If you have recently planted a tree with in the past three years then there are certain things that need to be done in order to make sure that the tree can reach its full potential. If not properly maintained and taken care of, trees can often succumb to disease and death because of pests and lack of water and food. Here are a few things that you should do in order to ensure tree care. Should you opt to use tree services then this is what they will do, otherwise this is what you do.

Watering
Make sure that your tree is getting at least 25 gallons of water a week. This is about equal to an inch and a half of rainfall. However, do you want to make sure that you are preventing wasteful run off as well. You can do this by turning on the hose to low and letting it rest at the base of the tree for half an hour. You could also water the tree by putting holes in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and leaving it at the base of the tree. Fill up the bucket five days a week. You can get the same effect by adding a 25 gallon watering bag that slowly releases throughout the week so you just have to fill it up once.

Mulching
You should mulch each season so that the soil stays moist. This will also help to naturally control weeds. Always use shredded bark or leaf compost as opposed to volcano mulching. This is better for your trees as well as for the environment. Mulching is made easy with the three rule. This means that there should be 3 inches of mulch within a 3 foot ring around the tree no more than 3 inches from the tree trunk.

Fencing
You should never allow weed whackers or lawnmowers to come near your trees. The way that you can keep these things away from your trees is to install a trunk guard at the base of the tree. This will help to avoid having its food and water system cut by accident. The guard will also help to protect it from wildlife, rodents and other pests. If you have large animals like deer around you then you may want to get some sort of fencing to keep them away too.

Pruning
Always make sure that your tools are clean and sharp by sanitizing and sharpening regularly. Sanitizing should actually be done after every tree and sharpening can be done periodically. Make sure you were not leaving stubs when cutting or pruning. You should always cut to a bud or main trunk. Also, try to cut around the outside of a branch when cutting a main stem. Remember not The Takeaway more than a quarter of the living part of the tree at a time. Do not fall for the tree topping myth. This is not the proper way to prune the tree. In fact, tree topping will actually create more opportunity for rot and fungus.

Timing
Timing is important when it comes to taking proper care of things like this whether it be trees, plants, grass or any kind of nature. You can remove broken or diseased wood at any time but structural pruning should be done at some point between December and March. This is known as the dormant season when the leaves are gone. This makes it easier to properly see the structure of the treats self. If the tree flowers then the best time to prune it is after the flowering season is over, which is usually in the spring. However, you will have to check for your tree specifically because some flowering species should still be pruned in the winter in order to avoid transmitting any diseases to the flowers once the spring comes.

Taking proper care of a tree harder than it sounds, especially if you have an entire orchard or for us to take care of. Hiring tree pruning services may prove to be more lucrative than trying to do it yourself. However, if this is something that you want to undertake yourself, following these five tips will be very helpful to you.