If you own property with trees in your yard or garden, read this blog. Here we offer homeowners some top tips on ow to care for trees at home to help them thrive and prevent them become a threat to your house or buildings.

 How to care for trees in the garden or yard – 

A lot of property owners remove trees from their yards because they can be hard to maintain and look after. However, trees take a long time to mature, so it is a shame to cut them down, especially since they are vital to our survival.

If you have trees in your yard, then rather than cutting them down, you should learn how to take care of them. A tree that’s properly cared for won’t cause problems—it’s only when trees are left completely to their own devices that they become disruptive.

Here is how you can take care of trees on your property.

Tree removal

If you aren’t able to look after the trees on your property or if they are damaging your house, then sadly tree removal is your only option. The average cost of tree removal varies from place to place. It’s also worth noting that larger and more mature trees are more expensive to remove than immature ones. The best way to find out how much it is going to cost (and how long it will take) to have your trees removed is to reach out to a local tree surgeon.

Professional maintenance

If you are going to keep trees on your property but don’t want to maintain them yourself, then you can hire a tree surgeon to do it for you. A tree surgeon will be able to reduce the trees on your property whenever they grow out too much, in addition to being able to look after them and prune them for you. Tree surgeons can be expensive though, which is why it’s better to maintain them yourself when they’re small, and then employ a tree surgeon when they get bigger.

Reducing branches

One of the main problems a lot of people face when they have trees in their yard is the branches of those trees spreading out and damaging their roof or their home’s façade. If this is the case for you, then you can pay a tree surgeon to reduce the branches for you. A branch reduction won’t cost you a lot of money. Very experienced tree surgeons will be able to sculpt your trees for you, so that the branches grow back in a different direction, preventing them from becoming a problem for you again in the future.

Annoying pests

Unfortunately, there’s really no way to prevent birds and other animals like squirrels from nesting in the trees on your property. A lot of homeowners want to get rid of trees purely to get rid of the animals that live in them. If you don’t want animals sharing your property with you, then you could consider putting up scarecrows, or spraying garlic or pepper oils on your trees. An alternative to using garlic or pepper oils is to spray your tree with predator urine, which you can order online. The smell of a predator’s urine will keep most animals away.

Tree roots

Protect the roots of the trees on your property. Make sure that they aren’t driven over, stood on, or covered up with furniture. If you damage the roots of a tree, then it could potentially die. Really and truly, you need to do everything that you can to avoid making the soil around the roots too compact. If the soil around the roots becomes too compact then the tree will die. You should also avoid removing soil from around the roots, too. A lot of people do this to expose the roots for aesthetic purposes, but this can damage the tree.

Trimming trees

As mentioned earlier, tree reductions are essential. You always need to keep your tree’s branches trimmed down so that they don’t grow out and damage your property or any neighboring properties. There is a proper technique for trimming trees, which is why it’s usually better to leave it to a professional. However, if your trees are small or you don’t have the money to employ a tree surgeon, then you can go ahead and trim them yourself. The best way to do this is to do some online research and learn the proper technique. You can likely learn this by watching online videos and tutorials.

Tree diseases

You need to make sure that you regularly monitor your trees and watch out for tree diseases. In the United States due to the introduction of various foreign species of tree, tree diseases are becoming a lot more common.  If you don’t successfully identify and catch tree diseases early, then they can get much worse. Tree diseases can easily kill your tree if they aren’t resolved and dealt with quickly. Only a professional tree surgeon will be able to properly treat your tree for any diseases or infections.

Watering tree

Most trees don’t need to be watered. However, if the tree that you have on your property is very young or even just a seedling, then you will need to water it. Something else that you should be aware of is that if you have seedling trees on your property, you should build a metal cage around them. The reason for this is that deer and other animals will eat your seedlings. Seedlings are a very attractive meal for a lot of animals. A metal cage will prevent them from being able to get close enough to the seedling to eat it.

Leaving alone

Other than maintaining and taking care of the trees on your property, you need to just leave them alone. A big mistake that a lot of homeowners make is building benches or structures around their trees to ‘enhance’ their appearance. This will just damage the roots and prevent the tree from being able to grow. Your trees’ roots will grow under any structures that you build which could also cause a lot of damage to the structures, too. Take care of your trees, and other than that, leave them alone and let them grow.

How to care for trees in summary

If you have trees on your property and you have decided that you want to keep them, then make sure that you take good care of them. Make note of our tips on how to care for trees at home, and schedule regular maintenance to ensure they thrive and do not threaten your property. Not looking after trees can lead to them either getting out of control or contracting diseases and dying.

FURTHER READING FOR HOMEOWNERS AND USEFUL GARDENING BLOGS

At Housesitmatch.com we often share practical ideas and information for our members. Here are some useful links for some of our earlier gardening blogs. We hope you enjoy them and find them of use.

How to trim trees – Timing and methods

Create the perfect garden – 7 Top tips

Home gardening safety tips – Green thumb 101

Gardening tips – How to stop insects eating young plants