Trained arborist will help enhance property
The gardening season is all but finished.
We are cleaning up and putting things away for the season, winterizing our irrigation system and plants. The deciduous trees and shrubs have gone dormant for the winter, which makes this an excellent time to prune them.
Smaller jobs are no problem for the educated gardener, but for larger jobs, especially on tall trees, there are compelling reasons to hire a professional.
If someone showed up at your door wanting to work on your plumbing or your car, would you hire them?
Unfortunately, when it comes to trees, the answer is often yes, and the results are often unsatisfactory.
The right arborist will protect the health of your landscape, which safeguards the investment you have made in your property. Healthy trees actually increase the selling price of homes on the market, while poorly maintained ones can become legal liabilities.
Large pruning jobs, and tree removals, can be very dangerous, so why risk your safety, or damage to your home? An arborist may be more expensive than doing it yourself, but they cost a lot less than a trip to the emergency room.
In addition to doing pruning and removals, a trained arborist can recommend the right types of trees for your landscape, diagnose problems, help you establish a plant health care regimen or determine whether you need to fertilize your trees and shrubs.
Hiring an arborist may seem daunting, but there is no need for concern if you spend a little time getting the facts. Find out if your prospective arborist is certified, usually by the International Society of Arboriculture.
Ask if he or she is a member of any professional organizations. Ask for references, and then check them out.
For large jobs, make sure they have insurance to cover personal injury and property damage.
It never hurts to get more than one estimate for a job. Find out if you are paying an hourly rate, and what it is, or if they will give you a bid for the whole job.
When will the work start and end? Who is responsible for cleanup?
If you don’t get the answers you want to these questions, keep looking until you find the person for you. Spend a little time now to hire the right professional, and you will be much happier with the results.
This week in the garden
• Weeding one last time will not only leave your landscape looking better, it will remove places for diseases and insects to survive over winter. Mowing your lawn one last time will also reduce the possibility of diseases like snow mold hitting your turf.
• Keep watering as long as possible. The more water in the soil, the better it is for plants. This is especially true for broadleaf evergreens, like rhododendrons, Oregon grape and holly.
They continue to lose water over the winter, so load them up now.
• Add organic matter, like compost, peat moss or manure, to flower beds now, so it can break down and work in over the winter. This will improve soil conditions for your garden next year.
Save some of that organic matter to use as mulch in shrub beds.
Once the soil is cool and plants are dormant, two inches of mulch can hold in moisture, prevent frost from heaving roots out of the ground and moderate soil temperature. Just be sure not to cover the crowns of perennials you may have cut down, as this may cause them to rot.
• Pests don’t want to be outside in winter any more than most of us, so pest-proof your house. Install door sweeps to outside doors to decrease heat loss from your home, and prevent unwanted guests from sneaking inside.
Caulk around openings found near outside faucets, dryer vents, gas and water meters and any other holes. Put mesh over outside entries to the attic or crawl spaces.
• Finally, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done this year in the garden.
You’ve earned it.