How to Prepare Your Trees for Winter | Preventative Tree Maintenance Tips
Brrr. The chill is here. It's not the dead of winter, yet. But, the air is biting more as the day goes by. It's the prime time to consider your preventative tree maintenance. Did you know that it's not only humans and animals that are affected by this weather? Of course you did. However, you probably haven't stopped to think about it. All living organisms have to take care during this season to maintain health, including trees! And, we at Cartwright Tree Care are tree fanatics. Duh!
So, what specific preventative tree maintenance tips do we recommend? We are going to focus on actions that you can take ahead of time to have happy trees. No? Happy trees aren't what you're going for? Okay, we get it. We can be a little dramatic, the tree-huggers that we are. But, at least your trees will make it through the season ready to produce again come spring if you take these into consideration.
Mulch
That brown stuff that smells kind of nasty makes a big difference. We suggest packing some mulch around the base of the tree. This provides insulation and a layer of warmth for the tree, and it retains moisture in the soil beneath the mulch. Double win! A third key? This provides essential nutrients to the tree as the mulch decomposes. It's sure to nourish the tree.
Watering
Do NOT wait until your trees are feeling the frost to give them necessary hydration. Your trees should be consistently adequately watered. Again, like a human being, the trees cannot be overlooked.
Have you ever heard of winter drought? When a tree can't access water from the frozen ground, it's developed winter drought. No, you can't stop the ground from freezing (I don't think, but call me if you can 'cause that's cool, and I want to know all about it!). You can, however, limit damage from it. Adding to the effect of your consistent and regular (but not excessive) watering, consider the layer of mulch mentioned in the previous section of this writing.
Pruning
Folks, prune your trees. Or hire someone to do it for you. Or, try finding somebody who will do it for free. I really don't mind what you choose, and it's none of my business. But, you'll benefit big time.
Getting your trees prepared for this season ultimately has to do with making sure that they're in tip-top shape before the cold. So, you'll want to properly prune them. And, timing is everything here. Late autumn is the best time because they're already dormant!
If you don't know how to prune a tree, you can always give us a call. We can inspect the tree and make specific preventative tree maintenance recommendations from there.
