If you have a tree in your yard that doesn't look healthy, call a tree care service to check your tree before it dies or gets so sick it becomes a hazard. Trees can sometimes get sick when they're old and weak. They might also get infested with insects or catch a disease.
When a tree is sick, it usually displays symptoms that show it isn't healthy and lush. Leaves might die, small branches might fall, and the trunk might develop holes or loose bark. Here are some things a tree care service might do when your tree looks sick.
Apply Treatments
A tree can be treated for infections and infestations. The tree care service might do this by pouring insecticide around the base of the tree. The arborist might also spray the tree, use a tree band, or inject the tree with insecticide. Your tree might need multiple treatments, and the tree care service may want to monitor the tree to ensure it's healing and not getting worse.
Prune Away Infected Branches
If the entire tree isn't affected, the tree care service might just cut away the branches that are diseased or infested. The arborist has to be very careful not to spread the disease when doing this since it's easy to spread bugs or fungal infections to other parts of the tree or to nearby trees.
The arborist also has to make sure they don't trim away too much of the tree since that can be bad for the tree's health. They may need to cut away some of the bad parts of the tree being careful not to make the tree unbalanced, and then treat the rest of the tree with insecticides or antifungal medication.
Remove The Tree
Taking out the tree will probably be a last resort option, but if the tree is sick and not getting better, it may be best to remove it so you don't have to worry about the tree falling on your house or on your neighbor's property. Also, removing the tree before it gets too sick is better than waiting too long since cutting down a weak tree can be dangerous.
When the tree is gone, you'll need to decide if you want the stump removed too. If the stump is clearly visible in your yard, you may want it gone right away. However, if the stump doesn't bother you, you may want to save money and leave the stump until you can afford to remove it later. A tree care service can help you decide if the tree needs to be removed and if the stump should go too.
After thinking about how to keep some of the flowers in my yard alive, it occurred to me that we had some real problems on our hands. For starters, we had a bunch of overgrown trees that needed to be dealt with. The second thing we had to take care of was the fact that we were really behind on basic yard care. I started talking with friends and neighbors about what they did to make things better, and they recommended a local tree service company. After they came out and made some changes, my yard was gorgeous. Learn more about tree care on my blog.