Love a Tree Day

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Well, today (May 16th) is "Love a Tree Day" so I thought that I would ask my daughter who just happens to be a landscape designer the most common mistakes that people make with their trees. Here's her list...

1. If you are going to prune your trees, make sure that the pruners are sharp. You can damage the limbs with pruning sheers that leave a jagged edge. And while on the topic, the sheers should be cleaned on a regular basis.

2. Trees need food and the easiest way is to use tree spikes and your trees will thank you.

3. If you live in an area with clay soil, you can have a problem planting a new tree. We did just that with a cute little ornamental lilac and nearly lost it. We dug it up and sure enough their was a ton of water that wasn't draining away. We drained the hole as best we could and then placed a layer of stones in the hole to aid with the drainage. The tree came back and as I am writing this, it is about to burst into flower. Thanks heavens my daughter knew what we had done wrong.

4. Teach your children that breaking branches is not a cool thing to do. It just breaks my heart to go to parks and see broken branches of new little trees struggling to survive. Tell them about Love a Tree Day and maybe it will catch on.

5. Do your homework before you buy a tree. Over the years they will grow and the last thing you are going to want to do is pull out the tree because it has grown too close to your house. In our neighborhood, three new trees arrived which are positively gorgeous, but my daughter just shook her head when she saw them. "Once they settle and begin growing, they are going to block ALL of the sunlight and do their best to push their way into the house." Yes, they are that big!!