Are You Caring for Your Roots?

The health of your trees involves more than meets the eye. If you have any trees on your property, you should know that their roots are their foundation. Although they are buried underground and out of sight, roots offer both structural and nutritional support to a tree. In fact, without healthy and strong roots, a tree would not survive.

Why Care for Tree Roots?

Beyond their obvious benefits, tree roots also offer some other advantages to your trees and landscape. Taking care of your tree roots can accomplish the following:

#1 Help Prevent Erosion and Storm Damage
Tree roots aren’t buried as deep as you may think. In fact, most tree roots lie in the top layer of the soil. This means that they can help hold the surface levels of your soil together during heavy rain as well as anchor the tree during a windy storm to prevent it from falling.

#2 Save the Life of Mature or Expensive Trees
There are many root problems that can be fatal to a tree, including root rot and girdling roots. Trees are expensive and take years to grow to full size, so don’t dismiss the importance of keeping the roots healthy all year round.

How to Care for Tree Roots

Keep in mind that your approach for tree root care should be proactive. In many cases, the outward symptoms of root problems are delayed and you may not notice the signs (wilting or leaf drop) until the tree is too compromised.

Here are some tips to help you protect the health and condition of your tree roots on your property:

• Don’t mulch the tree too deeply (depriving roots of oxygen)
• Don’t cultivate to close to the tree (physically damaging shallow roots)
• Don’t surround the tree with grass (too much competition with tree roots for water)
• Do water your tree deeply rather than shallowly
• Do consider deep root fertilization
• Do let an expert inspect your trees from top to bottom

If you need a professional to help maintain, diagnose or treat your tree’s root system – call Mobile Joe’s Landscaping. We are here to take care of all aspects of your landscaping, including the important parts below ground!