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Having shade trees on your landscaping has many amazing benefits. Underneath a full-grown shade tree is the best location for a backyard BBQ or for children to play outdoors. A shade tree will also keep your home cooler when temperatures rise.

To get all of the benefits of shade trees, you need to plant the right species of tree and care for them properly.

AR Tree Trimming has recommendations for the best trees to plant for shade, and some expert advice on taking care of your shade trees so they grow strong and healthy.

Planting Trees for Shade

Any tree can technically provide shade, but there are some types of trees that are built for optimal shade. These trees typically have a thick, wide canopy that extends out about as far as it does upward.

Below, we’ve provided some examples of shade trees depending on whether they would be best planted in your front or back yard.

Back Yard Shade Trees

Shade trees in the back yard are primarily for your own benefit. Next-door neighbors and passersby usually won’t see these trees very much, so they can be planted purely for shade and enjoyment.

Besides just shade, these trees can provide year-round color as well as some extra privacy from neighbors.

Here are popular options:

• Magnolia
• Sugar maple or silver maple
• Weeping willow
• Weeping cherry
• Red oak

If you have enough space, a live oak is a fantastic choice. Live oaks are said to be the fastest growing shade trees, and are able to get very large. A mature live oak is able to grow up to 80 feet tall and as much as 100 feet wide.

A lot of these back yard shade tree suggestions get pretty large, so you need to do a little research to find out if the tree is going to have enough space to reach maturity.

If there is not enough space, its root system can damage your fencing or even your home foundation. You will also have to prune the tree every year to keep it from being overgrown. A tree that is too big for its area will most likely have to be cut down, which is an unfortunate and sometimes costly situation.

Front Yard Shade Trees

In the front yard, you are planting trees for your enjoyment as well, but they will be much more impactful for increasing curb appeal and value to your home than the back yard trees.

Buy shade trees for the front yard that are somewhat smaller so they don’t overpower your home. These trees should complement your landscaping in color and size, while still creating lots of shade for front yard relaxation and play.

These are some of the shade trees AR Tree Trimming recommends:

Red maple
River birch
Dogwood
White oak
Ginkgo tree

These trees are colorful throughout the year, and they’ll display even more color during the fall.
Another good choice for your front or side yard is the ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae. This hedge-like tree can be planted in a long row with others to create privacy and shade.

With options in mind, we recommend that you plant trees you like. In reality, any tree can grow to become a “shade tree.” Assuming the trees you choose are suitable for the weather in Arkansas, they will provide your home and landscaping with shade.

Benefits of Planting Shade Trees

The benefits of having shade n your yard are numerous — and there are a few that you probably wouldn’t typically think about.

Shade, Obviously – When temperatures get too hot, you won’t need to run indoors if you have a nice, shady yard. Place a chair or hammock under your best shade tree and enjoy time outside as long as you like.

Climate Control – Trees can help regulate the temperature in your yard and inside your home. Not only will trees protect you from glaring sun, but they can make it feel 10-15 degrees cooler below their canopies. This results in less solar radiation on your roof and siding as well, which could result in lowering your energy costs!

Better Air Quality – Trees produce oxygen and expel pollutants, so there is cleaner air around your house. Arbor Day Foundation research reports that one mature tree absorbs around 48 pounds of CO2 out of the air.

Safety for Animals – If you’re into bird watching or think chipmunks are cute, your trees can provide them all they will need to build a shelter, find nearby food and raise babies.

Fun – What child doesn’t want a backyard tree house or tire swing? If you have children, shade trees can provide hours of fun and joyful memories.

How to Care for Shade Trees

Maintaining shade trees is very easy as long as you’ve chosen the right species for the weather in Arkansas. Healthy trees are strong and hardy after the first few years, requiring little attention or care.

Consult a local arborist from AR Tree Trimming if you have any questions about how to care for your shade trees, or to help you determine the perfect tree for your property.

After you have decided on the best shade tree(s), follow this simple care guide until your shade tree is well established.

Planting Your Shade Tree

The east, west and south sides of your yard always get the most sun, so plant your new trees on one of these areas of your yard. This is two-fold: 1) the trees will create the ideal amount of shade and 2) they will also receive the most amount of sun to grow healthy.

