What does a tree care program include?

The basic program is two visits: a fall deep-root feeding and a spring foliar feeding. The full program is four — it adds a treatment in February and one in summer, and both of those are soil conditioning rather than feeding. Every visit also puts an arborist on your property, which is most of what you are buying: somebody to confirm the watering is right, to catch the irrigation that never got turned up in July, and to say something before the lawn service spreads weed-and-feed in the spring.

When should trees be fertilized in Austin?

Fall is the main one. The leaves are dropping and the tree is putting its energy into root development, so that is when a deep-root feeding does the most good. The spring foliar feeding typically starts mid-to-late March and is finished by the end of April, and pecans run later because they leaf out late. What closes the spring window is the leaf, not the date — at some point in May or June the new foliage develops a waxy cuticle and our solution can no longer absorb through it.

Do you use soil tests to decide what to apply?

Mostly no, and that is a departure from the industry standard. Keith's position: "It is industry standard to utilize soil testing as a driver for prescriptive fertilization services. I really don't use soil testing hardly at all." One soil test is one snapshot of a chemistry that moves through the year — the same ground reads rich in November after the rains and leaf drop, and poor in summer after the rains stop. We time treatments to the tree's biorhythm instead.

How much does a tree care program cost in Austin?

We don't publish prices. Ask for an estimate and you'll get two documents back: a written site inspection and work plan from the arborist who walked your property, with photos and notes on which trees we would treat and which we would leave, and a separate proposal with the numbers on it. Call (512) 996-9100 and we'll come look.

Can I fertilize and care for my trees myself?

Some of it, and the most valuable parts are the ones you can do. Consistent water and no chemical weed control near the tree are the top two items on Keith's own ranked list of what matters, ahead of any treatment we apply, and compost is genuinely a homeowner job on a small tree. Where it stops being one is a question of access — as a professional we have access to more products, equipment and labor than a homeowner does, and a deep-root injection across a mature root zone is equipment and labor rather than a bag from the store. If you would rather do the soil work yourself, either a humic or a fulvic product works as therapy.

What is deep-root fertilization?

Injecting the treatment into the soil in the root zone rather than spreading something on the surface. It is a real technique and we own the equipment for it — what we argue against is the version sold as a subscription, applied because a month elapsed rather than because the tree is doing something that month.

Tree Care in Austin

Q: My tree looks sick — where do I start?

Start below ground. Ninety percent of the time the real problem is not in the canopy, and where good cultural practices — consistent water, no herbicide in the root zone, compost, patience — turn a declining tree around, it happens over one to three years. Then get somebody out to look at it before you spend money on a treatment, because what a tree needs depends on the condition it is in, the time of year, and what the weather year is doing.

Tree care in Austin, for us, is a program of visits timed to what the tree is doing: a fall deep-root feeding, a spring foliar feeding, and — on the full program — a February treatment and a summer one. Two of those four are soil conditioning rather than fertilizer. Nothing on the schedule happens because a month elapsed.

That is the product. What you are actually buying is a little different, and it is worth saying plainly before the details.

What the program actually buys you

Keith, on his own core service:

The main product we have to offer people is a fertilization program. The fertilizer is not the silver bullet — but it is the thing that lets us help them beyond the treatments that are helpful, engages us in their tree, and puts us on their property multiple times a year: to confirm the watering is right, to remind them not to let the lawn guy do weed control in the spring, to assess the irrigation in the hot season and make sure it gets turned up.

Homeowners in this town do not lose trees for lack of information. They lose them because nobody was standing there at the moment the correction mattered — the July irrigation that never got turned up, the March weed-and-feed the lawn service was about to spread. Several visits a year is the mechanism that makes free advice actually get followed, and the treatment and the monitoring are the same visit.

The two programs

Visit	When	What it is
Fall deep-root feeding	Fall	The fertilizer, and the main event of the year
Spring foliar feeding	Typically mid-to-late March, finished by the end of April	Sprayed into new foliage while it can still absorb
Winter / pre-spring	February	Soil conditioning
Summer	When the heat and drought arrive	Soil conditioning

The basic tree care program is the two fertilizations. The full tree care program is all four.

The summer visit does not have a date. It goes on when the heat and drought kick in, which some years is as early as mid-June and some years as late as August, depending on what the rainfall has done. Putting a month on it would be putting a month on the weather.

Two of the four visits are not fertilizer

This is Keith’s own correction to his own vocabulary, and it is worth keeping:

The winter and summer treatments are really both the same thing… deep root injected into the soil. It’s really more of a soil conditioning treatment than it is a fertilizer. Sometimes I’ll call it a fertilizer, but really those are soil conditioning treatments.

So on the full program, half the visits are feeding the tree and half are working on the ground the tree is standing in. The fall application is the fertilizer — a nitrogen fertilizer, put into the soil in the root zone. Where a site has recently been through construction or something else that makes Keith think the soil’s microorganism activity is weak and would benefit from being bolstered, we will bolster it; that is a judgment call on the day, not a standard inclusion. We don’t publish our mixes, and the reason is unromantic — a published formulation is a promise to keep using it, and he would rather stay free to improve it.

