August 13, 2021 / by Danny Mavis

Some people prefer a garden of flowers or food in their backyard, but some of us are all about bigger wonders of nature gracing our homes, so naturally, we turn to trees. Whether your backyard is filled with an orchard of cherry and citrus trees or just your regular Australian domestic types, it’s important to take care of them and take care of them in the right way. Caring for trees can be a very difficult thing to do, even for experienced people, as trees don’t always show symptoms of illness or any issue until it’s too late. Of course, you can always try and Google your way out of a sticky tree emergency, but a smarter move would be to call a certified arborist to take a look, diagnose the issue, and propose a solution.

man climbed on a tree
source: pinterest.com

What Can Arborists Help With?


Certified arborists, or tree surgeons, care for trees for a living, and are true experts on all the kinds out there, especially ones that thrive in our Australian climate. There are a lot of things that need to be done for trees to live healthily and well. Tree clearing is one thing, pruning is another, fertilizing and mulching are also on the list. Do you know how to do it all? It’s okay if you don’t because an arborist most definitely does.

Your arborist will always have the health and look of your trees in mind and will work in their best interest, as well as your own. Trees can have a lot of unusual and often not obvious enemies. Taking the guesswork out of the equation, your arborist will be able to predict any issues that might occur later on and fix them. They’ll also be able to help maintain tree health and promote quality growth. Here’s a list of some of the basic services a certified arborist can offer you.

tree arborist assessing a tree
source: pinterest.com

Power Line Clearance


If a tree starts growing in the direction of a powerline, it’s of utmost importance to hire an arborist for tree clearing powerlines on your property. A tree growing into a powerline can damage both itself and the powerline beyond repair, which will end up costing you a lot of money and also yard appeal, so taking care of it before it even happens is the optimal solution. You may not be able to notice that your tree’s branches are starting to reach toward your powerlines, but the trained eye of an arborist definitely can.

Powerlines, even though quite tough, are still pretty delicate, especially if something like tree branches starts to mess with them. Branches can be very sharp, so the risk of them damaging or even destroying your powerlines are very high. They can also get them tangled up which might not damage them, but may cause power outings and other similar problems.

tree arborist
source: pinterest.com

Once a tree reaches the powerline, the task of powerline clearing gets much tougher. You’ll need to turn off all the power, wait, then try to access the branches and cut them off. However, if you hire an arborist on time and have them take a look at your yard, they’ll be able to clear out any branches headed in the wrong direction and guide the rest elsewhere. If you already do have the problem though, an arborist will still be able to do some tree clearing powerlines and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Pruning & Trimming


You may think that pruning, trimming and powerline clearing are basically the same things, but that’s not really the case. Even though pruning and trimming are used to encourage a certain way of growing and force a sort of detour to the branches, it only works if your arborist is called before the tree reaches the powerline. If you have your trees trimmed and pruned regularly, you won’t ever have to deal with branches tied in with powerlines, and you’ll also get much healthier trees that are encouraged to blossom and bear fruits.

Sometimes, trees have a hard time producing fruits or blossoming because branch and leaf growth takes up too much energy and space, so there isn’t any left for the actual development of other things. Your arborist, however, will be able to slow that down and give your trees the space they need to truly start blooming and keep on doing so every season.

man trimming a tree
source: pinterest.com

Fertilization & Mulching


Finally, another very important part of tree care is proper fertilization and mulching, both of which are going to make a world of a difference when it counts. The soil that surrounds your trees is quite important to their development as that’s basically where they get all their nutrients from, so having it taken care of is imperative.

Fertilization will allow your tree to get more nutritious elements in its system to help with branch and leaf growth, but also in the production of fruits as well as blossoms, while mulching will protect the soil from harmful outside influences, help it retain its moisture, keep it healthy, and ultimately, prevent any weeds from growing and stealing your tree’s water and nutrient supply. Mulch also helps the area around the tree look more attractive, so it’s basically an all-inclusive package, a two-in-one offer, if you will. Both of these processes have to be done carefully and in a specific way, so that’s why it’s best to let an arborist do them instead of attempting yourself.

fertilization of the soil
source: pinterest.com

If you still want to be involved in the care of your trees, you can work with an arborist and take advice from them until you learn the craft. Either way, their help will most definitely prove to be invaluable and you’re going to be glad you’ve hired one.