Trimming Your Shade Tree

Prune during the first year or two after you first plant the tree to help to shape it and help it form a strong foundation. To be safe, and for the best results, call AR Tree Trimming for tree trimming in Arkansas. A certified arborist will arrive at your home and deliver professional care for the tree.

Watering Your Shade Tree

Watering a new tree is very important. This helps them form a deep root system and will give the tree stability in the long run.

Fertilizing Your Shade Tree

Homeowners should fertilize a shade tree just like you would any other tree in order to aid growth. Fertilizer is not necessary for caring for a shade tree, but it can help your tree to grow faster and produce more leaves, which are the primary source of your shade.

We hope this information was helpful! Remember, when it is time to prune or trim a new shade tree, AR Tree Trimming can help! Call us and a certified arborist in Arkansas will visit your property, assess the tree and formulate the best care plan for its long-term health and growth.

Tree pruning is best left to the pros. It’s a dangerous job, climbing trees, using chainsaws and lowering heavy tree limbs to the ground; and it can also be dangerous for the tree as well. Trees that aren’t pruned properly can experience a lifetime of issues.

Instead of putting yourself in harm’s way and putting the tree at risk, call a professional who is trained and experienced to do the job for you.

This will lead to stronger trees and a safer environment around your landscaping for many reasons:

• Healthier trees are sturdier and not as likely to cause damage during severe storms
• Cared for trees won’t attract or spread parasites and diseases
• Pruned trees grow more flowers or fruit
• Trimmed trees provide shade and allow air to flow through their canopies and your landscaping

AR Tree Trimming highly recommends pruning trees that are very close to your house or those that are a focus of your property.

Is Tree Pruning Necessary?

It is not necessary. But it is important. Trees are resilient and grow on their own everywhere in the world, in a variety of different climates and regions, without trimming.

That said, there are many benefits of tree trimming, so it’s definitely recommended for any trees that you care about. This includes sentimental trees, fruit trees and flowering trees or trees that offer an important job for your house, such as shade or wildlife habitat.

Tree Pruning Gone Wrong

Tree pruning is a complex task. You are going to need the correct tools and a lot of information to guarantee the job is done right. The majority of homeowners don’t have either of these!

But that’s OK, because there are many companies out there who know exactly how to properly trim trees for an affordable cost to you including all arborists throughout Arkansas we partner with!

Here are the 5 most common mistakes people make when attempting DIY tree pruning that can lead to several tree problems. These are things that a professional arborist from AR Tree Trimming will know, and that’s the reason why their services are worth paying for!

Trimming Too Much

When done correctly, tree trimming is a never-ending process. Starting when your trees are just 2 or 3 years old, they should be maintained by an expert if you care about them and want to keep them strong and healthy.

A huge mistake that people often make when trimming trees themselves is cutting too much of the tree at a time. This happens because they let the tree’s growth get out of hand and try to correct it all immediately. Ideally, you should not cut off more than 5-20% of the tree’s crown at the actual removal cut. It is a lot easier to do this during a time of year that there are no leaves, but an experienced arborist is able to safely prune trees any time of year.

Trimming in the Wrong Place

An experienced arborist knows exactly where to cut each limb to protect against damage. This cut should be done just beyond the branch collar, the exact place where the branch connects to the tree trunk.

Trimming too close to the branch collar exposes the tree to pests and decay. Cutting too far from it leaves a stump when the tree recovers. Most DIY tree trimming leads to an improper cut, leaving either structural or aesthetic damage.

Trimming Big Branches

Branches larger than 4 inches in diameter shouldn’t be pruned unless it is necessary. Cutting off a branch of this size can lead to imbalance in the tree and expose it to insects and decay as the tree recovers from losing such a large branch.

Conservative pruning once each year guarantees that your tree trimmer only has to remove branches that are 2-3 inches in diameter, which produces a more attractive shape for the tree and less risk of hurting the tree or exposing it to disease and insects.

