Tree Canopy Maintenance For Beaverton's Green Spaces
Canopy maintenance is an important part of tree care. All trees require some sort of maintenance, and canopy maintenance is no different. Beaverton has a team of tree care professionals that help maintain the city’s trees.
Canopy maintenance includes pruning, reshaping, and/or re-positioning the branches and/or trunks. This can be done for a variety of reasons.
Some trees need regular pruning to ensure health growth. Overgrown branches can cause other branches to die due to lack of nutrients and sunlight.
Re-positioning or re-shaping trees can help promote new growth and vitality. Moving a tree to a more sheltered or sunny location can help it grow and survive longer.
Pruning dead or diseased parts of the tree can help prevent infection and further death of the tree.
Trim upper branches
Beavers are known for their dam-building skills, but they’re also notorious tree trimmers.
As these furry creatures build their homes, they raise the water level, flooding surrounding land. Trees nearby are often trimmed by the rising water as the beavers build their lodges.
Luckily, City of Beaverton Park Rangers receive training on how to identify signs of beaver activity and how to safely remove any trimmed trees.
Trees can become overgrown very quickly, especially if there is high water or rain events. This can make it hard for sunlight to reach the ground below and your grass to grow.
It is important to maintain the canopy (upper branches) of your trees every few years to prevent this from happening.
Remove dead branches
Dead branches can be a nuisance as they can fall off and hurt someone. Furthermore, they can serve as a bridge for rodents to get to your trees’ precious fruit-bearing parts.
Beavers love trees and their bark, so it is no surprise that they would build their homes in them. A tree with weak branches is also more susceptible to breaking, which is not good for the tree or the beaver family.
Removing dead branches helps promote new growth and keeps your tree healthy. When doing this, make sure to wear protective gear so that you do not get hurt!
For your safety and the safety of your trees, contact a professional to do this maintenance for you. Get in touch with Tree Transplant Inc., for all of your tree maintenance needs.
Check for plant health
Once you have removed the tree from the area, it is important to check the health of remaining trees and plants. If there are other trees or plants in the area, inspect them for signs of insect damage or disease.
If you find signs of illness or insects, take a sample to your local garden center or county extension office to be professionally diagnosed and treated.
If you find trees that are too young or small to withstand future flooding, consider replacing them with more suitable species. Prune any overgrown trees that may become a safety hazard in the future as well.
Check for pest activity
Keeping an eye on your trees for signs of pest activity is one of the easiest ways to prevent tree damage.
Whether it’s insect infestation, fungal infection, or mammal damage, these threats can be detected and treated before significant tree damage occurs.
Insects like borers and defoliation agents can be monitored through frequent tree checks. By checking the trees every few weeks, Forest Solutions experts detect any changes in growth or coloration that may indicate an issue.
When any such changes are spotted, they can be investigated and treated promptly to save the tree. For example, if a beetle is detected inside a tree’s trunk, it can be fumigated to kill it before it causes any more structural damage.
Make sure you have the right equipment
When performing tree canopy maintenance, make sure you have the right tools to do the job. You will need a climbing tool such as a ladder, a chainsaw, and a pole saw.
It is important to keep your trees healthy by monitoring their growth. When growing trees from seeds or transplants, they need adequate light to grow. A tree may seem healthy and robust, but if it is suffering from lack of light then this needs to be addressed.
By maintaining the canopy of your trees, you are also reducing the risk of damage from heavy rains and high winds. When all of the leaves and branches are maintained and not broken down or missing, your tree can withstand more pressure.
Know the different tree types
Beavers love trees, and their habitats. As a result, it is important to know the different tree types so that they can be appropriately managed.
There are many different species of trees, some more expensive than others. It is important to keep this in mind when managing them. For example, if a beaver dam breaks a maple tree, it is not too costly to replace it.
Some trees are more susceptible to damage than others. Knowing this information ahead of time can also help with management. For example, although some say they are nearly invulnerable to the effects of beavers, chestnut trees are not. A chestnut tree would need to be replaced after being affected by a beaver.
Be aware of what species of trees are native to your area, and what species are not. This will help with management by knowing what species are native to your area and which ones are not.
Know the different plant types
When planting trees, it is important to know what type of trees to plant. There are many tree species that are drought-tolerant, so if Green Spaces wanted to update their tree canopy, they could plant more arid-adapted trees.
These trees would require less maintenance due to their ability to conserve water. They would also produce less shade, allowing the grass underneath to grow easier.
If more arid-adapted trees were planted, then less watering and maintenance is required. This helps save time and money for Green Spaces!
Green Spaces prunes their trees every one to two years depending on the tree type. Pruning helps maintain the shape and health of the tree by removing dead or diseased parts of the tree.
Know what animals inhabit your area
When living in a green space, it is important to know what animals inhabit the area. This way, you can know when they are around and how to interact with them.
Beavers are very common in the area and can cause some damage to trees. If there are signs of beavers, it is recommended to get professional help to remove them. They can cause major damage to trees that may lead to tree death.
By keeping an eye on the trees, if there are any cuts or if the tree is leaning, then you can get professional help to fix that. By doing this maintenance before it becomes a problem, it helps preserve the trees!
It is also important to know if your pet is encountering any wildlife such as squirrels or rabbits. If your pet encounters a deer, it is recommended to let them leave without confrontation as trying to chase them may be dangerous.
