Book Kansas City Tree Care Services with Professional Arborists
Summers in the Kansas City area bring extreme heat and humidity with the occasional storm peppered in. Even for longtime locals who know what to expect, Midwestern summers can be brutal. So, how exactly are your trees supposed to hold up under these conditions? What should homeowners do in terms of tree care to prepare for those 100-degree days?
Similar to how there’s a process to prep trees for winter, there are many things that you should do to help your trees thrive during summer. Some of these tasks are simple enough to do yourself, while others are best handled by a professional arborist. Refer to the following five tree care tips to promote healthy growth and mitigate disease and infestation. Once we’ve covered those, we’ll provide some info on how you can book tree care near you.
#1 – Get a Professional Inspection Performed
Most people don’t know the signs of a tree that’s in poor condition until it’s too late. Like any medical condition, the sooner it’s caught, the sooner a treatment plan can be implemented. That’s why our first recommendation is to get your trees professionally inspected by an experienced arborist.
The arborists at Eisenhower Tree Care are specially trained in identifying the symptoms of disease, pest infestation, drought, and heat stress. One quick inspection can save you a world of trouble down the road.
#2 – Replenish the Mulch Around Your Trees
Keeping the soil quality around trees full of nutrients is paramount for encouraging healthy growth. That’s why we recommend replenishing the mulch around your trees to kick off the summer. As a Kansas City tree care company with experienced arborists on staff, our personal recommendation is to use organic tree mulch.
It’s a little more expensive when compared to inorganic mulch, but organic yields the best results in terms of conserving soil moisture, moderating the temperature of the soil, and improving the overall soil composition. Organic mulch is also better for mitigating weed and grass growth, ensuring that your trees get the lion’s share of water and nutrients.
Keep in mind, we do not recommend mounding mulch directly around the base of the trunk. In fact, the base and any visible roots, i.e. the “root flare,” should remain completely exposed to encourage proper root growth. All that is needed is a couple of inches of mulch spread evenly around the base of the tree leaving the trunk clear.
#3 – Summer Tree Pruning
Pruning removes dead and infected branches, which enhances the circulation of airflow within the canopy and helps deliver nutrients to the remaining healthy branches. Many homeowners find that they can prune a small tree on their own. Equipment is available at your local hardware store.
Large trees, however, pose a challenge for two reasons. First, professional pruning equipment for large trees can be pricey. The second challenge is that it’s hard to tell a dead branch apart from a healthy branch due to the summer foliage. Many homeowners can wind up leaving several dead branches behind because they were overlooked, or even accidentally removing healthy branches.
Do yourself a favor and let the professionals at Eisenhower Tree Care handle your large tree pruning job. Our experienced tree care team has years of experience with summer tree pruning using the latest arborist-approved methods.
#4 – Adhere to Summer Watering Best Practices
The hotter the temperatures, the more water your trees are going to need throughout the summer. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about this. Some homeowners focus on watering the trunk area when they should be focusing on the tree’s drip line, which is the root growth area directly under the edge of the canopy. Avoid excessive watering to ensure trees continue to get sufficient oxygen. Overwatering can lead to fungus or rot.
#5 – Cabling and Bracing for Summer Storms
Large trees and trees that have multiple stems are susceptible to splitting due to the excess weight of rain and the high winds that come with summer storms. As an experienced Kansas City tree care company, we know that preventing a problem is far easier than fixing one.
Professional tree cabling and bracing can help. Using Cobra Dynamic Non-Invasive tree cabling and bracing systems, the Eisenhower Tree Care team can strategically arrange the cables among your tree’s major limbs. This helps your tree withstand the additional strain that summer storms bring.
How to Book Kansas City Tree Care Services this Summer
With hot weather well underway, it’s important to proactively implement these summer tree care tips to ensure your trees can beat the heat. It’s also worth noting that healthy trees are viewed as an inhospitable environment to most invasive pests and are less susceptible to illnesses, making proactive care even more important.
The best way to kick off your summer tree care is by booking your professional tree inspection with our experts. Once we’ve had a chance to examine your trees, we’ll be able to tell you which tree care services will benefit them most. Further, we’ll go over the best ways to avoid pest infestation, tree sickness, rot, and heat stress.
Call (816) 237-0705 or use the contact form on our website to schedule an appointment with Eisenhower Tree Care.
