Are you thinking of expanding the size of your building, installing a court yard patio area, removing your lawn, or digging for a new building foundation? If you have any projects in mind, please remember to consider how they may impact the health of your trees in the construction zone.
Here Are 5 Important Steps for Tree Care During Construction
There are several factors that come to mind that can negatively impact the health & structural integrity of your trees that many contractors overlook. As a general rule, do not alter the soil grade in the surrounding area of your trees, especially with larger mature trees.
Younger trees are often more resilient and can recover from stress compared with older specimen trees. There are a few things to consider that can have a less than healthy effect on your trees, things like substantial pruning, soil elevation changes, excavating soil within the top 6” of the root system, and even change in sunlight can all have a negative impact on your trees.
There are necessary steps you can take to help impact the negative health of your trees during construction.
1. Plan ahead- Consult with a Certified Arborist PRIOR to the construction work adjacent to your trees, this will help determine any possible risks associated with the health of your trees. Receiving a health & risk assessment of your trees prior to construction is often overlooked in the planning stages.
2. Care- If a tree must be removed or severely pruned; it will be more cost effective to do this before new construction begins. Consider the mobilization of heavy trucks & equipment that may not be accessible after construction begins. Also consider “Timing”. It’s best to do heavy pruning in the fall or winter months when the tree is dormant and less susceptible to stress decline.
3. Damage Control- Determine a buffer zone for heavy construction equipment & vehicle clearance, this is best done outside of the “drip line” of the tree. This means no excavation, trenching, elevation changes, or even equipment and storage of materials in these zones.
4. Advance Preparation- If you know the timing of your project and that some soil excavation or root pruning will be necessary, consider hydrating your trees well in advance to ensure that they are in a healthy vigorous growth stage. This will help mitigate stress recovery during the construction phase.
5. Soil Compaction- Aeration of soil is helpful within the construction zone of your trees, especially where heavy equipment or trucks will be traveling. A high pressure air tool, also known as an Air spade, is used by professional arborist companies, the spade is used to loosen the top compacted layer of soil and also incorporates organic soil amendment which helps your trees recover from soil compaction.
It’s never too late to start planning in advance for the bay area tree pruning, especially if you have a project that will be commencing in the next several months or even years.
Need a Tree Pruning Service in San Jose or the Bay Area?
Give FloraTerra Landscape a call at 408-275.1200 or use our contact form to schedule a free no obligation assessment of your tree's. And if you want timely landscaping tips for trees, please join to our commercial landscaping blog.
Commercial Tree Care in San Jose and The Bay Area
FloraTerra provides commercial landscaping & tree care services. A San Jose arborist providing a complete range of arborist services including tree pruning for shopping centers, landscape maintenance for Shopping Centers, Strip Mall Landscaping, R & D Developments, Luxury Apartment Landscaping, Residential Estate Landscaping, Home Owners Association Landscaping, Condominium Developments and Commercial Office Landscaping.
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