so in stages over a period of time. This is to reduce the shock to the tree and give it a change to heal old wounds before you create new ones.

This type of work should really be done by a qualified arborist.
When cutting off a branch from a tree, make sure the final cut is not flushe with the stem. Removing the “branch collar” can be detrimental to the recovery of the tree as it opens up a unnecissarily large wound which will take longer for the tree to heal.

The aim should be to create as small a wound as possible byt leaving the collar attached to the tree and removing the branch directly after it.

You should also prepare a schedule for pruning your trees.