Essential Tree Care Tips For Boise Residents

Trees are an important part of a healthy landscape. They help to reduce erosion, suppress weed growth and prevent soil temperature extremes. They also provide shade and add beauty to the property.

The City of Trees Challenge offers every Boise resident the opportunity to address climate change on a local level. Learn how to plant and care for trees.

Pruning

Pruning, provided by professional boisetreeservices, helps ensure safety, promotes plant health, and enhances the appearance of trees, providing a framework for future growth. Without proper pruning, trees can become overgrown, making them more susceptible to disease, interfering with power lines, obstructing views, and creating hazardous conditions for pedestrians and vehicles.

The methods of pruning vary depending on the goals for each tree. Hazard reduction pruning focuses on removing dead, dying, or potentially falling branches. Size management pruning, on the other hand, aims to reduce a tree’s height or width, making it fit seamlessly into a landscape or allowing clearance for utilities.

For shrubs, bushes, and fruit trees, it is recommended to schedule pruning after they finish blooming in spring or summer and during the winter for optimal results. Professional boisetreeservices emphasize the importance of proper pruning techniques, ensuring clean cuts that facilitate quick healing of wounds. Leaving stubs unattended can result in decay and bark damage, underscoring the significance of expert tree care.

Mulching

Mulching around trees protects the soil, limits weed growth and encourages tree roots to grow deeper into the ground. It also helps reduce soil compaction, which stresses roots.

Organic mulches decompose and enrich the soil. They also cool the soil and help retain water. Mulching is an important part of the forest ecosystem, and it is a great way to mimic natural conditions for healthy trees in your yard or garden.

Mulches should never be piled up against the trunk of the tree, which is called “overmulching.” This can cause fungal diseases that enter through constantly moist bark and spread to the inner wood, starving the tree. Additionally, over-mulched areas can promote root rot and invite moisture-loving insects. Use only organic material for mulch, like shredded wood chips or compost.

Watering

A tree’s water needs depend on soil type and depth, tree age and species. Newly planted trees require more frequent watering, as do sites with poor soil conditions.

Don’t saturate the soil for long periods of time; this may suffocate growing roots. Also, weeds can rob moisture from the root zone. Use drip irrigation to target the root zone and prevent wasted water from runoff, evaporation or lost to sidewalks, bare spots and weeds.

Boise is a place that enchants outdoor enthusiasts and those who appreciate the beauty and power of nature. Our river, mountain and canyon landscapes are breathtaking, and the city is filled with opportunities to hike, bike, fish, ski and more. It’s an ideal spot to live, work and play!

Fertilization

Trees are like kids, they really need to be fed. They work hard to provide shade, berries for birds, and beauty, but all that labor uses up nutrients. So a healthy diet of fertilizer keeps them growing strong, preventing damage from insects and diseases.

Fertilize trees in fall to maximize growth and boost overall health. Use slow-release nitrogen, per recommendations from soil tests and plant tissue analysis.

Avoid applying high-nitrogen products to young or newly planted trees. These can burn them. Also, avoid using ground spikes or spraying near the trunk, as they may wound the bark and cause root rot. Instead, use a fertilizer injected into the soil for best results. This also aerates the soil, which improves root health. The nutrient-rich compost is then absorbed by the roots.

Inspection

Trees add value to your property, beautify the landscape, and help save energy by providing shade. They are also critical to the health of our community’s trees and ecosystem.

Regular tree inspections by a professional can help you spot and address issues like insect infestations, diseases, nutrient deficiencies, soil compaction, root zone treatments, and more. These problems can make a tree more vulnerable to storm damage or fail entirely.

The winter’s bare branches are the perfect time to inspect your trees for hazards. Check for limbs that could fall and damage people or buildings below. Look for cracks, splits, and dead or dying limbs, and be sure to watch out for mushrooms at the base of the trunk. This can indicate a defective root system.