If you take care of your lawn, why not your trees?
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Hundreds of dollars are spent every year by homeowners ensuring their grass is green and growing. Lawn treatment companies plan multiple visits each year to spray, aerate, and seed the lawn. So, why is there so much focus on lawn maintenance but none on tree maintenance? Let’s start with a simple drawing.
Trees need 16 elements to grow and survive. These elements come from the air, water, and the soil. Air and water provide Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O). The other 13 elements come from within the soil and can be broken down into macro and micro nutrients. As the picture displays:
Micro-Nutrients: Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Chloride (Cl), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), and Zinc (Zn). These nutrients are only needed in small quantities (hence the name “Micro”)
Macro-Nutrients: Macro-nutrients can be broken down into primary and secondary nutrients.
- Secondary Nutrients: There is usually enough of Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfer (S) within the soil. We run into problems when it comes to Primary Nutrients.
- Primary Nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) are the three primary nutrients. Basic suburban homes most often lack one or all of these nutrients.
- Nitrogen: Responsible for the green pigment essential for photosynthesis. It also aids in tree growth.
- Phosphorus: Also an essential part of photosynthesis, aids in growth, and encourages root growth.
- Potassium: Helps reduce disease and aids in photosynthesis
How do you know if your soil is deficient?
Soil tests will provide accurate answers, however it is common to use basic granular fertilizer’s for a “just-in-case” basis
When do I fertilize?
Good times to fertilizer include fall (after the leaves have fallen off) and early spring (right before the buds start breaking and the tree begins to leaf out). These extra nutrients in fertilizer will help top growth of the tree and the overall look. Newly transplanted trees should not be fertilized for at least 6-8 weeks.
How do I take care of newly installed trees?
Root Grow/Stimulator is great for newly installed trees. This will help ease any transplant shock as well as promote root growth. Root growth is important to establish the tree to live a long and healthy life. After root growth comes top growth, so the tree must be established before you see any top growth!
What else can I do to take care of my trees?
Aside from building proper watering techniques, fertilizing, and root growth, a treatment we highly recommend is systemic injections. Tree injections are similar to human IV’s. The liquid can be injected directly into the tree’s vascular system to help boost a tree’s “immune system”. More information about systemic injections can be found at www.mauget.com
January 4th, 2012 at 5:48 am
Edmond landscaping posted:
A green turf is attractive alright but adding trees to it can definitely enhance it natural beauty. There is also a study that having big trees in a property can minimize crime, but make sure that you do a little bit of tree care too. Trees, big or small can surely bring certain benefits to home and garden owners, all you have to do is try.