With spring in bloom and hot weather becoming the norm, it’s important to make sure your trees are properly cared for. We often hear about communities who ignored their trees until many were sick or dying. Instead, we encourage your community to proactively treat trees for pests, prune them regularly, feed them with proper fertilizers, and balance the soil PH.
Since there are so many variables to making sure trees, or even shrubs, stay healthy, we encourage your HOA to work with a local arborist to make sure everything is done properly.
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Here is a list of things your board should make sure the tree care company checks and manages:
Soil PH
Depending on the type of tree, you’ll need to make sure the soil has proper chemistry to support growth. Your tree specialist should check for PH and alkalinity and then treat the soil depending on results.
Food
Just like people, landscaping needs the proper fertilizer to ensure growth and health. There are some good, all-purpose fertilizers, but we’ve found that sometimes the best results come when the right mix of food is provided to the right tree and at the right time of year.
Prune
Hire a good landscaping company for this. There is a right way and a wrong way to prune trees and it varies based on the type of tree. If your tree specialist does a proper job, you’ll notice better growth, more blooms, and best of all – they make quick work of clean up! During pruning season, check and spray for pests. Bugs or fungi can kill trees faster than you may notice the problem.
Plant
If your community is planting new trees, make sure to talk to someone about the best type of tree for the location, and make sure it is planted properly and watered in well. New trees need more water than established ones, so watch them closely.
Nothing can make a community feel more welcoming and inviting than beautiful, healthy landscaping. Remembering to feed, prune, and take care of your trees will save your community thousands in landscaping problems. Hopefully this short list gives you enough knowledge to know how to help your HOA board find and hire the proper landscape contractor. If your board has any other questions on tree care or landscaping, do not hesitate to see if Spectrum can help!
