| To: ________________ FROM: Your Neighbors on Arden Street Tree Campaign RE: Personal diagnostic on how you can double your new tree’s growth and avoid expensive arborists cost in the future. Dear Neighbor; Thank you for planting a street tree to keep our streets shady and walkable in the summer heat—and maintain our property values. Now, we need to make sure it grows tall. We’ve looked at your individual tree(s), and below are suggestions of quick tricks that will double your young tree’s growth in the coming year. IF you are unable to do any of these, please call 924-8733 x112 and we will see if we can get a volunteer to do it for you. We are also looking for volunteers to help seniors aren’t able to care for their trees. __ Weed – Please keep weeds and grass at least a 4 foot diameter circle so they don’t compete with your tree. Don’t use a herbicide! ___ Mulch your tree! A layer of organic mulch 4-6 inches deep helps keep the soil moist and prevents weed growth. Mulch is available this on Arden Tree Care Weekend at a local park (fill up a garbage bag with woodchips) or year round at the SMUD yard at 1708 59th St. ___ Untie your tree Your tree seem to be strong enough to stand on its own, Untie the tree but leave the stakes and ties to see how it does. Trees need to exercise to achieve the strong trunks needed to support their head of foliage. ___ Prune your tree Congratulation! Your tree has grown vigorously. You may be ready to (lightly!) prune it! When pruning, help the tree develop a main trunk or leader, space out the side branches, use sharp clean tools, and make clean cuts just outside the spot the branch joins the trunk Never more than 20% of branches, Never never top! For more info see www.sactree.com, for care classes or information, attend a tree pruning class (see web) or call 924-8733 x112, and we can send a trained volunteer to do it. ___ Re-stake your tree If your tree is not strong enough to stand on it’s own or is crooked, continue to stake and tie your tree up straight. don't use write or string as this will cut into the bark and may gridle the tree. ____ Retie to Stakes. Check the tree to make sure it is not rubbing on a stake, is not too tight (let it move). Remove all nursery stakes next to trunk. Stakes should be at least 18 inches apart so tree can still move. ____ Fertilize your tree. Generally a balanced NPK fertilizer applied once a year helps your tree grow vigorously. Follow the directions on the package. Don’t use "Weed and Feed"- it has herbicide that hurts trees. ____ Deep Water (Summer time only- don’t drown your tree in the Spring!) Let a hose drip very very slowly near the base of the tree over night. Do this once a week when it is hot in the summer. This encourages the tree roots to go deep in the ground so it is less likely to blow over, prevent diseases, and establishes your tree faster. Lawn watering only gets to soil surface- and you can get surface roots. This checklist developed by Alan Hirsch (c) 2005 used by permission. |
Tree Care Diagnostic Checklist
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