Why the spring window closes in May

The spring feeding is sprayed up into the canopy while the new leaves are still emerging and developing. It typically starts mid-to-late March and is done by the end of April. Pecans run to the back of that window and sometimes past it, because they leaf out late.

What ends the window is not the calendar:

At some point in May or June, depending on the tree species, the leaves will develop a waxy cuticle over the surface, at which point it will not be possible for our solution to absorb through the foliage.

The deadline is the leaf. That is also why we do not sell a “spring application” that lands in June — by then the same product is sitting on a waxy surface doing nothing.

We time on the tree’s biorhythm, not on a soil test

Here is the part that separates this from a spray subscription, and it is a genuine departure from the industry standard.

It is industry standard to utilize soil testing as a driver for prescriptive fertilization services. I really don’t use soil testing hardly at all and generally don’t believe that it is the most effective way to drive a tree nutrition program.

The reason is that one test is one snapshot. Soil chemistry here is very dynamic: take a sample in November, after good October rains and after leaf drop has returned organic material to the ground, and the same soil shows better texture and higher nutrient content. Take it in summer after the spring growing season, once the rains have stopped, and it reads as a worse profile with very low nutrient content. Same ground, two answers.

What we work from instead is the tree’s own rhythm. Trees do not grow like turf. Grass is either dormant or growing at a constant rate, which is why you mow it weekly. Trees grow in flushes — a push of new foliage or extension, and then a corresponding push of root growth. In spring the year’s vegetative growth happens and the tree’s energy is split roughly between the new canopy and the roots underneath it, maybe leaning toward the foliage. In late fall and early winter the leaves are coming off and no new growth is being made, and the tree is focused on root development.

Leveraging the tree’s physiological activities in the season allows us to support whatever activity is going on with the tree at that time.

That is the whole timing argument, and it is why the fall feeding is the important one — there is nothing else for the tree to spend it on.

Keith’s own label on this, which we are not going to dress up:

I have found this to be a much better strategy of producing meaningful results and improved tree conditions over time. This is anecdote, obviously, from a practitioner, not science from a scientist. But this is the strategy that I have found that works the best.

The thing we argue against is not regularity — it is regularity that tracks a billing cycle. A calendar-billed program applies product because a month went by. We apply in the fall because that is when a leafless tree is moving resources into roots, and in early spring while a new leaf can still take something in through its surface. Same frequency, entirely different reason, and the reason is the part you are paying for.

Compost, and why we will sometimes start there

Sometimes I’ll recommend the compost application as the starting point and the fertilization as an additional service when needed.

Compost in the root zone, once or twice a year, is an exceptional complement to the programs and one of the best things anyone can do for a tree. These are two separate services, and we offer them together a lot of the time.

The failure we see is not people skipping it. It is people doing a partial version of it:


Area	Out to the drip line — roughly the extent of the branches
Depth	Half an inch to an inch, throughout that area
Over	Turf or mulched beds, either is fine
The hard case	Aggregate or decomposed granite, where we have to look at other options

A wheelbarrow of compost dumped at the base of a live oak is not a compost application. Not nearly enough area, not nearly enough volume.

This is also the clearest place where what a homeowner should do and what we do come apart. On a small tree, this is a genuine weekend job and we would rather you did it than paid us to. On a mature canopy it becomes a question of material and labor, which is where we come in — and if it is the material you want rather than the service, that is mulch and compost, which you can buy on its own, by the load. If the soil itself is the problem — compacted, or a root flare buried under years of grade — that is air-spade work rather than something you fix from the surface. There is more on the mechanics in soil restructuring.

Iron for chlorotic trees

The one other treatment we apply on a schedule is an iron supplement for chlorotic trees — the ones with yellowing leaves. It goes in as a trunk infusion in January or February, while the tree is still dormant and just before bud break.

Keith’s verdict, hedge included, because it is his hedge:

I found this to be really the only effective treatment against chlorosis. Personally.

Read that for what it is: a verdict on the treatments for chlorosis, not on every tree carrying yellow leaves. Yellowing is a symptom with several causes behind it, and the symptom does not carry the diagnosis — whether chlorosis is the read here is a call somebody makes standing in front of your tree, on that site, which is why nothing gets quoted before the walk. The window is narrow as well: dormant, just before bud break. A tree we read as chlorotic in June is a January job, not something we add mid-season.

Naming the deficiency is naming the service — what it is correcting, and when it has to happen.

What we are watching for while we are on the property

The visits are also inspections, and this is the list that actually decides how trees do here.

