Lafayette Tree Service Bringing Sexy Back Into Your Yards

Category: Certified Arborist

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3 Tips for Winter Tree Care

Alamo Tree Service

 

As winter weather approaches, many of us look at trees as being “dead” without any work needed. Since the trees around the Bay Area have lost much of their foliage, it may feel like a sign to leave them alone. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Proper winter tree care is what helps the tree grow and become stronger for its spring growth.

Here are a few key tips for winter tree care this time of year:

Saving Rain Water

Whether we have a rainy season or drought conditions, it’s very important to try to maximize the amount of water that is preserved in the tree’s surrounding soil. There are a couple techniques that we recommend for Bay Area trees. First, get fresh mulch. This can help keep the water contained, captured, and embedded in the soil. Even an inch of mulch helps retain moisture.  If you would like to also use the mulch for weed control, use about three inches of mulch.

Keeping the Bugs Away

While many pests stay away during this time of year, if you’ve had attacks from mites, scale, or aphids, then you should spray for them now. Use dormant oil to kill the eggs after the leaves drop. Another layer of protection is to spray for peach leaf curl or lime sulfur.

Winter Tree Care Pruning

Growth has to be monitored and may need controlled to prevent problems. It’s critical to cut back some trees in order to allow light to enter and hit the inner branches. Along with lightening heavily congested areas, you should also prune away diseased or dead areas of the tree so the nutrients will focus on the remaining portions of the tree. Sometimes you will also have to trim to maintain the balance of a tree, to prevent it from breaking.

By following the above winter tree care tips, you will find that you’ll have healthier, fuller trees in the spring and summer.  If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our Certified Arborists at Sexytrees.com

 

 

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Alamo Tree Care: 5 Tips For Caring For Mature Trees

Berkeley Tree Pruning Mature Trees

Mature trees are an asset to your landscape. Fully developed trees have required years of nurturing growth and responsible Alamo tree  . This investment should not be taken lightly. When caring for mature trees, you want to protect this investment, and ensure that your mature trees continue to provide shade and beauty to your landscapes. Older trees require specific care and nurturing to continue to flourish and remain protected from disease and pests. Here we look at five tips to help you best care for and look after your  trees.

Water Your Trees Correctly

Mature trees need an appropriate amount of water, just like young trees. Using the correct technique to water your mature trees is essential to ensure your trees get the right amount of water in the right way. In the absence of soaking rain, you should deeply water your  trees at least once a month. It can be helpful to consult with an experienced arborist regarding the specific water needs for your unique tree type.

Prune Mature Trees Properly

Regular pruning is important for  trees to remove dead or diseased branches, and to manage excess growth to reduce weight. Heavy branches can break and fall, causing damage to the tree or your property. However, incorrect pruning can severely damage your mature tree, eventually causing tree death. Tree topping is a particularly harmful practice that can eventually destroy your tree by removing it’s most important food producing branches. When pruning a mature tree, it’s best to call a Alamo tree  certified arborist to prune with the correct technique that is safest for both you and your tree.

Protect Tree Roots

Mature tree roots can continue growing to help support the tree. However, the large roots of mature trees can sometimes create issues for surrounding structures. If tree roots are disrupting your yard, it’s important to call a certified arborist for expert advice and management. Covering exposed tree roots with mulch is a useful way to protect both the roots and visitors to your garden, however it’s important not to apply mulch too close to the tree trunk.

Inspect Mature Trees For Pests And Diseases

Mature trees that have undergone some stress, been damaged, or incorrectly pruned can be left more prone to tree diseases and pest infestation. Inspect your trees periodically for signs of problems, such as weak branches, discolored leaves, or visible pests.

Nourish the Soil

Trees get all their nutrients from the surrounding soil so it’s important to keep the soil healthy as your trees develop and mature. Applying wood mulch can help to both protect the soil and supply nutrients and microbes that support healthy tree growth. Your local arborist can deliver a healthy supply of mulch direct to your yard to keep your mature trees thriving.

Offering shade, beauty, and structure to your yard, your  trees are an investment that you will want to protect. Look after your  trees with these five essential tips to best nurture their continued growth.

Contact Alamo Tree Care

Contact Llamas Tree Service for any location in the bay area, including Albany, Danville, Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Concord, San Pablo, San Leandro, Fairfield, Hercules, Kensington, Port Costa, Piedmont, Orinda, Lafayette, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, or Alamo tree  .

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4 Steps To Reviving A Topped Tree

Tree Care Pleasant Hill

A topped tree can be the result of unskillful or over zealous pruning. Topping a tree is when the topmost, healthy, leading branches are chopped off the tree to provide a quick and lazy pruning solution. While tree topping is best avoided in favor of careful and dedicated pruning by your local arborist, if you do have a topped tree, all is not lost. From this point it is critical to seek professional tree care and allow your tree time to heal and regrow if you want to see it thrive again.

