A tree calendar in four general seasons
Steady, ordinary attention can go a long way with trees. This checklist spreads a year of care across the four general seasons, with a handful of jobs for each, plus a few habits that apply any month. Adapt it to your own yard and ask an arborist which tasks matter for the trees you actually have.
What NOAA's Brownsville station records
NOAA's engineering weather data lists a station named Brownsville. In an average year it counts about 3,783 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 5,605 hours above 67°F.
The same data lists, for the Brownsville station, a 50-year basic wind speed of 130 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.5 inches per hour and about 1 freeze-thaw cycle in an average year.
Winter checklist
- Walk the yard with a notebook. Stand back from each larger tree and note any branch that crosses another, any fork pinched tight with bark trapped inside, and any dead wood.
- Free young trunks. Take off nursery tags, wire or tape that was left on at planting, and slacken any tie that is beginning to bite.
- Plan the year's work. List the trees that need pruning, cabling or removal and start gathering written estimates.
- Ask about timing. Ask an arborist whether any of your trees should be pruned only in a certain season.
Spring checklist
- Choose the spot before the tree. If you are planting, find out how tall and wide the tree will grow, and keep it clear of the roof, the overhead service line and buried utilities. Contact the state's one-call locating service before digging.
- Plant at the right height. The flare where the trunk widens should sit at the soil surface or just above it.
- Spread mulch in a broad, shallow ring, with a gap of bare soil between the mulch and the bark.
- Look at fresh leaves. Spotted, curled or pale new growth can be worth a photo and a question to an arborist.
Summer checklist
- Water new plantings by the root ball. Young trees depend on you until their roots reach out. Ask how much water your species needs and how long to keep it up.
- Keep spray heads aimed away from bark. A trunk that stays wet at its base can be open to rot.
- Check the base for fungus, soft wood or cracks, and photograph anything new.
- Go easy with the saw. Ask an arborist before taking a large share of a healthy crown in a single visit.
Fall checklist
- Clean gutters and roof valleys where nearby trees drop leaves and twigs.
- Look up over the drive and the house. Note limbs that hang low over the roof or the driveway and ask whether they should be shortened.
- Refresh thin mulch and pull any that has crept against the trunk.
- Review the year's photos. Compare them with last year's and flag any tree that looks thinner, leans more or shows new cracks.
Young trees in their first years
A newly planted tree spends its first years building roots, and the care it gets then can shape the tree for a long time. Stake only if the tree cannot stand on its own, and take stakes away once the roots hold it. Ask the nursery or arborist about early structural pruning, which can guide a young tree toward a single strong leader instead of competing stems. Keep the grass back from the trunk so roots are not fighting turf for water.
Mulch, soil and the root flare
Mulch helps hold moisture and keeps mowers and trimmers away from the bark, but piled high against a trunk it can trap moisture where the bark needs air. Keep the flare visible. Avoid adding soil over the roots of an established tree; even a few inches can change how roots breathe. If a project calls for regrading near a tree, ask an arborist first.
Hiring for the season's work
Before any company starts, ask:
- "What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?"
- for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation for everyone on site;
- how the crew climbs, and whether spikes are used on trees that are staying;
- which city permits, if any, apply to a removal, and who pulls them;
- how wood will be lowered near the roof, fence and service line.
Ask for a written estimate that names each tree and the work on it, the hauling, any stump grinding and the cleanup.
Keep a record for each tree
A notebook or a folder of dated photos is enough. Write down each tree's location and species if you know it, the date it was planted, and every visit, treatment or concern. When the next arborist walks the yard, that record can answer questions about the tree's history that an inspection may not.
Store the estimates and invoices from each visit alongside the notes, so the work done on every tree is easy to trace when you plan the next round.