Caring for Trees
For the reader who arrived thinking: “What should I be doing?”
Structural Pruning for Young Trees in Central Texas
Structural pruning is the one kind of pruning a young tree actually needs. What it is, how often it happens, and what usually gets done instead.
Rainwater Harvesting / Collection
Rain does more good for a tree than anything an arborist can dream up. Why rainwater beats hard city water, and the math behind sizing storage.
No Tree Left Behind
Every tree needs to be addressed as an individual. Why a per-tree record — geo-tagged, with photos and condition notes from every inspection — beats one look.
How to Grow Fruit Trees
Growing fruit trees in Central Texas: the sun and drainage they need, what to do about sucker growth, fertilizing for fruit set, and the pests.
Don't Top Your Crepe Myrtles!
A wives tale says you have to top crepe myrtles to get flowers. Not true — they flower better left alone, and in less than full sun yearly topping can kill.
Tree Fertilizer Products for the Do It Yourselfer
Fertilizer products a homeowner can buy and apply to their own trees, when in the year each one goes down, and why you still have to read the label.
How to Water a Newly Planted Tree
A tree's planting site determines the final watering regimen, but a good place to start is 1.5 gallons per diameter inch of trunk per day.
Critters Getting on Your House Through the Trees?
Raccoons, squirrels and rats will use your trees to reach the roof. Don't butcher the trees over it; raccoons only need a small amount of clearance.
Ideal Time to Prune Trees & the Oak Wilt Pruning Season
There isn't one time that is undeniably better to prune. Every season has its pros and cons, and the main point is that timing isn't critical.
Growing Turf Grass (Lawn) Around Trees
Most tree guys I know would tell you turf under trees is horrible. I don't agree: in my opinion the potential benefits out-weigh the potential problems.
Soil Restructuring. An Important Part of Tree Care.
Soil restructuring tills urban soil around a tree with an airspade and mixes organic matter back in — how deep it goes, and what goes in.
Part 4. Tree Fertilizer Products. What to Use.
What to use on a tree beyond a nitrogen source: mycorrhizae, humates, growth hormones, micronutrients and soil restructuring, and what each one does.
Part 3. How to Apply Treatments to Trees
How tree fertilizers and treatments are actually applied: deep root injection, canopy spray, trunk injection and basal drench, and what each one is for.
How to Plant a Tree
Planting a tree in Austin: how to pick the spot, how deep and wide to dig, why you tear up the root ball, and how much mulch to finish with.
Tree Selection. How to Pick a Tree.
Tree selection has two halves: the best tree for your planting site, and a quality specimen. What to look at on the leaves, trunk and growth form.
Tree Fertilizer, Part 2: When to Fertilize Trees
When to fertilize trees in Austin: fall for conventional fertilizer, early spring for foliage, and why a summer application will likely just leach away.
Tree Fertilizer Part 1. An Introduction.
An introduction to tree fertilizer in Austin: what fertilizing actually does for a tree, why it is not mostly about faster growth, and why timing is critical.
Water Your Trees, How Much and When
Watering can be the best treatment for a tree's health, or a waste of it. How slope, soil, leaf size and a new planting change how much and how often.
Creative tree trimming, the rules don’t always apply.
Most pruning guidelines assume a healthy tree in good conditions. The standard rule on topping is don't do it, with one cautious hill country exception.
Tree Pruning: volume 1, Why to Prune Trees in Austin, TX
Health, cosmetics and safety are the three reasons to prune a tree in Austin, and what oak wilt, structure and the amputated-arm-look have to do with each.
Tree Pruning: volume 2, What to Prune on Trees
Which limbs to cut and which to leave: avoid large pruning wounds, take out the deadwood, and use reduction pruning on soft wooded ash and pecan.
Tree Pruning: volume 4, When to Prune Trees
There aren't many timing concerns for pruning trees in Austin. The exception is oak wilt, whose beetle is generally active between March and May.
Tree Pruning: volume 3, How to Prune Trees
How to prune a tree yourself: the tools worth keeping, why a ladder is where the job should stop, and how to make a proper cut on a limb.