Planting new trees on your property has many benefits. Trees create summer shade, filter polluted air and increase curb appeal and property value.
Once completely grown, trees are pretty simple to care for: another benefit! They are hardy and tend to grow despite minimal care. But, if you want to see your trees achieve their potential, they need more effort.
Lack of care for new trees might cause rotting, disease, under watering or pest problems.
The good news is that caring for trees isn’t very difficult, but you will want a little information to do it correctly. Educate yourself with the new trees you plant to know what they need to succeed. Then care for them and watch them bloom.
Here, we’ll explain the five best practices for planting a new tree and seeing it grow. You likely are familiar with the basics, so let’s dive a little deeper and explain how to complete each step correctly.
Tree Care Tips for New Trees
These five tips will not only keep trees alive, they’ll help them grow much faster, stand up to strong winds, fight off diseases ,insects and pests and produce more leaves, buds or fruit.
Water Your Tree
New trees need more water than well-established ones. The trees you plant are no exception.
The root ball of the tree and the soil all around it need be kept moist, but don’t let it get soaked, because this can cause some of the roots to rot.
The rule of thumb is 4-10 gallons of water every week. This includes rain water, and although it’s challenging to have an exact reading, a rain gauge can get you close enough to add the rest. Your trees will need this much water every week for the initial 2-3 growing seasons.
Mulch Around Your Trees
Mulch is more than an attractive lawn care material. It helps protect new trees, especially the roots. But laying mulch incorrectly can cause rotting and decay – so much so, in fact, that it’s possible that the tree will not survive.
Place mulch 3 inches away from the tree trunk and spread it around to completely cover the ground underneath the longest horizontal limb. For brand new trees, this isn’t going to be very far, but as the tree grows, your mulch area will continue to grow as well.
Keep the mulch 2 to 4 inches thick in all areas around the tree. Be attentive in keeping it spread out consistently and away from the tree trunk so it does not impede air flow around the tree trunk.
Fertilize Around Your Tree
Fertilizer provides nutrients that your soil may not naturally have. Most young trees benefit from fertilizing, but you need to use the right products and do it at the correct time in order for fertilizer to be most impactful.
The perfect time to fertilize is during early spring. Sometimes early summer also provides the right conditions (mild temperatures and wet soil), but don’t count on it.
If you aren’t sure about which fertilizer to use, consult a tree care professional for advice. Slow-release fertilizers are often a good idea because they feed your trees over time rather than all at once.
Follow through with these tasks in the first growing seasons after planting a tree, and then reevaluate your watering, mulching and fertilizing as the tree gets older. As seasons go on, there will be additional tree care projects that become more important for new trees.
Prune Your Tree
Tree pruning is very important – but very challenging – in the early years after planting a tree. As the tree grows bigger, you may see many small branches take off, competing to become the tree’s trunk. You may think this means that the tree is healthy and that it is growing well, it can actually lead to a very weak tree in the future.
Early pruning helps to shape the tree into what it will look like when it gets much larger. As tiny limbs emerge on the lower trunk, they have to be cut off so they don’t suck water and nutrients from the upper branches.
As long as you have trees growing on your land, they need to be pruned regularly. When the tree gets too big for you to prune them safely, you can count on WI Tree Trimming to do it for you.
Monitor Your Tree
New trees are at the most risk for damage, disease and pest problems. But you’re never truly safe from these things. As your tree gets larger, monitor it closely for evidence of disease or bad nutrition, including the following:
- Leaf color changing out of season, with leaves turning yellow or brown
- Early leaf falling, despite whether these leaves look healthy or sick
- Withering, even with adequate watering
- Individual branches or limbs dying
- Peeling bark
These signs indicate a health issue. The tree is likely going to require professional maintenance if your plan is to keep the tree alive. A certified arborist can usually diagnose the problem by just looking at your tree, although they will perform testing if necessary.
If you determine the problem quick enough, you will likely be able to save the tree from dying. Being proactive is the best course of action to protect growing trees.
The steps above are basic yet effective. Don’t underestimate the value of the basics! When your new trees have pruning, fertilizer and more,, combined with sunshine and barring any severe, damaging weather, the chances are in your favor that the tree will survive and look wonderful!
Of course, you could already have a full schedule and don’t want to perform these additional lawn care projects. In some cases, homeowners don’t have the physical ability to give their new trees the appropriate maintenance.
Whatever the situation, it’s a good idea to contact a tree company for caring for new trees. A certified arborist in Wisconsin can advise you about the course of care for each tree species you plant on your property. They enjoy sharing their knowledge and skills with people planting new trees, and can make the difference between trees struggling and trees that thrive.
Call WI Tree Trimming now for information on routine tree maintenance in Wisconsin – including tree trimming – for new trees and old trees. An arborists will determine the best plan for your trees! Locate your city in our service area here.
