Year: 2018

In the United States, lawns cover approximately 63,000 square miles of the country – roughly the size of the state of Texas. And one of the most beautiful decorations for a lawn has always been the tree.

Healthy shade trees and flowering trees are known to add beauty and value to America’s lawns. But caring for these giant plants can be a bit difficult for a novice. Knowing how to prune a tree properly can take your backyard or curb appeal up a notch, and helps to keep your acreage healthy.

Pruning is the simplest way to keep your trees vibrant while also keeping their growths controlled.

It’s a lot like trimming split ends on your hair – sloughing off what’s unnecessary means a more beautiful and lively tree!

Why You Should Prune

Trees can become unruly, which could jeopardize the health of the plants or grass below. Additionally, thunderstorms or other extreme weather conditions could impede the growth of new branches by damaging old ones.

It’s necessary to remove sick or damaged branches to give your trees a chance for fresh growth. Winter and autumn pruning and tree trimming are fantastic times to prepare the way for spring! If you don’t know how to do it yourself, a local tree trimming service should help.

Air circulation is another reason to prune your tree branches. Thinning the crown – the top, thick part of your tree – can improve its health and allow it more air flow to respirate. (Yes, trees respirate!)

Last but not least, you can shape a tree into your favorite lawn design with tree trimming or pruning. Topiaries are shaped trees that are popular in gardens the world over. If you love pruning and natural art – you could create your own masterpiece by pruning.

How to Prune a Tree

Beginning lawnscapers might prefer to hire a tree trimming service to prune their arboreal beauties. But if you want to learn how to prune your own trees, all you have to do is try!

You will need a well-kept pair of pruning shears for your project, and protective gloves for gardening are also highly encouraged.

The key to pruning a tree is cutting a wedge shape into the branch you wish to discard. Make sure you’re only removing unhealthy or unwanted sections of the tree. It’s important to preserve as much healthy growth as possible, as it makes for happy trees and a beautiful lawn.

One thing to remember: your wedge shape cut should always be on the branch side of your tree – not on the stem or trunk. Think of it like giving the tree a haircut. You’ll want to cut the hair, not cut into the scalp.

It takes practice to learn the wedge-cutting technique but learning how to prune a tree really is that simple.

Learn More about Lawn Care

Now that you know how to prune a tree, we hope you’ll choose to learn more from East Coast Sprayers about weeding and other lawncare tips.

For lawn care needs you can’t DIY, we look forward to hearing from you!

Each year, people spend almost $500 million collectively on tree care.

Clearly, tree care services are in serious demand. “But”, I hear you proclaim, “looking after my trees and shrubs isn’t so hard.” Although looking after your plants doesn’t seem that tough, there is actually a lot more involved than you would imagine. Tree care specialists can be a real lifesaver.

Read on for why you should consider a tree care service.

1. Specialized Care

Different tree and shrub varieties have different maintenance requirements. Proper technique and knowledge can only come after years of experience. If you don’t know what you’re doing it is easy to do more harm than good.

A specialist will know which trees are best pruned after blooming or in the late winter, for example. They will know which trees need to be cut back slowly and which need more vigorous trimming.

This expertise will meet your trees and shrubs’ specialized needs. This will allow your trees and shrubs to grow stronger and more beautiful.

2. Valuable Advice

Care requirements vary depending on the species and type of tree as well as the quality of soil in your area and amount of rainfall. Once a professional sees your plants and their growing conditions, they can tailor expert advice to best care for them individually. For example, they can recommend one fertilizer for one tree, and a different one for another. Or, they may recommend mulching for some trees but not others.

If you are having issues with one tree in particular or a group, you can discuss this and get personalized advice.

3. Spotting Disease

Various diseases can take over your plants if not caught and treated early. To the average eye, early signs like little cankers, or spots under leaves, may go unnoticed.

Professionals are trained to identify these early signs. They can tell the difference between serious and minor diseases from the early stages. Your arborist can correctly diagnose your tree so thalife-saving treatment can take place.

