Care for your mature trees.
Looking after mature trees in Auckland and Franklin.
A mature tree is a pleasure to behold in a garden and gives a sense of history and connectedness. They offer an entire ecosystem for insects, birds and reptilian life, as well as help with noise pollution, shade and privacy.
There are many reasons to treasure these trees but they do need some extra care at times.
While they have lived through many seasons, the environment is forever changing and new factors test their ability to survive and can put them under enormous stress.
We love offering our tree services for mature trees in Auckland and the Franklin area if you need some help.
Here are a few things we suggest to help your mature tree thrive and remain a fixture in your garden:
- Protect the bark. This is the first line of defense for your tree and protects the cambium layer underneath which is crucial for water and nutrient transport. Avoid driving nails into the tree for birdhouses and ornaments.
- Don’t raise the soil level around the root zone as this could lead to suffocation of the roots and anaerobic respiration in the soil.
- Prune with care and knowledge of the repair process. As arborists, we prune with tree health front of mind for the tree to recover and thrive so if you are pruning your tree yourself then consider each cut and the purpose carefully. Just as an elderly person may take longer to recover from surgery so too does a mature tree.
- Don’t store anything under the tree that could impact or compact the soil e.g., chemicals, wood, and topsoil. Re-fueling the lawnmower under the tree and spilling petrol could be fatal. Soil compaction will suffocate the roots and can lead to decline and eventual death.
- If building within the drip zone, do not excavate and disturb the delicate feeding roots or damage structural roots. Damage to roots can be catastrophic.
- Add slow-release fertilizers annually to maintain good health.
- Don’t top the tree as the resulting growth will be weak. The branches left are lateral branches and are not designed to be able to restore the canopy.
- Mulch to protect the roots and soil and to add organic matter.
- Keep watered during extreme dry periods. Weekly water within the drip zone will help the feeder roots from deteriorating or dying off.
We are often called to a mature tree that has fallen with seemingly no warning only to find that the trunk was used for a dump zone for grass clippings for many years, or a car park was created under the tree for the teenagers’ cars in the last 18 months.
Protecting what is happening under the ground is as important as care above ground but the reward of a grand old lady in the garden is huge.
Let us know if you need help and we would be happy to give you a free quote for any work that is needed. Call in the experts for your tree care.