Call A Local Arborist

A topped tree needs extra TLC, and your local arborist is the tree professional who can offer it. An arborist can help identify where your tree pruning went wrong, and identify a plan to nurse your topped tree back to health.

Topped trees are weak and unstable and prone to decline, but with the care of your local arborist you can identify the care and corrective pruning your tree needs to flourish again.

Give Your Tree Time

One of the most important things a topped tree needs is time. A topped tree has lost its prime energy and fuel producing leaf growth, and needs time and specialized care to regenerate this growth.

However, you may be happily surprised at how quickly your topped tree starts to put forth new growth. These fresh new branches are called water sprouts, and they need time to establish themselves. Avoid tampering with these sprouts until they have grown to the original height of the tree, as this is a sign the sprouts have established themselves.

Protect Strong Sprouts

The strongest of these initial sprouts are called the leaders. The leaders are the dominant branches that should be the tallest and free from any damage, cracks or pests. These leader branches will become the strong new branches of the tree, so it’s important to protect them and ensure their growth and health is promoted.

Trim Sprouts

In the initial stages of your topped trees healing, there is limited resources and energy to support the new growth, so the strongest and healthiest branches need to be prioritized. Contact an arborist to come and identify the strongest and weakest branches and appropriately prune the weakest branches in order to allow the strongest branches to flourish.

 

The short sprouts that are stronger and look like they could catch up to the new leader should be left to provide additional volume to the new growth. The new leader sprouts need to be monitored in order to support their healthy growth and to ensure the regeneration of the topped tree. This careful pruning process needs to be repeated over the next 4-6 years in order to facilitate the growth of the new branches. Contact a professional arborist to expertly trim the new branches in order to train them and cultivate new growth without limiting the regeneration of your topped tree.

 

A topped tree can be successfully repaired and returned to it’s former glory, but it does take some extra time, care and attention from you and your local arborist to bring your tree back to full health.

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What’s The Difference Between a Landscaper and an Arborist?

Concord Tree Pruning

Many homeowners may not put much thought into the differences between landscapers and arborists. They both do work in the garden and make your yard look beautiful, so it’s the same job right? Actually landscaping and arboriculture are two very different and distinct fields of work. Hiring the wrong professional for the job could lead you to having issues with your yard or trees, or even worse, cause damage or injury to people, property, or your yard. By understanding the unique capabilities and expertise of both landscapers and arborists, you can choose the right professional for the work you need done in your yard.

Difference in Scope of Practice

The difference between in the expertise offered by both landscapers and arborists lies in their scope of practice. Landscapers are mostly involved in designing and installing landscapes, installing hardscapes, lawn care, installation and maintenance of lawn irrigation, mulching, garden bed care and maintenance and sometimes pruning shrubs and small plants.

On the other hand, arborists are primarily concerned with the details of tree and plant care, such as caring for mature trees, tree removal, pruning, cabling, stump grinding, checking for pests and diseases, along with other areas of practice.

Skills and Training

It’s important to distinguish between these different scopes of practice for both landscapers and arborists, because it indicates what skills and training they have each undergone, and their areas of specialty. The skills and background of landscapers makes them knowledgable in how to make your yard look its best, specializing in lawn care services, lawn treatment, and yard maintenance, to help keep your garden looking beautiful and in good shape.

On the other hand, if your trees and plants are looking dead, dying or sick, or you need help with tree pruning or tree removal, a certified arborist should be the first person you call every time. Arborists have an in-depth knowledge of tree care theory and techniques to help keep your trees healthy and your environment safe.

Use Of Specialized Tools

One of the many reasons why it is important to call a certified arborist for tree care is because of the need to use specialized tools in the correct manner to effectively prune or remove trees. Certified arborists are properly trained in tool use, and are accustomed to using equipment such as chippers or chainsaws. However, in inexperienced hands this equipment can be extremely dangerous.

Landscapers may not be accustomed to using this kind of specialized equipment, nor may they be experienced in working on difficult projects such as pruning or removing tall or large trees. This is where the skills and training of a qualified arborist are indispensable.

Benefits of Collaboration

For the best results in your yard or garden, there’s no doubt that both landscapers and arborists should work together to produce truly beautiful landscapes and outstanding results for your trees and plants.

If your garden needs a redesign or overhaul, contact a landscaper. If your trees or plants need work, call an arborist. But for truly beautiful, healthy and safe yards, get a landscaper and an arborist to work together to bring the best of both worlds to your garden.

 

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4 Important Reasons You Should Leave Tree Work to the Professionals

Tree Care Concord

Many homeowners like to do their own DIY work around the house, and many may see money spent on professional tree service and arborists as ‘wasted’. Many feel that when it comes to tree trimming and pruning in California – how hard can it be? But the reality is that tree care is hardly as simple as it looks and in fact involves a number of considerations and precautions many DIYers fail to take into account, and these could end up costing you in the long run. Here we look at 4 of the most important reasons you should always leave tree care to the professionals.

