Caring for your trees…
Adding Value to your property

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Trees add value to any piece of property. By the same token, trees can make a yard more appealing. Homeowners that are willing to obey the instructions from an Arborist in Palo Alto should be able to plant a small tree. It should grow and become a source of beauty and shade.

The first step in the planting of a tree—preparing the spot

Make a hole 3 times the size of the tree’s root system. Be sure not to make it too deep. Also, make an effort to give the hole sloping sides.

Next-prepare the tree for planting

Carefully remove the tree (roots and all) from its container. Be sure to keep the soil on the roots. Remove any tags or labels that have been placed on the tree’s trunk or branches. Check to see if there are any roots that have formed a circle on the bottom of the root system. If you find any, cut them. Place the tree in the middle of the prepared hole.

Method for filling hole

Add a little bit of soil, in order to keep the trunk upright. Return to the hole the dirt that was dug out of that region of ground. Be sure not to create a pocket of air in the returned soil. That could make it possible for the trunk to tilt.

Watering procedure

Create a basin at the tree’s base. It can be quite shallow. Its function is to hold rainwater. That keeps the trunk surrounded by moist soil for the first year. Still, do not think that you should count on rain to fill your basin. Make a point of keeping that region of ground under the planted tree full of water.

Care after the first year

If you find it necessary to thin the tree’s growth, only remove the weaker branches. Thinning and topping are the only two types of pruning that would seem appropriate on a new planting. A young plant should not have to undergo any cleaning. Note the degree to which the branches are extending outward. That should serve as notice that no tree should be planted too close to this newly planted one. A lawn with too many trees lacks the level of appeal that the homeowner hoped to achieve.

Understand that the time could come when you must seek an arborist’s help. That could be the case, if some pest chose to make its home in the tree’s trunk or branches. In the trees’ later years, that could be the case, if lightning were to touch the topmost branches. Hopefully something more pleasant will happen. Perhaps some bird will decide to make its family’s home in the tree’s branches.