Topping the Tree

Tree topping is an outdated type of pruning, and for good reason! In this process, tree trimming companies would cut the top off of the tree to get the desired height. It was neither attractive nor was it beneficial for the tree, so the vast majority of tree care companies do not practice tree topping anymore.

During DIY tree pruning, you might think this is a good way to lower the height of your tree with only one cut, but once you have cut off the top of a tree, there’s almost no chance that it will ever return to a natural shape.

The Solution? Call AR Tree Trimming

Let’s face it. Your tree may never recover from bad pruning.

Doing this job yourself might seem like a good way to save a little money, but you could end up with way more expenses trying to revive damaged trees, so it’s really safer (and more economical in the long run) to hire a certified arborist in Arkansas from AR Tree Trimming.

Limbs will not grow back. The tree will grow more, but it will not grow back in the same places, which can lead to strange shapes that could take years to fix. The tree might end up looking bad for the remainder of its life, all because of a single pruning mistake.

Improper pruning could also cause death of the tree. Removing too many branches (and, therefore, leaves) can alter the tree’s photosynthesis process, which means it won’t get enough water or enough sunlight and carbon dioxide to continue healthy growth.

Cutting off too many branches could also send the tree into a state of shock. Shock can be overcome, but it takes a lot of care and patience. Even with proper care, a tree experiencing shock may still die.

Avoid all of these tree trimming mistakes and call AR Tree Trimming to speak with a tree care specialist in Arkansas able to come up with a plan to ensure your tree continues to blossom and look beautiful for years to come!

Trees are living organisms, so that means that they can become “sick” like humans and animals. A disease or other tree problem might take a while to show up due to the sheer size of the tree, and once you identify a symptom, it could be too late to revive the tree.

A certified arborist from AR Tree Trimming can help you diagnose and treat common tree issues so that you have a much greater chance of saving the tree. Learn about our service here. Not only can an arborist stop a tree from dying, but they are also able to help trees get more healthy growth and more flowers or fruit.

Have you ever noticed a tree on your lawn that has always seemed OK but suddenly seems like something is wrong? In the next paragraphs, we’ll explain some of the most typical tree issues and what these symptoms mean for a tree.

If you see any of these things on any of your trees, act fast to have the best chance of saving the tree and the ones around it.

Tree Diseases & Common Problems

These 7 things are the most typical problems addressed by certified arborists in Arkansas. As soon as you think one of these things is wrong with your tree, contact someone with the training and equipment to help!

Tree Diseases

Leaf Rust – Leaf rust is a fungus that is very common in both trees and plants. The name originates from the brown and yellow spots this disease causes on the leaves.

Leaf rust is dangerous because it prevents the leaves’ photosynthesis, the process by which it breathes. Leaf rust can be treated with fungicides and selective pruning of the affected leaves. It may be necessary to cut off whole limbs with leaf rust.

Witches’ Broom – This common disease creates a large mass of twigs, dead leaves and branches that look like a broom shape. It is caused by pests, unusually rainy weather or fungus. The construction of a clump of twigs and leaves is the tree’s reaction to infection or harm.

Some instances of Witches’ Broom are deadly for the tree, while others are simply considered a growth malformation. A tree care professional can tell you for sure.

Mildew – Mildew is a type of fungus that grows on almost anything in wet conditions, but even after the wet conditions are over with, mildew can continue to thrive. Mildew usually appears as a powdery substance, typically white, and it usually grows on the leaves of the tree first.

The trick to eliminating mildew is to use a fungicide that includes sulfur. This will remove the existing mildew and stop future mildew growth on the tree. You may also need to trim the tree to remove branches, fruit, flowers and leaves that have been affected by the mildew

Gall – Gall is a tree disease that appears when insects build small nests on the leaves or branches of a tree to leave their eggs in. Most types of galls are not harmful to the tree, but they are not attractive.

Gall will appear as bumps on the tree, in various sizes. They are often white, brown, gray or some shade in between.

It is not necessary to treat the tree for galls, but they can limit the growth of new trees. Treat galls by killing the insects. You should also clean out from under the tree after the leaves fall off, since this is where the insects survive during winter months.

