How to Properly Treat Newly Planted Trees & Shrubs
When Should You Water Your Tree or Shrub & How Much Water Does It Need?
Care and maintenance practices are relatively similar for watering both trees and shrubs. The early morning or evening is the best time of the day to water since the heat from the sun in the middle of the day could evaporate most of the water.
Using either a hose or a watering can be good for applying the water to the plant. The water should be applied near the base of the plant roots and/or tree trunk. If you are using a hose, it’s best to let the hose sit near the base of the plant and let it run on for about 5 to 10 minutes. The determined size of your new plants will also affect how often you need to tend to watering them. This also applies to how much water you should be using as well. Larger plants should have larger amounts of water applied to them.
Don’t apply any higher than 10 gallons of water to your plant, as it can lead to overwatering the roots. It is also advised not to water too often during the week, depending
on the current weather conditions around you. It can be hard to determine how often you need to water every week because of the weather conditions in your area.
For moderate weather conditions its best to apply water once every three to four days when your plant has just started growing. If there are excessive heat conditions, you should increase it slightly to twice a day for 3 to 4 days a week. Once 2 weeks have passed, you should limit your watering to once a week since your plant should have become more established at that point. It may take up to a year before your plant has fully developed and no longer needs to be constantly watered.
The Impact of Heat, Rainfall & Other Weather Conditions
Natural rainfall can be beneficial as well for watering your plants. However, this is not always reliable since it may not apply the proper amount of water for your plants. 4 to 5 inches of rain is a good amount of natural water for the plants. Also, keep in mind that if there is an excessive amount of rain, you should hold off for a day or 2 from watering the plants yourself so you don’t overwater them.
As stated before, heat can also be a problem since it can dry out the soil and the plant itself. This is only a major problem for plants that are still growing, because it could damage and potentially kill the plant. Once the plant has grown for a year, dry conditions shouldn’t be as much of a threat to the plant’s health. Regardless of the weather, you should still keep an eye out for these problems so they don’t become a risk to the plant.
Signs That Your Trees & Shrubs Are Failing or Dying
While your tree is growing, you need to make sure you are aware of any problems that may happen with your plant and act accordingly. There are multiple signs that a plant is dying. For example, small amounts of sticks on the ground around the tree, discolored or shriveled leaves, or the bark peeling off shouldn’t happen if your tree or shrub is healthy. Leaves piling up around the base of your tree or shrub could also cause unseen root damage or possibly cause fungi to begin to grow.
These are the most common examples of signs that indicate your trees and shrubs are not healthy. If you notice that these signs are causing significant issues in your plant, it is best to call the professionals to see what can be done.
A Quick Guide to Pruning Trees
Pruning is a common practice for maintaining plants in your yard. It’s a great practice for upkeeping any further growth of a tree or shrub to improve their shape and overall health. This can range from removing dead limbs from a tree to cutting back on overgrown limbs that are overlapping with other plants or over parts of your yard, and even potentially damage your house when they hang over it. When trees have limbs that are cracked, hanging low, or partly broken, then that limb should be cut near the base of the tree. Dead limbs on a tree can be problematic to the overall health of the tree.
Pruning cuts should be done near the branch collar, which is a large bulge that extends from the side of the tree, at the base of a tree branch. These collars should be treated carefully since they are important to the structure of the tree. Improper cuts to the collar can cause internal decay to the tree. Large limbs should be cut with saws, and smaller branches should be cut with clippers.
Tips for Pruning Shrubs
Pruning shrubs is a lot easier than pruning trees, as they only need to be cut back to a nice, even shape so that they remain healthy. This can reduce disease pressure in the shrub and improve its overall appearance. Overgrown shrubs can make the overall landscape look messy, block windows or walkways in your yard, and, of course, can negatively affect their health. Using tools such as hedge trimmers or hedge clippers can be used to prune shrubs. Hedge trimmers should be used to take care of multiple smaller branches of the shrub, and hedge clippers should be used to cut back the thicker parts of your shrub.
Keep in mind that you should not need to do any pruning to your plants if they are still growing. Pruning should be done to trees that are over a year old so that you aren’t ruining their health while it’s still growing.
