Many people focus a lot of their “gardening” time on the garden and lawn areas but often overlook the trees. Which is too bad because properly maintained trees can dramatically enhance the beauty and increase the value to any home. A couple of easy ways to keep your trees healthy are proper pruning and fertilizing. 

Depending on how old your tree is will determine how much maintenance is required. Younger trees often require more pruning and fertilizing for proper growth while more mature trees will typically only require pruning and fertilizing every couple of years. All trees require some sort of pruning regularly if just to get rid of dead or broken branches. Younger trees need to be trimmed annually to keep proper shape and size. 

Here are some trimming tips:

• If branches are crossed, they may rub together in wind storms, which damages the bark. Trim one, or both, of the branches away to prevent any issues. 
• Cut off broken branches as soon as you notice them so that it doesn’t get any diseases through the affected, broken areas.
• Trim all suckers from the base of the trunk as close as you can for a much cleaner look and healthier tree. 
• Trees will often have a codominant stem which takes away water and nutrients from the main trunk so make sure to remove it.
• Remove any branches that are growing or pointing UP or DOWN because it will weaken the larger, healthy branch. 

Next month we will discuss proper fertilizing for your trees.