Trees are living things just like animals. As such, they need proper care to thrive, proliferate, and look their best. However, trees are very unpredictable, and what you do to have healthy and strong trees today may not work for you in the next year.
Behind the lovely flowers and the lush green hedges, there’s a lot of work that goes into making yard trees look as beautiful as they do.
Trees are different, and what works for one species may not work for another. However, some best practices may apply across the board. What’s more, you don’t really need to break your back or bank to have statement-making trees on your lawn.
In this piece, we’ll give you some amazing tips on how to ensure your trees remain healthy and strong and give your yard all the attention it deserves.
What Causes Stunted Growth and Brown Leaves in Yard Trees?
No matter how meticulous you’ve been with your yard, you must have seen a couple of brown spots on your tree leaves. Aside from brown leaves, you may have noticed that one or two trees in your yard aren’t growing as fast as they should.
Here are a couple of reasons why your leaves are browning or have stunted growth:
Compacted Soil Structure
Soils with compacted layers make it hard for the roots to penetrate to access water and nutrients.
We unknowingly compact our yard without knowing it. The constant treading on our yards during walks, plays, and the like leads to soil compaction.
Pests
Pests are a real menace not only to agronomic crops but also to beautiful yard trees. Pests are usually opportunistic creatures. They are more likely to attack a tree that lacks nutrients and enough water than a thriving plant.
Vulnerability to pests is another reason why you should always have strong trees.
Inadequate Nutrients
Nutrients are pivotal for a healthy plant. Water alone isn’t enough to get you that bustling tree with lovely flowers. If your tree isn’t doing so well, then you might want to give it more nutrients.
Amazing Tips for Healthy, Thriving and Strong Trees
So you want your yard to stand out from your neighbors’ yard. You’ve bought all the fancy trees and all the gardening equipment, but they still don’t look like they do in the pictures.
If such describes your predicament, here are a couple of ways to ensure your trees remain healthy, strong, and stunning as they should.
1. Location Is Everything
Not all trees are cactus or grass, so don’t expect everything to grow anywhere. There are a couple of factors you should consider before giving a tree its home.
The first thing is sunlight. You don’t need to be a college professor to know that plants need sunlight.
Apart from sunlight, there are a couple of other lesser things you should also put into consideration. First, power lines are a no go zone. When you dig, ensure your trees are meters away from the power lines or any utility lines for that matter.
2. Water Is Life
As you probably know by now, plants are living creatures. That said, plants need water for survival—sufficient water for that matter.
When plants get insufficient water, they need to exert extra energy to draw water from the soil. Your trees could use this extra energy for growth and development. So make sure you water your plants regularly.
As a rule of thumb, try one inch of water for mature trees. The younger trees may need less but just water them anyway.
3. Prune Regularly
Everybody knows that pruning is not fun. However, if you want those lush green hedges or pretty flowers, then pruning is your best bet. There are plenty of benefits of tree trimming that most people don’t know.
Pruning is like cutting off the parts of the tree that are holding it back.
4. Fertilize
Fertilizers provide the tree with essential nutrients for growth. That’s why forest trees are so healthy and strong. All the organic matter in the forest provides trees with all the wholesome nutrients it needs.
Unfortunately, your lawn is not a forest. So you have to do more to get your trees as strong and healthy as forest trees.
5. Mulching
Many people overlook mulching because mulch is never a pretty look for a lawn. Unknown to them, mulching protects delicate roots from the vicious lawnmower at your plant’s initial growth stage. It also prevents the topsoil from drying, thus retains moisture that your plant utilizes.
5. Know Your Trees
As we’ve mentioned earlier, not every tree is the same. It doesn’t hurt to do a little homework on your trees to bring out the best out of them. Especially if you want something particular, like a Meyer lemon tree.
The good news is that you don’t even have to go to the library to get this information. A simple google search will give you all the information you need to know about the specific trees in your yard.
6. Book a Check-up
Book a check-up with professionals who will tell you just how well your trees are doing. Through these tree check-ups, you’ll also know how to make your trees healthy and eradicate any pests or diseases the trees may have.
Lawn Trees Need Your Attention
Hopefully, you now know what you need to have healthy and strong trees on your lawn. What’s clear is that keeping your lawn trees in their optimum shape definitely needs a lot of work.
However, everything boils down to the fundamentals like water, nutrients, pruning, and trimming.
For more pieces on how to bring out the best out of your home, check out our other articles.