Summer is close by and just like you trees will soon get bothered by the high temperatures, thirst and never-ending heat side effects. A summer – long tree care program includes a few mandatory activities and many preventative actions which will keep your young and old trees safe from the heat, pests, drought, weeds and other similar problems. Our tree service Mendota, IL specialists, together with their tree service Oglesby, IL colleagues have put together a short guide on summer prevention and maintenance tasks to achieve proper tree care.

1. Proper Tree Watering

No matter how hardy or how resilient to heat your trees are they will still need to be watered slightly more in comparison to spring or fall months. Make sure your trees receive the equivalent of at least 1 – 1.5 inches of water each week. You can use a hose to water the trees or you can ask your local tree service Mendota, IL experts to install a proper landscape irrigation system on your property. Don’t waste water or time by calculating the amounts of water to be used and the minutes you need to keep on watering. You can either hire a tree service Mendota, IL company to manage your tree according to their age, type and watering needs, or you can use smart irrigation systems which will do the job for you.

2. Protection and Mulching

This is a good time to install mulch on your property and around your trees. Mulch is the perfect organic fertilizer which acts like a barrier between the trees’ roots systems and the sun rays. Mulch keeps the soil moist and the roots properly nourished, so make sure you add shredded bark or leaf compost when mulching. This process follows what specialists call the 3-3-3 rule. This means you need to add 3 inches of mulch in a 3-foot ring with a 3-inch space around the tree trunk. Make sure that the mulch layer never touches the tree bark.

3. Keep Dangers Away from Your Tree

Pests, wildlife, the lawn mower or weeds can severely damage your trees in summer if you don’t take the necessary protection methods. In order to prevent your trees from getting physically damaged you can install tree guards to make sure animals, pests or tools don’t reach the trees’ bark or roots systems. Installing a trunk guard at the base of the tree allows proper watering and fertilization while lowering the impact of physical damage.

When it comes to weed and pest control, ask your tree service Mendota, IL experts to apply the proper fertilization and maintenance programs to match your soil type, your tree species and their protection needs. This is a good time to use pre-emergence weed treatments, but make sure the chemicals are safe and don’t negatively interact with the summer heat. Organic fertilization, pest and weed control is recommended, but your local tree service Mendota, IL company will help you choose the proper plan. Pull weeds on sight and make sure there are no pests or disease present at all the tree levels: foliage, branches or bark.