3 Arborist Tips for Giving Back to Your Trees Around Kalamazoo

Here at American Arbor LLC, it’s a cold hard fact that we just love trees. As arborists, we live every day knowing that we share our world with gentle giants, and that these giants provide necessities to human life such as air and water filtration as well as the shades and scents that make life worth living.

But the favor isn’t always returned. Despite trees making life both livable and worth living, their crucial role in everyday life is often taken for granted. To spread mindfulness for the trees that we all share and the irreplaceable role they serve in Kalamazoo, today’s blog post will focus on three ways that you can take care of your trees to return the kindness that they share with us.

1. Keep Your Tree Hydrated

It’s difficult to imagine that a plant so large might need to rely on us for proper hydration. However, it’s important to remember that human development and interaction with the environment can cause disruption to a tree’s ability to collect water through the soil.

If you have a tree in your yard but have recently added a concrete patio or driveway, for instance, then  your tree may find that there’s not as much ground water to drink from. Since concrete isn’t a porous material, water will have no way to seep into the soil, and could cause your tree to dehydrate. Often times, the dehydration and oxygen deprivation caused by concrete is likely to result in a tree’s death.

While we won’t ask you to tear up all the concrete in and around your home, you can give back to the trees that you coexist with by watering their root zone area until roughly ½ to ¾ of a foot of soil are moist. We also recommend watering early in the morning and avoiding light treatments of watering, since evaporation will force the tree’s roots to move upward into shallow areas of dirt to drink. If the root system of your tree is shallow, then your tree will be more vulnerable to heat, draughts, and environmental damage such as heavy winds and wildfires.

2. Prune Dead or Dying Branches

Much like the bonsai tree, which was bred and pruned by Zen Buddhists to serve as a symbol of mindfulness and spirituality, your own trees require mindful pruning to flourish.

If you notice a dead or dying branch on your tree, cutting it off will stop your tree from allocating precious resources to it. When you actually go to cut a tree branch, though, we have a couple recommendations for any budding arborists out there. Namely, always make sure to:

1. Make an initial incision on the underside of the branch
2. Make the cut at least 3-5 inches from the tree trunk

By following these two steps, you’re protecting the tree branch from splintering when you make your final cut, ensuring a clean amputation of the branch.

That being said, there are a wide variety of factors that go into pruning your tree properly. That’s why we recommend working with a tree service like American Arbor to for your tree’s first pruning, so you can see the decisions we make as professional arborists and why we make them. For more information on our tree trimming and pruning services, click here.

3. Apply Mulch Around Your Tree

Though trees are certainly strong, they’re far from invincible. In fact, it may surprise you to learn that trees are susceptible to the damages wrought by weeds, and that weeds can spell doom for a tree not properly cared for.

Though tree roots are fierce, the competition from weeds for hydration, nutrition, and sunlight can hobble the development of a tree in need of proper nourishment. To prevent weeds from stealing life-giving resources from your trees, applying mulch around the base of your tree can keep your tree safe from nearby threats.

Additionally, mulch insulates trees from variations in temperature, protecting them during both heat waves and blizzards. One helpful way to think of mulch is as a suit of armor you equip your tree with; it guards the tree from attacks by weeds and grass while insulating it from the elements.

Get the Tree Service Your Trees Deserve

Like us, trees require community, care, and nourishment to survive. We don’t just coexist with these emerald-green giants; we rely on them.

We use wood from trees for our homes, burn it for heat, and sit in their shade on clear summer days. Even if we could survive on Earth without trees, it’s hard to imagine why we’d want to.

If you want to give back to your trees, then please use the tips we provided today to make the world a better place for them. If you have any tree trimming or other tree services in Kalamazoo that you need done by professionals who care about their impact on trees, then contact us at American Arbor today to return the favor to these gentle green giants.