Arborists Have Essential Tree Knowledge

Do you know and understand how every tree and plant should be cared for in your garden to promote its optimal health? Are you familiar with when and how each type of tree variety should be pruned? Would you recognize critical tree damage such as weakened tree branches, tree and plant pests and tree diseases? A certified arborist is trained and experienced in these and other aspects of arboriculture and tree care in order to provide relevant and targeted tree care to ensure tree health.

Arborists often pick up underlying issues when working with your trees, such as tree diseases and pest you may not have noticed, or the need for cabling and bracing to support tree branches and protect your property. Having a qualified arborist work on your trees allows you to receive an expert opinion on tree care and health.

Improper Tool Use

Homeowners completing DIY jobs on their trees and plants are often at risk of injury and damage to property due to improper use of tools. Power tools such as chainsaws are incredibly dangerous and difficult to use, and improper use or use of a blunt or damaged blade can cause major issues. Ladders are another dangerous tool that are improperly used in DIY tree trimming, and they can often be too short, set on unstable ground, or supported by a faulty limb.

Professional arborists also have an collection of specialized tools such as stump grinders, wood chippers, and aerial lifts which provide the easiest way to remove tree stumps and allow some of the more complex and difficult jobs to be completed more quickly and efficiently.

Personal and Property Safety

Improper use of tools, a failure to accurately assess and understand environmental conditions and a lack of adequate support or other people to work with can all result in large risks to the DIY tree trimmer and their property when completing a DIY tree care job. Removing high or large limbs, using ladders and power tools and uprooting a tree are all tasks that present significant risk. DIYers often suffer serious injuries or fatalities from taking on difficult tree work, particularly alone, due to risks from electrical wires, falls and dropped branches.

Falling branches, removing trees and failure to recognize root damage can also result in damage to your home and neighboring properties. Using a professional Bay Area tree care company reduces these risks to personal safety and property.

Insurance

If you’re planning to be your own tree trimmer, you might want to think about what the consequences will be if something does go wrong and whether it’s worth it. If damage does occur during DIY work, the homeowner will be the one responsible. Reliable arborists complete work in your yard with personal and property damage insurance so you can have peace of mind.

For safe work and the most comprehensive and detailed tree care, always choose a professional, qualified arborist for completing work in your yard.

 

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6 Essential Reasons You Should Choose a Certified Arborist

Berkeley Tree Removal

Tree cutters, tree pruners, tree surgeons or tree services – the name really doesn’t matter that much in the end. But when it comes to choosing a professional tree pruning company, there are some important factors you want to consider, as not all tree companies are the same. Just as you would want a qualified and experienced doctor to perform your surgery, when looking for someone to prune trees, manage your tree’s health or remove a tree, you should always choose a certified arborist. Here we look at 6 reasons why choosing a certified arborist is better for you and your trees.

  1. Keeping Your Home Safe

Tree care can be a risky business. Sometimes entire trees need to be removed, the ground needs digging, or trees need to be climbed, so it’s absolutely crucial to be working with a professional when these jobs need to be done. Certified arborists know how to steer clear of property, houses, electricity wires and gas lines so you get the job done right with no fuss or damage.

  1. In Depth Pruning Knowledge

Arborists are tree experts, which means they know what type of care is best for each type of tree and plant. Pruning your trees incorrectly can actually result in more rapid growth and the need for more frequent pruning, or in some cases, can even result in the tree’s death. With an arborist working on your trees you can get the perfect look and trim you want while ensuring the best health for your trees.

  1. Tool Skills

A chainsaw in the hands of the unexperienced can spell disaster. Arborists are not only trained in proper tool use and first aid, they also know when to use each type of tool. Switching to a hand saw to trim and thin out the tree helps to prevent the bark damage that can occur trying to do this fine work with a chainsaw.

  1. Tree Health

Arborists not only know how to trim a tree perfectly, but also how to keep the tree in the best of health. You want a tree company that leaves your yard beautiful both inside and out, and your trees free from suckers, disease, insects, parasites and mistletoe.

  1. Cutting Edge Techniques

Because qualified arborists are certified with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), they are passionate about their work and always strive to stay on the cutting edge of the latest techniques and expert knowledge for tree care.

  1. Better Long Term Results

Poor tree trimming not only makes your yard look unappealing in the short term, it can also cause damage, growth problems and the opportunity for disease in the long term. Prevention is always better than cure. Getting tree care done right the first time is critical for maintaining a healthy and beautiful yard.

If you want outstanding results for safety, tree health and tree beauty, make sure you choose a qualified and experienced I.S.A. arborist next time you need work done on the trees in your yard.