Other Tree Problems

Improper Trimming – There’s a science to tree pruning, as well as many types, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could damage the tree beyond recovery. Consider the type of tree, season and other factors. Under-pruning (or not pruning at all) can be just as big of a problem. Only a trained arborist should be trusted to prune trees to keep them healthy.

Lack of Water – Young trees can be severely impacted by drought. If you decide to plant new trees on your property, you will need to supplement how much water they get from rainfall. A tree that is not getting enough water will have its growth stunted. The first symptom you are likely to noticed is scorched, dry leaves. Find more tips for new trees here.

Too Much Sun – Do some research before planting trees in a sunny area. Many types of trees can handle it just fine, but too much sun can happen to any tree if the sun is harsh for an extended period of time and rainfall is light. A tree that is getting a lot of sun needs extra water to fight against wilting, drooping leaves.

Certified Arborist Services in Arkansas

An experienced arborist from AR Tree Trimming will quickly identify what’s going on with your sick tree and come up with a plan to save it if at all possible.

Here is what an arborist is qualified to do:

• Review trees from below and from the branches of the tree if necessary. Getting into the canopy is typically necessary to understand exactly what is leading to the symptoms.
• Treat your tree through fertilizers and additives in the soil or products sprayed on the leaves. This person will have knowledge about the disease impacting the tree and the best treatments.
• Trim trees to eliminate dead or damaged branches and to assist healthy growth. Even if heavy trimming is needed, they will know how to remove branches so that the tree survives both the issue and the pruning.
• Remove the tree from your property if there is no chance to save it. The worst case scenario is that the tree is too far gone, and removing it is the only way to protect your property and surrounding landscape.

They can also inform you about the other trees that you have and how to best care for them so you don’t find yourself in the same situation in the future.

Some tree problems look very similar to one another, requiring an expert opinion to correctly identify and correct the issue. If your trees are looking dry, unhealthy or disfigured, call a certified arborist from AR Tree Trimming for an inspection before it’s too late.

When it comes to the question, “What time of year is best for tree tree pruning?” The answer is sometimes indirect.

Tree type usually dictates when many species can be trimmed, along with insect population and activity, local tree and plant diseases and other species of plants and trees in the landscape.

With the guidance of a certified arborist in Arkansas, you can figure out what season is the best for trimming your trees to set them up for success next season and every year after that.

Best Season to Trim Trees

Without any other information, AR Tree Trimming recommends pruning trees in the winter. This would be sometime from November to March in most areas. Winter is ideal because the trees are usually dormant, so pruning will cause the least amount of harm, if any.

There are a lot of benefits to pruning trees during the winter:

Lower risk of pest damage and disease – Pests and plant diseases are usually inactive in the winter in Arkansas. Throughout the rest of the year, anything from insects to fungus can affect a freshly trimmed tree because the tree is most susceptible and these issues are more common during warmer weather.

Easier to see the shape of the tree when the leaves are gone – Leaves stop your arborist from seeing the overall shape of a tree. When the tree branches are bare, it is a lot easier to identify dead or diseased limbs and branches that are touching versus those that are just close together.

Trees can heal before spring – By performing significant pruning in the winter, your trees will have several months to build up callus tissue on the ends of the remaining branch collar. By spring season, you’ll hardly be able to notice where the branches were trimmed, and the tree will be able to use its energy to produce brand new leaves, fruit or flowers rather than healing new cuts.

Less chance of harming nearby landscape – Most of the surrounding trees and plants will also be dormant, so there is a lower risk of them. Most of the time, a tree is surrounded by annual plants in the warmer months, but there are no plants to be disturbed in the winter since these annuals have already died out.

Do All Trees Need Trimming?

Yes, all trees can benefit from annual pruning. Tree trimming each winter is good for the trees, but it is also a precaution for the safety of your property and your family and neighbors. Let us explain:

Trimming Makes the Tree Healthier

Dead and diseased branches are cut off, as are stubs that are prone to pests and disease. Branches that can rub one another are also pruned so they don’t weaken one another or cause an open wound on the tree.

Trimming trees each year is also a good way to get an expert’s opinion on your trees so that early warning signs of decay, disease and pest infestations can be spotted and handled right away.

