Video | 4 Fundamentals of Tree Care

Hey there, I’m Basil, and today I want to share four fundamental practices that you can do today to ensure the health of your trees.

Number one is good structure. Trees need good structure to become big and strong. We see that here in the forest, where trees grow naturally. They have strong central trunks and well-spaced branches. When we take trees out of the forest, now they don’t have to compete with other trees. This means they often overgrow and break.

To avoid this, we prune young and medium age trees to train them to grow strong. We can’t do this as easily with an older tree, so the sooner you start, the better for your tree.

Number two is a clear root collar. Let me show you where the root collar is. It’s this section here where the trunk turns into roots. And if we look around here in the forest, we see that all of the root collars are above ground level.

In the urban environment, we often see them buried with mulch and dirt. This will kill the tree. We want to see this, not this…

Number three is healthy soil. Healthy soil means happy trees. Trees are constantly feeding soil with all this rotting stuff, leaves, and pine straw, and dead branches.

Construction destroys soil and turns it into this dirt. We can fix that by adding compost and wood chips.

And finally, don’t use chemical fertilizers. These will ruin your soil. If you want to give your trees a jump start, use compost and other all-natural products.

So remember, your trees need good structure, a clear root collar, healthy soil, and no chemicals to live a long healthy life. The older a tree gets, the more benefits it provides you, the local ecology, and our planet.