In addition to enhancing the physical environment of a property, trees provide many benefits for homeowners. Not only do they improve air quality, reduce stormwater runoff and absorb carbon dioxide and noise, but they also help regulate temperature and have many emotional advantages. For the ultimate local tree service, look no further than Green Valley Tree Care—an independently owned-and-operated company founded by certified arborist Carlos Mendoza in 2014. Offerings include tree removal, trimming, installation, mapping, brush clearing and complete property health checkup and disease management.“The best way to mitigate risk is to proactively inspect all trees on a property to look for potential hazards,” Mendoza explains. Here, Mendoza offers his tips for maintaining safe and healthy trees.
Green Valley Tree Care
800-487-1392; greenvalleytc.com
1. Prevent Insect Infestation
Insects are most active during summer, although many reproduce throughout the year. If a tree dies from insect infestation, you not only lose an asset, but you have a fire hazard and risk the tree collapsing and damaging something or someone. Preventative treatment such as trunk injections, trunk spray, drenching and soil injection reduces the likelihood of infestation. Most treatments protect trees for about three months, but systematic trunk drilling injection is effective for up to two years.
2. Trim Your Trees
We all enjoy the look and shade that trees provide, but they can grow and get crown-heavy. This can create a hazardous situation, as the tree can collapse and cause serious damage. Trimmed trees also look healthier and protect against insects. Professional tree maintenance includes crown thinning (selective removal of 30% of live branches), crown raising (removal of low branches that interfere with people and vehicles), building clearance (removal of branches close to structures), crown cleaning (removal of dead and broken branches) and crown reduction (selective removal of branches to reduce the canopy size).
3. Pay Attention to the Seasons
Some trees need to be maintained year-round, while others have strict seasons. Palm trees, for example, should be pruned June through September, when the growth rate has slowed and seedpods and dead fronds start dropping, creating a mess on the ground, pools and water features. Pine and cone bearing trees should be trimmed in colder weather to avoid potential insect infestation. Others should be treated as soon as they have new leaves or when their buds break.
4. Prevent Sudden Branch Failure
Most arborists suspect that sudden branch failure—when a branch falls from a tree seemingly out of nowhere—is related to humidity levels within the tree. In cooler weather, trees shrink, and in warmer weather, trees expand due to an increase in water uptake, increasing the heaviness of the branches. Add in lack of trimming or weak branch attachment, and you have a perfect combination for branch failure to take place. Our arborists are trained to look for weaknesses from the ground up.