We take trees for granted. They do so much for us. Trees produce a large majority of the oxygen in the air we breathe. Trees provide shade for us and cause our home temperatures to go down during the hot summer, which results in lower energy costs and a better quality of life.

This begs the question, what can we do to positively impact our trees? How does one determine when something is wrong with one of our trees? There are many different ways to tell, and characteristics to look for when determining if your tree is getting the care it needs. There are ways to check if your trees see too much watering, or not quite enough. If you know these things, you can effectively cater to your trees needs so it can continue to give back to you. Our experts at Chapman’s Tree Service know that taking care of your trees is important and offers professional plant healthcare services to help keep your trees healthier longer. Take a look below to see if your tree is getting what it needs to survive.

Are You Over Or Under Watering Your Trees?

Too Much:

• If the ground the tree resides in is wet or damp all the time, this is a good indicator that the tree has been receiving to much water.
• If the leaves appear green and healthy, but they appear to be fragile to the touch, this could be an indicator that the trees are in fact being overwatered. It is also noted that the age and size of the tree will determine how much water it requires. It is typical that the young trees require more water, as the root system is still developing, and so it cannot take in as much water as larger trees with lots of roots.

Too little:

• If the Tree’s leaves are wilted, which look like they are brown at the tips or edges.
• If the leaves yellow when it is not supposed to, ie. Early fall color or the leaves are dropping early.
• If the leaves appear scorched, this is a surefire indicator that the tree is not receiving the amount of water it is supposed to.

Identifying Sick Trees

There are many things to look out for regarding if your tree is not. As a baseline, it would be good to begin by just looking up and down the tree to find any points of interest. Take a look below to see if you identify any of these signs. If so then you may need to contact our experts at Chapman’s Tree Service regarding our tree pruning or tree removal services.

• Dead branches, which can hang low. It seems as if nothing will ever grow on them
• Other plants growing off of the trees, particularly fungus. This is bad for the tree because these plants are growing off of the tree, thus sapping its energy and essentially “Draining the life”, out of it.
• Holes in the leaves, if they appear to be wilting, or dead and brown.
• If the leaves are rust-colored, or just a dramatically different color from the green color they are supposed to be.
• Cankers in the tree. These are best described as once healthy sections of bark that have since died. This is caused by fungi and different types of bacteria. However, this can first get its beginning by the tree itself becoming injured from a variety of different sources, particularly lawnmowers.
• The tree can also possibly be sick if it just leans a huge amount, causing the heaviest limbs and branches to hang lower than they should.
• Holes in leaves- This indicates that insects are in fact feeding off your tree.

If you notice that one of your trees is showing disease symptoms or has dead limbs hanging from it you should contact us online or call us at (678)921-8163 for our tree pruning services to try and restore your tree back to a healthy state.