A Cared-For Tree Serves Its Purpose Better

When a tree is overgrown, it starts to be hard for water and nutrients to reach every branch. This can leave the tree looking weak and sick and definitely not doing what it’s intended to do.

Trimmed trees, on the other hand, produce more fruit, healthier leaves and offer better shade. They are much fuller and healthier and less likely to cause landscaping issues. So regardless of why you planted a new tree, routine trimming each winter will improve the results you want from it.

Trees are More Beautiful After Trimming

If the curb appeal of your landscaping is important to you, tree pruning is a necessity! Pruning trees creates an attractive, uniform shape and size. This is important if you have a lot of identical trees on your property.

Removing lower branches and upper branches that grow at improper angles enhances the overall look of the tree while also promoting tree health.

Less Risk of Falling Branches

Tree trimming – done the right way – helps the remaining branches to grow healthier and stronger. Therefore, storms and high winds won’t damage your trees the way they would an unkempt tree. Your home and family will be safer living under and around pruned trees.

Another safety concern for large trees is that they can block the view of traffic lights, road signs and driveways. Tree trimming, crown raising and other specialized tree care services will keep the tree at a manageable size and stop it from blocking various views.

Call AR Tree Trimming for Tree Pruning

Working with a certified arborist in Arkansas gives you access to their expert knowledge on the subject of tree trimming. We recommend relying on their expertise if you have trees on that you’d like to keep healthy for a long time.

An arborist won’t just consider the immediate situation. Instead, an arborist will take the time to inspect your trees and understand their unique scenario (including their location and other factors that could put them at risk of disease or infestation). After gathering all of the information, an arborist will suggest a long-term plan based on your trees’ needs and stick to that plan until your goals for your trees are achieved.

This plan might take many years to implement, but rest assured, it will result in healthy trees that you and your family can enjoy for many years to come.

This kind of annual care will result in healthy tree growth, help your entire property fight off plant diseases and enhance flower or fruit production from the trees. It will also fortify your trees so there is less risk of falling trees or branches.

Being proactive about tree pruning can save you a lot of money over time as well. Preventative care is much more affordable than the cost of emergency tree services, storm damage cleanup or curing an ill tree of a disease that has spread out of control (and one that was easily preventable).

If you care about the health of your trees and the curb appeal of your landscaping, trust a certified arborist for tree pruning and maintenance from AR Tree Trimming. Find our service area here. We work with arborists across the entire state of Arkansas. Call today!

Tree pruning in Arkansas is a landscaping service that beautifies and reinforces trees so they can fight off pests, diseases and severe weather – and look breathtaking doing it!

Pruning needs to be done if you want a healthy tree, but it has to be done carefully by someone who has experience in what they’re doing. Like a certified arborist from AR Tree Trimming. Homeowners may be able to prune and trim trees safely while they are still small, but you also may be doing permanent harm to the tree in the process.

To correctly prune trees, you should know all of the following:

• When is the best time to prune your types of trees
• How much of the tree can be trimmed at at once
• Where to cut the branches so you do not damage the tree

Removing too much off of a tree can kill it or lead to structural damage, but minimal trimming done every year benefits trees in several ways. Pruning helps to improve the appearance of trees, makes them healthier, eliminates dead or diseased limbs and expedites fruit or flower production.

For the best results, pruning should be done annually, but as trees get older, you might be able to go two years between pruning services. Regardless of how routinely you have your trees trimmed, make sure your arborist is qualified to do the type of tree pruning your trees need. This won’t be a problem if you call AR Tree Trimming in Arkansas!

Types of Tree Pruning Methods

There are 7 ways to correctly prune a tree so that it grows healthier and stronger each year.

Depending on the size, species and health problems of your trees, one pruning method could be more effective than another, but each technique has various benefits.

Crown Thinning Your Trees

Crown thinning is typical for larger, overgrown trees in Arkansas. This method eliminates weak branches within the crown of the tree to allow more sunlight and air flow throughout the crown. Air flow is important for disease prevention.

