Fall is the time that trees are most famous for going 'dormant' by losing their leaves. Many people give no further thought to trees until spring brings them "back to life," but fall and winter are actually ideal times to do some essential tree care.

Provide adequate water: Some advise withholding water in early fall so that the trees will go dormant. Dormancy is actually triggered by things such as day length. As long as trees have functioning leaves, you should provide them with adequate water for their needs. This is especially true of new trees that still have small roots.

Remove infected leaf litter: This year saw a lot of fungal infections due to our prolonged cool spring. Primary among these was powdery mildew, a powdery growth on leaves and other succulent tissue. Powdery mildews seldom seriously harm trees and moderate amounts of infection can generally be ignored. However, this disease can be quite unsightly and repeated infections can sap tree energy. Raking up infected leaves and disposing of them off-site reduces the spores available for infection next spring. More information about powdery mildew can be found on our web site: http://www.cdaid.org/urban/index.html.

Mulch: Using organic mulch has many benefits year-round, including improving soil structure, improving soil oxygen, and preserving soil moisture. If your trees are not mulched, consider doing it this fall. It will help to moderate soil temperature over the winter. Apply 2 to 4 inches in depth and keep it at least 3 inches away from the tree trunk.

Remove stakes: The function of stakes is to allow roots to get established in the surrounding soil without the stress of root ball movement. However, once that objective is achieved, the stakes need to come off so that the tree trunk can benefit from laying on wood under normal environmental wind stresses. If the stakes have been on for over a year, they should be removed unless you observe that the tree is still not well anchored and/or will be exposed to extraordinary winter winds.

Tie up arborvitaes: To keep the weight of snow from splaying out the upsweeping branches of this and similar shrubs, use wide strapping or ties to encircle the shrubs from bottom to top.

Mark tree locations for snow plows: This could be important if it is a big snow year and you have small trees on the side of the street, or even close to your own driveway, walkway, or deck.

Break down tree "wells": Building up a berm around the roots of newly-planted trees is a good way to provide them with a quantity of water that will slowly soak into the root zone. However, in the winter it can cause problems if snow builds up in the wells, melts, then re-freezes. Unless you want a root "popsicle", create a break in the berm so that excess water can drain off. It will be easy to restore the berm in spring.

For more information, please contact Urban Forester Karen Haskew at 769-2266.