Tree Maintenance

Prune Dead Branches

Rookie tree-pruners and people who have their home gardens tend to leave too much of the stub when pruning off branches. Once the stub dies off, it creates an easy gateway for disease pathogens and destructive insects to enter into the tree and wreak havoc.

Fortunately, making the proper pruning cut on a dead branch is much easier than de-limbing a live branch from a young tree. That is because you can tell between the dead wood and the live stalk much easier, as a ring of swollen tree flesh encircles the area in which living tree becomes dead branch. This circle is known as the “collar.” The collar serves as a natural defense system.

When cutting off a dead branch, a perfect, flush cuts should occur just outside the collar, leaving as little of a stub as possible, but without damaging or removing any part of the collar (the natural defense barrier).

What To Do Next
No matter what you find or what you need, Top Tree LLC is here for all of your Kennewick tree maintenance needs. If you need a tree removal estimate, advice, or just need to ask questions, we can’t wait to speak with you.

We Love What We Do
Our passion is for taking care of trees, shrubs, and all other vegetation around your home. Regardless of whether you’re looking for the best tree service company in Kennewick, or just some advice on how to take care of your shrubs, we are here to help. We look forward to earning your business.

Inspect Your Trees & Shrubs

You will want to keep an eye out for numerous things that can damage your trees and shrubs. Or at least identify things that could potentially impede growth and health. During times of heavy snow and rain, you would want to where water could accumulate. Since this has been a pretty dry winter, this may not be a concern. However, when you start using your sprinkler system, water accumulation could still be an issue to watch.

Other Areas To Inspect
You will want to inspect other areas of your trees and shrubs as well. You will want to find hollow trunks or small holes in the trunks of your trees. You will also want to search for decay, cankers, cracks, or fungal activity. There are also dead limbs, twigs, and branches to keep an eye out for.

What To Do Next
No matter what you find or what you need, Top Tree LLC is here for all of your Richland tree maintenance needs. If you need a tree removal estimate, advice, or just need to ask questions, we can’t wait to speak with you.

We Love What We Do
Our passion is for taking care of trees, shrubs, and all other vegetation around your home. Regardless of whether you’re looking for the best tree service company in Richland, or just some advice on how to take care of your shrubs, we are here to help. We look forward to earning your business.

Watering Your Trees

New trees need to be watered at the time of planting. In addition, during their first season, they should be watered a minimum of once week in the absence of rain and often during the height of the summer. However, care should be taken not to overwater as this may result in oxygen deprivation.

If you are uncertain as to whether a tree needs watering, dig down 6-8 inches at the edge of the planting hole. If the soil at that depth feels powdery or crumbly, the tree needs water. Adequately moistened soil should form a ball when squeezed. Frequent deep soakings are better than frequent light wettings. Water should reach a depth of 12 to 18 inches below the soil surface to encourage ideal root growth.

A new way to ensure a constant supply of moisture is through the use of superabsorbent polymer crystals that absorb moisture when the surrounding soil is moist, and release it again when the soil dries out.

Mulching Your Trees

To conserve moisture and promote water and air penetration, the back filled soil surrounding newly-planted trees can be covered with mulch consisting of material such as bark, wood chips or pine needles (although the acidity associated with pine needles is not suited for many plants). Mulch depth should be between 3 to 4 inches. Do not, under any circumstances, cover the area surrounding the tree with plastic sheeting since air and water movement are prevented. Porous landscape fabric can be used since it freely allows water and air penetration.

Fertilizer Your Trees

Since all soils have a history, it can be beneficial to get soil analyzed properly for macronutrients such as Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), micronutrients, pH, soil type, and drainage. Although many trees survive without fertilizer at time of planting, the majority of plants suffer root loss and stress associated with movement between ideal nursery grown conditions and the final planting.

In Conclusion
Here at Top Tree LLC, we strive to be the best at what we do. In order to do that, we ensure that our practices are consistent with optimal tree care, our arborists are properly trained, and our customer service is top notch. If you are searching for a superior tree service company in Richland, we would like to earn your business.