Tree pruning advices: Do you want to keep your trees healthy? Proper tree care begins with selecting the right tree and planting it in the right place. Make sure your tree will thrive — especially once fully grown — where you want to plant it. Things to consider include: The tree’s purpose. Are you planting it for aesthetics, privacy, shade/energy reduction, windbreak, or as a street tree? Your end goal will determine the suitability of different trees. Planting site limitations. What is your hardiness zone? What is the maximum height and spread for a tree in the space? What are the sun exposure and soil conditions? This information is available for more than 200 trees and woody shrubs in our Tree Guide.

First we will suggest some tips on tree care and after that we will introduce Tree Artisans, a tree services company in Colorado Springs. To direct the growth by slowing the branches you don’t want, or to “dwarf” the development of a tree or branch, pruning should be done soon after seasonal growth is complete. Another reason to prune in the summer is for corrective purposes. Defective limbs can be seen more easily. For trees that bloom in spring, prune when their flowers fade. Trees and shrubs that flower in mid- to late summer should be pruned in winter or early spring. Because decay fungi spread their spores profusely in the fall and wounds seem to heal more slowly on fall on cuts, this is a good time to leave your pruning tools in storage.

External damages: External injuries inflicted on a tree by mechanical or natural means can be a huge threat to its health. You may accidentally end up ramming a lawnmower into the bark or damage it with a string trimmer, small fauna like rabbits can nibble away at the bark, or severe storms may sever limbs. All of these things can threaten the tree’s health, which in turn affects the water and nutrient uptake of the tree. You can guard against landscaping and rodent damages by wrapping the tree with protective materials like Jobe’s Tree Wrap. These are some of the most common threats to your trees that unexpectedly cut their lives short. Some are natural, while others are human, but you can always try and do your best to take care of them all.

Tree staking is never done with the intention of harming a tree. Staking is usually done with love and with a desire to promote root and trunk growth and protect a young tree from harm. What some tree planters do not understand is, rather than helping a tree develop root and trunk growth, improper tree staking replaces a supportive trunk and root system with an artificial support that causes the tree to put its resources into growing taller but not growing wider. As such, some of the best trees to plant in Colorado are evergreens. However, the larger ones, such as blue spruce and the various pine and fir types are not suitable to be used as street trees; on the other hand, smaller evergreens like Piñon (Pinus edulis), Hawthorn species (Crataegus spp.) or Bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) are. Small ornamental trees are also successfully used for landscaping. Canada red cherry and Mayday tree with their white flowers, Canyon maple (which is a Rocky Mountain native), Ginkgo biloba, American linden and Sycamore trees are only a few examples. Find more info at this website.

Looking for the best picks if you want to cut down the tree maintenance costs? Start with picking the right trees for Colorado! Russian Hawthorns are one of the most drought-tolerant trees on our list. Again, establishing these trees with two seasons of normal watering will get their root systems healthy and strong enough to withstand dry conditions. Susan highly recommends Russian Hawthorn. It was the first tree she nominated for our list! Russian Hawthorns mature at 15 to 20 feet tall and wide with an upright oval form and slightly spreading lower branches. These hawthorns have beautiful, finely-cut, dark green leaves, turning yellow in the fall. The white flowers emerge in clusters in late spring. They mature into richly-colored dark red berries late in the season.

Some common tree pests found in late spring and summer include borers, mites, scales, and beetles. They can cause wilting, canopy thinning, premature leaf drop, and branch dieback. Many of these insects feed on various types of deciduous and evergreen species. Treatments – including the release of beneficial insects – can suppress the impact of damaging pests. Examples of natural predators to these pests include lady beetles, green lacewings, trichogramma wasps, and predaceous mites.