All the work done throughout the year to keep the trees on your commercial property healthy and thriving can be for nothing if your trees are not properly cared for during a drought. California has been engulfed in an unrelenting and unprecedented drought for some time, and it does not appear that relief is coming anytime soon.
With that in mind, area businesses need to ensure that their landscaping needs are properly taken care of, or the curb appeal of their property could take a massive hit. Trees are one of the most eye-catching features on most commercial properties, so making sure that they are well-cared for during a drought should be a top priority.
Tips for Caring for Trees During a Drought
On the outside, trees can appear to be the biggest, toughest part of your landscaping. However, on the inside, they are just as vulnerable as the rest of your property’s landscape to the devastating impact of drought conditions. Fortunately, there are ways to ensure that your trees are well-maintained during a drought. Here are a few tips for caring for trees during a drought:
- Know the signs of drought distress – Drought conditions generally don’t instantly kill trees. Instead, they weaken trees, allowing pests and diseases to take the trees down. Signs that drought conditions are hurting your trees usually show up via the tree’s leaves or needles. The leaves or needles on a tree will often turn yellow, brown, purple, or red, show signs of scorching, develop brown edges, begin browning between the veins, curl, or wilt when drought conditions are impacting the tree.
- Don’t forget to water past the drip line – With the exception of pines, oaks, and a few other types of trees, most trees don’t have tap roots. So, watering a tree directly often doesn’t provide the tree with the moisture it needs. Instead, a tree’s roots generally grow well beyond its canopy (usually 1.5 to 4 times or more beyond its canopy). Therefore, it is best to water a tree beyond its drip line, which is usually just outside its canopy.
- Continue regularly pruning – It’s important to keep a tree well-pruned, especially during drier weather. Removing broken, disease-ridden, or dead branches can allow the rest of the tree to thrive.
- Easy with the fertilizer – When there is not enough water, a tree’s roots are more sensitive to the salts in fertilizer, which can result in root burn.
- Make sure to mulch – Layering organic mulch, such as wood chips, evergreen needles, and bark mulch, around trees can help the trees retain moisture between watering.
- Water deep – In many cases, most of a tree’s roots are in the top 12 to 18 inches of the soil. When you water your trees, use a soil probe to ensure that when you are watering, the moisture is reaching 12 to 18 inches down in the soil.
Landscaping, Drought Defense, and Tree Care Experts You Can Rely On
For over 50 years, Stay Green has been providing high-quality commercial landscaping services to businesses throughout Southern California. Our team is knowledgeable, skilled, professional, experienced, and highly trained. Plus, Stay Green was one of the first landscaping businesses in the area to embrace environmentally friendly landscaping practices.
Those environmentally friendly practices extend to our tree care services, which include:
- Annual tree care and management plans
- Tree pruning
- Cabling and bracing
- Tree and stump removal
- Tree health assessments
- Pest control
- Tree feeding and fertilization
- Tree hazard evaluations
- Drought defense
Whether you’re looking for help defending your trees and the rest of your landscaping from drought conditions or searching for help to turn your visions for your property’s landscaping into a reality, look no further than Stay Green. We are ready to provide you with landscaping design, plant health care, and landscaping maintenance services that can help you bring your landscaping dreams to life and ensure your commercial property’s landscaping continues to thrive even when your area’s climate and weather aren’t cooperating.
To learn more about how we can help you with your tree care and drought defense, give us a call at (800) 741-9150 or reach out to us online for a complimentary estimate.