This tree pruning technique also gets rid of branches that are touching so they no longer rub up against each other and snap or create weakened areas that can be an access point for insects and pests. Branches that grow at strange angles are typically removed during crown thinning.

Crown Raising Your Trees

This pruning method only removes branches at the lowest part of the crown so new limbs start higher up on the trunk of the tree. Allowing low branches to get too big makes them very difficult to remove, and they can draw nutrients from the top of the tree, which leads to less fruit and a weaker tree.

There are a variety of reasons you may choose to raise the crown of a tree. Frequently, it is done in order to clear the line of sight for cars and pedestrians, but it can also be done to free up space for landscaping underneath the tree.

It is a common technique for overgrown trees that are too close to homes and buildings.

Crown Reduction

Crown reduction reduces the overall size of the tree’s crown from its outer edge. It shortens limbs horizontally and vertically to maintain the tree at a certain size. By lowering the crown size, you can remove the need to cut the tree down because it will no longer interfere with traffic lights, power lines or street lights.

Even if the tree isn’t near structures like those listed above, crown reduction will make the tree look much better because it also eliminates irregular growth. This is a great solution for trees that are different ages but are supposed to look consistent.

Crown Cleaning

Often referred to as deadwood pruning, crown cleaning is a minimally invasive pruning method that gets rid of dying, broken or diseased limbs so that the rest of the tree may grow normally. These branches can only create problems over time.

Crown cleaning helps to make the tree look much better, and it stops limbs from rubbing together. And it is a safety practice that lowers the chance of branches falling, since healthy branches rarely fall.

Crown Restoration

Crown restoration is a focused pruning method used on trees that have been severely damaged (either by weather or vandals). It needs to be performed by a certified arborist who knows where the tree is likely to grow over time and just how long it’s restoration is going to take.

Unlike most other tree pruning services, crown restoration occurs over a longer time period with conservative trimming that reshapes the tree. An arborist should have a plan to restore the tree, but also must be flexible as the tree starts to grow and reshape on its own, working with the tree’s new growth.

Vista Pruning

If you want trees to help improve curb appeal, you are actually interested in vista pruning. The purpose of vista pruning is to help to make the tree more visually pleasing from a particular vantage point.

It consists of several pruning techniques including crown thinning, crown cleaning and crown reduction – any technique that makes the trees look more attractive. Remember, though, that a professional will never compromise the health of a tree, so the focus of vista pruning is still to maintain strong, healthy trees.

Espalier Pruning

Espaliered trees are pruned heavily to grow flat up against a wall or a trellis. It is a different style of tree pruning that is sure to attract a lot of attention to your lawn. Espalier pruning must be started when the tree is very young and then done routinely throughout the tree’s life span.

Some of the benefits of espalier pruning include allowing maximum sunlight to get to the trees, as well as making it much easier to harvest fruit.

Professional Tree Pruning in Arkansas

Tree pruning can be harmful to a tree, your landscaping, and, of course, for you! AR Tree Trimming highly recommends professional tree pruning over attempting DIY.

Besides the many possible dangers of tree trimming, you can do a lot of damage to a tree if you don’t prune it properly. Excessive pruning is one of the most common mistakes made by homeowners trimming their own trees.

Trees in Arkansas that get annual care from a professional are usually much better off, and hiring a certified arborist from AR Tree Trimming to care for trees on your property is a decision you won’t regret. Locate your city in our service area. We work with arborists throughout the entire state of Arkansas!

Planting a tree on your land has several benefits. Trees offer much-needed summer shade, filter contaminated air and increase curb appeal and property value.

Once full-grown, most trees are simple to maintain: another benefit! They are strong and tend to grow even with minimal care. However, if you want to help your trees achieve their full potential, they need more effort.

Lack of care for young trees might result in rotting, disease, under watering or pest problems.

Fortunately, tree care isn’t all that difficult, but you do need a little information to do it right. Familiarize yourself with the new trees you plant to know exactly what they need. Then properly care for them and watch them bloom.

Here, we’ll explain the five best tips for planting a new tree and seeing it grow. You likely are aware of the basics, so let’s dive deeper and lay out how to perform each step correctly.