4. Equipment

Your tree care provider will have the right tools for any job, whether that is removing a damaged limb or performing a basic trim. Having the right tools mean there is less risk of damage to your plants and property.

Professional tools are expensive. Incremental borers can be over $200 alone! As they have the own equipment, hiring a specialist can save you money in the long run. You don’t need to worry about buying and storing your own.

5. Safety

Tree surgery comes with its dangers, especially when trimming down large limbs. It can also be difficult to identify problem trees and how to deal with them if you don’t know what to look for.

Certified arborists have trained in safety techniques to reduce risk. Their equipment includes items like harnesses to allow safe access to taller branches with no ladder access.

Find Reputable Tree Care Today

As you can see, a tree care service brings some real benefits.

Whether they are providing tips on how to best look after your plants, tackling issues the right way or even just bringing their own equipment, a tree care service is always worth it.

If you are looking for a tree care service, then contact us at East Coast Sprayers. We have been looking after landscapes for over 35 years and would be happy to design a tree and shrub care program catered to your needs.

Pets are amazing additions to the family, especially dogs. It’s fun to watch them frolic around in the grass playing with their favorite toy.

But did you know letting a dog use the yard as a potty could wreak havoc on your lawn? It’s true. Those brown spots on your once beautiful, green grass are from doggie urine.

Dog urination burns grass. It’s loaded with nitrogen, which when it’s too high can affect the health of your grass.

Other factors matter as well, like the pH levels in the dog’s urine. A normal pH for a dog’s excretion is between 6.6 and 7.0.

Anything outside of this range means the pH in the urine is acidic, which will burn the grass. But you can get all this under control and protect the health of your grass.

If your dog or neighborhood dogs are doing a number on your grass, don’t fret. It’s not the end for your yard. Here are a few ways on how to prevent pet urine from killing grass.

How to Prevent Pet Urine from Killing Grass

You’ve probably given up all hope that your grass is going to grow back. It’s rained a hundred times and gotten plenty of sunshine, but those brown spots won’t grow away.

You can manage this problem with plenty of water, the right fertilizer, and adding training.

Fertilize Right

Three compounds make up fertilizer: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium–nitrogen being the key ingredient. Too much of it will damage your lawn.

Applying excessive fertilizer to your grass increases the nitrogen and salt levels. Add dog urine–which contains concentrated nitrogen–and you have the perfect recipe to kill grass.

Cut back on applying fertilizer in areas where your dog urinates. Or forgo fertilizing on your own. Contact a professional to have a professional grade of fertilizer applied to your grass.

The right amount of fertilizer helps your grass stay green and healthy.

Rinse with Water

Dogs relieve themselves without warning sometimes. One minute they’re playing and the next they’re going on the grass.

Add a spray nozzle to the end of your hose. Use it to spray the spots where your dog urinates. Diluting the urine puddles with water reduces the amount of nitrogen the lawn absorbs.

If additional water usage worries you, let your dog roam the yard a half hour before the sprinklers come on. That way, if he or she urines, the water from the sprinklers will dilute the urine.

Additional Training

Designate a potty area in the yard, then train your dog to go in that area only.

Keep the area free of debris and teach the dog to go on command. When you let him out, take him to that one spot and don’t let home leave until he relieves himself.

Use a non-toxic pheromone pee post. The smell from the stake will attract your dog and encourage him to eliminate in that spot only. Remember to reward him.

Lawn Repair Treatment

When all else fails, apply a lawn repair treatment that’s safe for dogs. Most pet-safe treatments contain organic enzymes that absorb nitrogen in dog urine.

Lawn repair treatments stop lawn burn and begin to repair the grass.

Keep your Lawn Healthy

These tips on how to prevent pet urine from killing grass are practical ways for keeping your grass healthy.

Consider them and others, but always enlist the help of a professional if you’re ever unsure.

Contact us today or take a look at some of the services we offer for more ways to get your yard looking great again.