Janet McKay's picture
Posted by Janet McKay / September 23, 2011
Maple leaf in the fall
It's the first day of fall and our first day of planting, so I wanted to take an opportunity to share some tips on caring for your trees. As the leaves turn to a beautiful display of colour overhead, let's all work together to keep our urban forest healthy.

 

Keep watering your trees until the ground freezes

Most urban trees suffer from drought. This stress weakens a tree’s ability to withstand winter conditions. Fall watering is especially important for evergreens, which continue to lose water through the winter months. Water your tree by placing a hose at the base of the tree on a slow drip for approximately 15 minutes, once to twice a week. For mature trees, a soaker hose can be used and spread on the ground out as far as the trees branches reach.

 

Replace the mulch around the base of your trees

 

A layer of organic mulch, such as woodchips, helps to moderate temperature fluctuations and moisture loss around roots.  Mulch gradually decomposes, adding organic matter to the soil, and should be replenished in fall before the ground freezes. Spread mulch 3 to 4 inches thick in a doughnut shape around your tree. Ensure that mulch is not piled up around the trunk, as this may cause rotting of the bark.

 

Proper Mulching

 

Leave your leaves where they fall

Leaves are a tree’s natural fertilizer.  When fallen leaves decompose, they contribute nutrients and organic matter back to the soil. An exception should be made for leaves that are diseased. Many diseases, such as powdery mildew, can over winter in fallen leaves and may infest your tree again the following year.  Diseased leaves should be removed from the yard.

 

Do not apply salt near trees in winter

Salt applied to driveways, walkways, and other areas in winter eventually migrates down into the surrounding soil.  This can cause serious damage to trees, even those located several meters away.  Try applying sand as an alternative.

 

Pruning can be done after the tree goes dormant 

Corrective pruning – the removal of diseased, crossing, or damaged branches – can be done on most tree species during winter months. Be sure to research proper pruning methods and timing, as mistakes can have serious tree health implications and visit Trees Are Good for excellent resources.  You should contact a professional for pruning work on larger trees.  A certified arborist with proper equipment and insurance should do any work that is “off the ground” or involves branches larger than 5cm in diameter.  To locate an Arborist in your area, contact the International Society of Arboriculture or call 1-888-463-2316.

 

 

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Comments

Submitted by Robert (not verified) on October 24, 2012.
Great to see information about Winter tree maintenance. I would suggest a few corrections: 1) Watering with a slow drip for 15 minutes is not nearly enough.Firstly - what is slow drip?? This amount of water would barely make the top inch wet. You want to water so that the whole root system is wet down to several inches (say 6"). If it is a new tree, then the whole root ball should be wet after watering. The amnount of water time should not be recommended - soil and clay soils need different watering times. it also depends on weather. For example, the last 3 weeks have been quite wet here and trees don't need watering. It is better to water when needed rather than follow a recipe. If the soil dies out - water. If it is wet - don't. 2) The information under the section titled "Replace the mulch around the base of your trees " is correct, but the title is misleading. There is NO good reason to "replace" the mulch. You should just add more if the original application has degraded to the point that it is no longer covering the soil. Four inches of mulch is at the high end of what you want. Too much mulch starves the roots of air. 3) Re: Rob's question above. Your thinking is spot on. The degrading mulch feeds the soil and the tree. 4) Leaves with leaf tar spot can be home composted. The fungus is everywhere and it will be back next year even if you remove the leaves from your property. Might as well get some value out of the leaves. Vanessa - the tree you probably have is a Norway maple - a tree that should not be planted. This species is very suseptable to tar spots. If you do have a Norway Maple and it gets too big, it is not a bad idea to replace it with a better tree - almost any tree would be better. Robert Pavlis, Author of GardenMyths.com, Owner of Aspen Grove Garden, Master Gardener
Submitted by Rob (not verified) on October 24, 2012.
I was thinking of applying some organic compost over the old mulch around my tree and then applying new mulch on top of that. My thinking was that the nutrients in the compost would eventually reach the roots of the tree. Is this a good idea or is there a reason it shouldn't be done? Thanks!
Submitted by Jessica Piskorowski on October 30, 2012.
Hey Rob, adding compost to your mulch is a great idea and something we definitely encourage at LEAF! Mulch should be spread 8-10cm deep, so as long as the mulch/compost combination stays within that depth range your tree should benefit from the added nutrients. And remember to ensure the mulch is not piled up or touching the trunk base - resembling more of a doughnut shape vs. a volcano shape.
Submitted by Vanessa Barnes (not verified) on October 24, 2012.
Hi There Thank you for all the tree tips for winter, I planted a new evergreen this year and was not aware that extra watering was so important. I do have a question about a large old maple at the front of the house, the leaves have black spots about the size of a quarter, should these leaves be composted of not?
Submitted by Janet McKay on October 24, 2012.
Thanks for your question Vanessa! What you've described is leaf tar spot – a fungus which is not harmful, but unsightly. You can send them to the city compost (because the temperatures are high enough to kill the fungus) but I would not recommend composting them at home in your yard.

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