Irrigation, and specifically changes to it. Abrupt change is the worst thing that happens to established trees. One version is almost invisible: somebody buys a house in the summer, which is when people move, and turns the irrigation system off, and a tree that has been watered for years suddenly is not. That is a real killer, and it is one reason hypoxylon canker keeps recurring here — the disease associated with heat and drought stress, which we get every summer in Texas, and probably the most destructive disease that is really prevalent in live oaks. It is an acute problem for people not actively or correctly managing irrigation.

Weed-and-feed and other broadcast herbicides. Our single best piece of advice costs nothing and we sell none of it. A tree is basically just a very large weed, and broadleaf herbicide does not know the difference between your dandelions and your live oak. Keith’s position is graded rather than absolute: “Spot treating weeds away from the tree is probably the safest version of chemical weed control that you can use, but the best solution is just to avoid it altogether if you can.” Best is not using it; next best is spot-treating, away from the tree; worst is broadcasting it across the lawn, which is exactly what weed-and-feed is. More on what it does and how a tree presents afterward: herbicide damage from weed-and-feed.

Foliar problems, mostly to tell you not to worry about them. Rust, powdery mildew and anthracnose turn up, though we do not see much foliar disease in live oaks. They are more associated with the condition of the plant than they are a cause of anything: as long as you keep it healthy, it tolerates those just fine. The same goes for the half-dozen varieties of caterpillars that come out in spring and eat live oak leaves — the little green ones hanging from strings are prolific, and in a bad year the number of worms hanging in your yard is genuinely alarming, but most of the time that is a cosmetic problem rather than a health problem. Recurring caterpillar defoliation is a different conversation, and that one we do treat.

Ball moss, if you have it, mostly leaves with the deadwood. You do not buy ball moss removal; you buy pruning and most of it comes out along the way. Details in is ball moss killing my tree.

And summer heat, which in a drought year does more visible damage than anything on this list — a thinner canopy, scorched leaf margins, early leaf drop. See how summer heat stress affects your trees.

What a program can and cannot do

Ninety percent of the time the real problem is below ground rather than in the canopy, and where good cultural practices turn a declining tree around, it happens over one to three years. That is the honest shape of this work: slow, cumulative, mostly boring. Trees decline by accumulation — construction, then the irrigation gets turned off, then the weed control goes down — and they recover the same way, by subtracting stressors one at a time until the tree’s own defenses get back ahead.

What we will not give you is a number for how much damage is survivable, or one treatment that fixes it. Those are not real:

You’ve got to abandon the concept of telling people, this is exactly how much you can do before it’s a problem. And this is the exact one thing you have to do to save the tree. Those concepts do not exist. They will be wrong and right every time depending on that person’s specific situation.

What it does depend on, he will tell you: the condition the tree is in, the time of year you are standing there looking at it, and what the weather year is doing. And that last one cuts in our favor and against us in equal measure —

If a tree is marginally damaged, and it is a great weather year with favorable temperatures and good rain, it might fight the fight by itself and need no help. In the opposite circumstance where it’s droughty and hot, it may need a lot of help.

The tree is the one doing the fighting. A treatment is help offered to a fight already in progress, not a switch that decides the outcome, and any company telling you otherwise is selling you a certainty nobody has.

Getting started

Ask for an estimate and an arborist comes out and walks the property. What you get back is two documents: a written site inspection and work plan — a description of the work, photos of the trees, usually a marked-up map showing which parts of the property we are working, which need attention later, and which trees we are not treating — and a separate proposal with the pricing on it. Both go to you. It is a scoping document that we share, not a formal arborist report, and it is not something to file with the city; if you need that, start at consulting.

If the property is about to be built on or has just come out of construction, start at construction site services instead — post-construction care is a different problem from routine care, and the difference matters. And if you are putting new trees in, start at planting.

Austin Tree Experts is owned and run by an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist (#TX-0985B), in the trade since 1993.

Call us today: (512) 996-9100

Request a Free Estimate

Mulching & Composting — mulch or compost by the load, with or without the spreading
Air-Spade Services — compaction, buried root flares, girdling roots
Tree Pruning — deadwood, clearance, and where ball moss actually goes
Oak Wilt — diagnosis and treatment; afterward the tree needs the program on this page
Construction Site Services — protection during the build and care after it
Arborist Consulting — assessments, reports and appraisals

From the Blog

Talk to an arborist

Request an estimate (512) 996-9100

4.3of 5 from 29 Google reviews

Paul

July 2026

5.0of 5

It has been a pleasure having Keith and his staff at Austin Tree Experts care for my trees over the last decade. Their service goes beyond what the customer pays to receive by often recommending tree care the home owner can preform themselves at no cost. I recommend Austin Tree Experts for anyone who values the tree canopy on their property.

Danny

This is the 2nd or 3rd time I’ve used Austin Tree Experts. I continue to use them based on the reasonable pricing and respect of your property. They came out and talked with me about the best strategy to deal with my situation each time I’ve used them. They have no other agenda other than making sure you are satisfied with their work. Every time I’ve used them they leave my property completely clean with no trace of branches, etc.