A year in the yard
Small, regular attention can do a lot for trees. This checklist breaks a year of tree and palm care into the four general seasons, with a few tasks for each. Adjust it to your own yard: young trees, mature shade trees and palms each ask for something a little different, and an arborist can help you set priorities for the trees you have.
Winter
- Look at structure. On trees that drop leaves, the bare branches make weak forks, crossing limbs and dead wood easier to see. Note them for the next pruning visit.
- Check stakes and ties on young trees. Remove any that have done their job, and loosen ties that are starting to cut into bark.
- Look at the root flare. If mulch or soil has piled against the trunk, pull it back so the flare is visible.
- Ask about timing. Some species are pruned at particular times of year to limit pests or disease. Ask an arborist which of your trees that applies to.
Spring
- Plant with care. If you are adding a tree, ask the nursery or arborist about its mature height and spread before choosing a spot, and keep it well away from the roof, the service wires and any underground lines. Call before you dig so buried utilities can be marked.
- Set the depth right. The root flare belongs at or slightly above the soil line, not buried.
- Mulch wide and thin, in a ring around the tree, keeping it off the trunk.
- Watch new growth. Wilting, curled or discolored leaves on fresh shoots can point to pests, disease or watering trouble. Take a photo and ask.
Summer
- Water young trees deeply. Newly planted trees rely on the water you give them while their roots spread. Ask how much and how often for your species and soil, and how long to keep it up.
- Keep sprinklers off trunks. Constant wetting at the base can invite rot.
- Look for decay signs: mushrooms at the base, oozing bark, cracks or hollow-sounding wood.
- Check palms for fronds that have died back and are hanging, and for flower stalks or fruit you want removed. Leave the green fronds alone.
- Hold off on heavy pruning unless a limb is dead, broken or a hazard. Ask the arborist before removing a large share of a living crown.
Fall
- Plan the bigger work. Make a list of the trees that need structural pruning, cabling or removal, and get written estimates.
- Clear gutters and roof valleys of leaves and debris dropped by nearby trees.
- Look at limbs over the house, the driveway and the fence. Ask whether any should be shortened.
- Walk the property after strong wind or heavy rain and photograph anything that has shifted, cracked or leaned.
Mowers, trimmers and the trunk
Lawn equipment can do quiet damage. A string trimmer or mower that bumps the same spot on a trunk week after week can strip bark and open a wound that may not fully close, especially on young trees with thin bark. A wide mulch ring keeps machines at a distance and spares you the trimming. If bark near the base is already scarred, ask an arborist whether the wound needs anything beyond keeping equipment away, and avoid painting or sealing it unless they advise it. The same goes for string lights, wire and hammocks: anything tied tightly around a branch or trunk can girdle it as the tree grows, so loosen or move those every so often.
Design temperatures at NOAA's Vero Beach station
NOAA's engineering weather data for its station at Vero Beach, about 11 miles south of Sebastian (elevation 26 feet, the nearest station to Sebastian), gives a 1% summer design temperature of 91°F with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 78°F, and a 99% winter design temperature of 42°F. The figures are those of the Vero Beach station.
A short history of the city
The City of Sebastian was incorporated in 1924, and in the late 1950s General Development Corporation bought the land from the Mackle family of Miami and began the planned community that is now the city.
Any time of year
- Call promptly for a cracked trunk, a split fork, a limb hanging in the canopy, or a tree that has started to lean.
- Stay away from wires. If a limb is on or near a line, call the utility, not a tree company.
- Protect roots during projects. Before trenching, paving or adding fill near a tree you want to keep, ask how the roots will be protected.
Choosing who does the work
Before you hire, ask the company:
- "What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?"
- for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation for the crew on site;
- whether they climb with spikes on trees that are staying;
- how they decide what to cut, and how much living crown they plan to remove;
- which city permits, if any, apply to removing a tree, and who pulls them.
Ask for a written estimate that names each tree, the work on it, debris hauling, stump grinding and cleanup, so that bids can be compared line by line.
Keep a tree log
Keep a simple record for each tree and palm: species, location, the date it was planted if you know it, and every pruning visit, treatment or concern, with photos. A log makes it easier to see slow changes, and it gives the next arborist a head start.