Upkeeping Your Newly Planted Trees The Right Way
Spring is the perfect time to work on sprucing up your backyard with new flowers, fresh mulch, and even planting trees. Trees are a great addition to any yard in New Jersey and offer several benefits over time. Trees attract new wildlife, they create shade, and as they grow taller help reduce energy costs in a home. Newly planted trees need special care for them to thrive over their first year of life.
Tips to Care for Newly Planted Trees
There is more involved in caring for newly planted trees than researching the best spot in your yard. Here are tips on each of the essential activities in caring for new trees to make sure they establish strong roots and continue to grow.
Watering
It is common knowledge that new flowers or plants need to be watered adequately to establish roots. Not everybody realizes the same holds true for newly planted trees. How much you water a new tree depends on the amount of rainfall expected for the week, temperatures, the season, and even the type of soil.
In the first two weeks of planting a new tree, watering should occur twice a day before switching to once daily. If you are unsure if the tree needs watering, check the soil. A continued goal for the first year is to make sure the soil is always damp but doesn’t have a puddle of water around it. Overly wet or dry soil prohibits the roots from being able to grow.
Mulching
Mulch helps protect the tree trunk and roots in its early years. Just like watering, too much can hinder its growth. A good rule of thumb to follow is laying two to four inches of mulch around the base of the tree. Initially, the mulch ring won’t need to be too long, but as the tree grows, it should extend out as far as the leaves reach. Mulch helps prevent weeds from growing, keeps the soil damp, and protects roots from getting exposed.
Pruning
When you first plant a tree, inspect it for any breaks or branch defects and remove these. Afterward, it is best not to prune newly planted trees until they are at least one year old.
Fertilizing
If you’ve had a soil test recently, you’ll know which type of nutrients the soil lacks. Trees need nutrients to grow and adding fertilizer to the ground around the tree will help it thrive.
Weeding
While mulch will help prevent weeds from growing around the tree, from time to time some may still appear. It is important to keep after these weeds to prevent them from spreading. Some weeds grow in the form of a vine, and vines can wrap themselves around tree trunks and suffocate the tree in the process.
If you have newly planted trees and need help caring for and treating them, please contact Perennial Lawn Care today! We’re happy to help you learn more about our tree and shrub program.
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