What proactive treatments can a homeowner do to prevent decline?
Periodically inspecting trees for structural defects and insect pests and disease is essential to prevent failures that could lead to personal injury or property damage. Health inspections should be performed at least annually and after major storms, and even more frequently for trees under stress and in high use areas.
Pruning trees should be done judiciously and performed properly. Pruning should be focused on removing dead, dying, diseased, and broken branches. Improper pruning techniques are common stress factors of urban trees and can cause premature decline.
By raking our leaves for the past 100 years, we have interrupted the carbon and nutrient cycles that serve to keep trees green and growing. To correct this situation, periodic supplemental fertilization is important, particularly where trees compete with turf for water and soil nutrients.
Proper irrigation and mulching, particularly in times of drought, are essential to maintain a tree or shrub’s good health and something the tree owner can do. It is very easy to overmulch, so be careful.