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4 Stressors That Are Killing Your Tree

Resources: Tree Maintenance, Tree Problems

As homeowners, we do our best to take care of our investment and the place we call home. But a lot of the times we don’t recognize the deadly situations that are hiding throughout our landscape, slowly killing our trees. The first step in fixing these problems is recognizing the stressors that create them.

Tree stressors are environmental or human inflicted situations that increase the tree’s susceptibility to attack and lead to decline in vigor; similar to how our immune system lowers when we don’t get much sleep, thus we end up catching a cold. These silent stressors take a toll on the tree year after year until the tree gets infected by a secondary invader or starts to see serious signs of dieback and overall health decline. At this point, the tree is on its last leg and unless you intervene, will most likely continue to decline until it finally succumbs to these fatal stressors and invaders.

It is important to be proactive and identify stressors early before they do significant damage to your trees and shrubs.  Tree stressors most likely present in your landscape right now include:

4. Construction5377196-THUMB

If you have had your house renovated, a driveway installed, or your underground plumbing repaired chances are your tree’s roots have felt the effects of this construction.  A tree’s root system can extend up to 3 times greater than the height of the tree. When you do any construction within this root zone you risk injuring your tree’s roots and inhibiting their ability to absorb, store, and transfer necessary water and nutrients for survival. It is important to create a tree preservation plan when you are preparing to start any construction that might interfere with your tree’s root zone.

Little gardener3. Extreme Weather

Our area has been experiencing some very cold and wet winters and well as dry and hot summers. This particular summer has been especially rainy. Extreme weather like this leads to flooding and drought which both have adverse effects on the tree’s growth process. To combat drought you can make sure your tree gets enough water by following our watering tips. During periods of rainy weather, you should make sure your soil is draining properly and prune shrubs/trees to promote airflow and let in sunlight. Doing this will help keep fungal diseases away. Even so, your trees/shrubs may need help to combat extreme weather. This is when a Canopy Protection Program comes into play.

DIY Tree Treatments2. DIY Treatments

At every home improvement store, you will find an aisle of dangerous chemicals ready for you to buy and “cure” your tree with. Unfortunately, these chemicals often don’t solve the problem and can make matters worse. The majority of the time these chemicals are incorrectly applied or applied at the wrong time of year by homeowners. When this occurs you risk poisoning your tree, killing surrounding plants and beneficial insects, human health complications from exposure, and poisoning your water supply.  This overload of unnecessary & incorrect chemicals disrupts the tree’s ecosystem putting undue stress on your trees and can lead to extreme decline.

Soil compaction1. Soil Compaction

Recent research shows that 80% of urban tree decline can be attributed to soil compaction. This is one of the biggest stressors hiding silently in your yard. In a tree’s natural habitat, forests, the top 6 inches of soil is 50% oxygen. However, average urban soil has only 10% which can lead to needless stress and early mortality for trees. This silent killer can be caused by frequent traffic (foot or equipment) and other ecological disturbances. This stressor can be fought by regular de-compaction processes such as aeration or vertical mulching.

Unfortunately, trees are not great about communicating their health to us which is why it takes an experienced eye to spot early signs of health issues. Canopy Protection Program Members can rest assured our technicians are regularly on your property monitoring and treating the stressors affecting your trees and shrubs.

Need Help With Tree Stressors?

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Google Reviews

Grey Burkhart
Grey Burkhart
March 29, 2022.
Verified
Very professional review of our requirements and an accurate estimate. Showed up on time and were finished quickly. Cleaned up all of the debris and sawdust. Great job all around.
Dennis Bruns
Dennis Bruns
March 8, 2022.
Verified
We have used RTEC Treecare for several years. They do excellent work. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable and take great care in explaining the various options available for your particular situation. I highly recommend them.
Annette Iannucci
Annette Iannucci
February 23, 2022.
Verified
We have been using RTEC for years and were very pleased with the recent tree maintenance work they did for us. As always, we got good advice from their arborist Ben,. The crew that did the work is highly skilled, and they did a great job trimming our trees. They worked safely and efficiently, in addition to leaving the yard clean after they finished the work.
Susan Crawford
Susan Crawford
January 26, 2022.
Verified
RTEC was at my house today to removed a large Magnolia that was badly damaged by the recent snow. They did a fantastic job at a very reasonable price. They arrived right on time, worked efficiently and quickly and cleaned up so well it was hard to tell anything have been disturbed. Over the past several years, I have used RTEC for all the services I checked above, and have always been very pleased with their service and professionalism. I also appreciate that they are not eager to take down trees that don't need to come down. In this case, the damage was too extensive for the tree to recover.
Kenton Morgan
Kenton Morgan
January 20, 2022.
Verified
Once again, RTEC has done a great job. The team showed up right on time and performed all the work that we agreed to. They kept us informed as to progress, coordinated with us concerning our maple, and made recommendations concerning ongoing support for our trees. At the end of the day, they thoroughly cleaned up the debris and left our yard in pristine condition. WELL DONE.
Jean Kluttz
Jean Kluttz
January 3, 2022.
Verified
Not our first time but this time was tricky removal of a large dead tree leaning on a healthy tree. Quick response for estimate, good timing to removal, all clear and healthy tree still fine.
Jerry Haggin
Jerry Haggin
December 16, 2021.
Verified
Very good work while ensuring that I was aware of status of my work order and planned completion.
Mike Iger
Mike Iger
December 16, 2021.
Verified
David Roberts
David Roberts
December 15, 2021.
Verified
We’ve used RTEC for many years for tree maintenance and can’t say enough good things about their service. We use them for tree trimming and for regular treatments to maintain our trees’ health and deal with pests and prevent disease. Their arborist Ben has been especially helpful with advice. RTEC also been especially helpful in emergency situations, once coming to cable a massive, heritage oak in our yard right before a hurricane was about to hit. Highly recommend.
Travis Larson
Travis Larson
December 10, 2021.
Verified
RTEC did an excellent job onsite of removing dead branches from our 80+ year old trees, and trimming other growth too close to our home.
Google rating score: 4.8 of 5, based on 185 reviews.

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