Tree Care Tips for New Trees

These tips will not only keep your trees alive, they’ll help them grow much faster, resist damaging gusts of wind, fight off diseases and pests and create more leaves, buds or fruit.

Water Your Tree

New trees need a lot more water than grown ones. The trees you plant on your land are no exception.

The root ball of the tree and the soil around it should be kept moist, but don’t let it get soaked, because this might cause the roots to rot.

The best practice is 4-10 gallons of water every week. Rain water counts, and although it’s challenging to have an exact reading, a rain gauge can help get you close enough to supplement the rest. Your new trees will need this much water every week for the initial 2-3 growing seasons.

Mulch Around Your Trees

Mulch is much more than an attractive lawn care product. It actually helps protect new trees, especially the roots underground. But laying mulch incorrectly can sometimes result in rotting and decay – so much so, in fact, that it’s possible that the new tree will not survive.

Place mulch 3 inches away from the tree trunk and spread it out to cover the ground underneath the longest limb. For new trees, this isn’t going to be very far, but as the tree continues to grow, your mulch area will continue to grow substantially.

Keep the mulch 2 to 4 inches thick in all areas. Be attentive in spreading it out consistently and away from the tree trunk so it does not stop air flow around the tree trunk.

Fertilize Around Your Tree

Fertilizer provides the nutrients your soil might not have naturally. Most new trees will benefit from fertilizing, but you need to be using the right products and doing it at the right time in order for fertilizer to be most impactful.

The perfect season to fertilize is early spring. Sometimes early summer provides the right conditions (comfortable temperatures and moist soil), but don’t count on it.

If you are uncertain about which fertilizer to use, consult a tree care specialist for recommendations. Slow-release fertilizers are typically a good idea because they feed your trees over time rather than all at once.

Follow through with these tasks in the first few growing seasons after planting a tree, and then review your watering, mulching and fertilizing as the tree becomes more established. As seasons go on, there will be tree care tasks that are more important for new trees.

Trim Your Tree

Tree trimming is very important – but very tricky – in the initial years after planting a tree. As the tree grows bigger, you may see several little branches take off, competing to become the tree’s trunk. While you may think this means that the tree is healthy and that it is growing well, it can actually result in a weak tree as time goes on.

Early pruning shapes the tree into what it is going to ultimately look like when it gets much larger. As small limbs emerge on the lower trunk, they must be cut off so they don’t suck water and nutrients from the upper branches.

So long as you have trees growing somewhere on your property, they need to be pruned regularly. When the trees get too large for you to prune them safely, you can count on AR Tree Trimming to do it for you.

Monitor Your Tree

Growing trees are at the most risk for damage, disease and pest problems. But you’re never 100% safe from these things. As your tree grows older, monitor it carefully for evidence of disease or poor nutrition, including the following:

• Leaf color changing out of season, especially leaves turning yellow or brown
• Early leaf drop, despite whether these leaves look healthy or diseased
• Wilting, regardless of proper watering
• Single branches dying
• Peeling bark

These signs indicate a health problem. The tree is likely going to need professional maintenance if your hope is to save the tree. An experienced arborist can typically identify the issue by simply looking at the tree, although they will perform testing if necessary.

If you discover the problem early enough, you will probably be able to save the tree from dying. Being proactive is the best way to protect younger trees.

The tips above are simple yet effective. Don’t underestimate the value of the basics! When your new trees have proper care, combined with some sunshine and barring severe, damaging weather, the chances are in your favor that they will survive and look wonderful!

Of course, you could already have a lot on your plate and don’t want to be responsible for these additional lawn care projects. In many cases, property owners don’t have the physical ability or the tools to give their growing trees the necessary care.

Whatever the situation, it’s a good idea to seek the help of a professional for the care of new trees. A professional arborist in Arkansas can advise you about the best course of care for each type of tree you plant on your property. Arborists love sharing their expertise and skills with people planting new trees on their land, and can be the difference between trees that struggle and trees thriving.

Call AR Tree Trimming now for information on routine tree maintenance in Arkansas – including tree pruning – for new trees and older trees. A local tree service will determine the best plan for your trees! Locate your city in our service area here.