Three Ways To Protect Your Trees From Pests

Your trees, despite their large size, are just like all other plants within your yard and garden in that they are highly susceptible to pest infestation. This can cause serious damage to the health of your tree, even killing it outright, which can weaken the structure of the tree itself and make falling branches a serious threat to your property. Understanding some of the steps you can take to reduce the risk of a pests infestation can help you protect your trees from unnecessary damage (and save you the pest extermination and tree removal fees in the future).

Tree Healthcare

One of the best ways to keep pests away from your trees is to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to keep your trees healthy. Unhealthy trees, especially ones that have suffered from a lack of nutrients or a disease or which have dead branches are much more susceptible to insect infestation. This means ensuring that you are properly mulching, watering, and fertilizing your trees as a part of your regular landscape maintenance, but you should also keep an eye out for damage and disease. Dead branches and leaves can be caused by storm damage or by a disease that has only managed to spread through a single limb of the tree; in either case, removing the limb in question can help protect the rest of your tree from both pests and diseases.

Cleaning

Another good way to keep pests away from your trees and out of your flowerbeds and other areas of your yard is to make sure that you clean up any loose debris and organic detritus which can create the perfect environment for colonies of pests to take up residence in. Dead organic matter provides nutrients, food, and nesting material for a wide range of different pests, so removing branches, leaves, dead plants, grass clippings, and other similar pieces of debris from your yard can help reduce the risk of pests attacking your trees.

Attract Birds

Finally, one of the most effective things that you can do to protect your trees from insect damage is to attract birds into your yard. Setting up multiple bird feeders, bird baths, and other installations throughout your yard can encourage birds to make nests in the surrounding area. Many types of birds supplement their diet by eating insects, so a large population of birds nearby can help prevent infestations from taking root.

For additional information, contact a company like Mark Crane's Tree & Arborist Services.