Advice from Your Arborist: Plant Native Trees

Understanding what your plants need means having a yard that is both beautiful and easy to maintain.  We talked about how No Mow May results in a few extra hours for yourself and food for pollinators who will enrich our plants.  In this blog, we’ll talk about native trees.

You may be aware of the terms native and invasive when it comes to plants.  We all complain about weeds and how they can take over a garden but that’s not really the point here.  A weed is just any plant growing where we don’t want it to grow.  Even a blooming rosebush in the middle of a lawn is a weed because it doesn’t belong there.

An invasive plant is one that is brought into an area from somewhere else.  We find something pretty in a shop and bring it home.  The problem is, a lot of these plants don’t play nice with others and will take over in an aggressive way.  Bittersweet is pretty but can choke a tree as this vine climbs up a trunk and grows.  That kind of damage, and the associated tree service, is hard to reverse but can be avoided.

Learn the Benefits of Using Native Trees (Hint: Less Tree Service)

Native trees are those already at home in Connecticut.  They are comfortable with the weather patterns and have developed their own resistance to heat and cold, wind and water.  That makes them less fussy.

They don’t need special fertilizers and will generally save on water.  You don’t have to spend time and money making sure they have enough to drink because they like the amount of water that they expect to get in the Nutmeg state.  They also have figured out how to defend themselves from local bugs so you can skip the pesticides, which can be good for pets as well as your wallet.

Native trees are also good at controlling erosion below the soil and preserving biodiversity above it.  The birds and bees that we fed in May count on native trees to survive and we definitely benefit as we restore their habitats by offering shelter and food for wildlife and support pollinators.  (No bees = no pollination = no food.)

You may need to hire a professional tree service to prune a native tree but that work will be minimal compared to work you may need for a specimen that is struggling to survive in Connecticut’s climate.

Get Your Native Tree Advice from a Tree Service Professional

There are several native trees you can choose from: Red Maple, Black Birch, Eastern Hemlock, Sugar Maple, Northern Red Oak, Beech, Eastern White Pine, and Black Cherry.

Each can offer different ornamental value; a Sugar Maple in the autumn can present the most amazing shades of red and orange as the days grow shorter and the crisp air calls for a warm sweater.  As a setting sun provides a backlit atmosphere, you can be grateful for planting one near your home.

But, what to choose?  This is where an arborist comes in.  If you are lucky enough to be in the market for a new tree, pick the brain of your favorite tree service professional.  You can find the perfect tree for your needs: shade, privacy screening, decoration, even protection from the elements such as wind.  Someone experienced in tree service can teach you when each type of tree blooms so you’re always enjoying a beautiful show and feeding our winged friends, too!

Consultations are free and the advice from a tree service professional is priceless!

It’s a poor workman who quarrels with his tools.

When most people think of a professional arborist at work, they picture him or her near trees.  That’s often the case but, without a lot of work in the background, that tree work is, at best, inefficient and, at worst, dangerous.

Take maintenance equipment for example.  When a storm hits an area and a tree falls across a driveway, a homeowner needs to get that area cleared as fast as possible to get back and forth to work.  That kind of damage happens to many homes at once so there is little time to deal with chain saws that stall or chippers with dull blades.  A good arborist will make sure that all equipment is in good working order and ready to go when needed, whether the need is an emergency response or scheduled maintenance.

The equipment used to bring a tree back to health or cut it down is varied and pretty serious stuff.  An aerial bucket is a great way to access branches high off the ground but an extended reach is its secondary purpose.  A bucket’s primary job is to keep the arborist safe in the work area.  When the person operating a chain saw feels confident with a perch, then there is also greater safety for those on the ground supporting the work done by quickly moving material from a drop zone.

Trees are very heavy and moving tree limbs and tree trunks can be back-breaking work.  When a tool like a winch operates smoothly, more branches can be dragged as the team remains fresher longer and can do more work in a day.  Homeowners are happier with a cleaner, more beautiful yard and families can enjoy weekends with their beloved arborist, who has the energy to lift kids and play games.

Many tools used to work with trees aren’t mechanized.  Climbing gear, including ropes and boot spikes, are vital to the safety of an arborist as he or she gains access to tree limbs that might be too far from a safe landing space to locate a bucket truck.

Speaking of trucks, even the vehicle that brings the team to a homeowner’s property must be reliable.  A professional will never want to delay or even cancel a job because the engine won’t start.  A true professional arborist will want to show up on time, work through the day on the job at hand and not the tools that should be running well all day long.  Just keeping blades sharp will mean healthier pruning cuts and better chips for property use. 

Tree care can produce a harsh environment, with sap and sawdust mixing with dirt and hard-earned sweat.  Tree-scape and Fitch wants to make life easier for everyone on the job and everyone who will enjoy the fruits of their labors as trees shade a beautiful parklike setting.