How to care for and protect your trees

If you want your trees to thrive, they must be properly looked after, particularly within the first few years. Below, we provide instructions for caring for your trees and answer key questions, such as when to remove your tree guards.

Key Points:

• Within the first few years, ensure that trees are well-marked, weeds are kept away, and they are well watered. Tubes should be checked regularly for pests, and tree guards should be introduced. Avoid mowing around the tree.
• After the first few years, ensure that young tree guards are removed and properly disposed of. Pruning and coppicing your tree can promote healthy and new growth. Be aware of diseases that may affect different tree types. 
• Beyond a decade, consider wider land management services if required.

Caring for your tree over the first few years

The younger your tree, the more difficult it can be to keep it healthy. Follow the tips below to give your tree a fighting chance to make it past those first few years.

1. Introduce and monitor tree guards

If your tree doesn’t have one already, introduce a simple tree guard to it to protect it from the elements and local wildlife.

Tree guards at this stage generally come in the form of plastic guards, canes, or stakes, all of which should be pushed into the soil to help keep the tree upright.

When examining the tree and tree guard, ensure you pull up any grass growing inside the guard, as this can soak up precious moisture needed for the tree.

2. Careful grass cutting

If you cut the grass around the tree, be sure to avoid damaging the tree or the guard.

It’s also worth noting that consistent grass cutting can push the grass to grow more. This can make it more difficult for the tree to get the moisture it needs.

3. Weed removal and suppression

Weeding is vital, and helps to ensure your tree’s growth won’t be affected by a lack of moisture or nutrients in the soil. Keep the below in mind when dealing with weeds:

• For the first 2-3 years of your tree’s life, ensure that weeds are removed for at least a metre around the tree.
• Suppress weeds with back chips, straw, or other types of mulch at a depth of around 10cm. Don’t forget to top up your mulch when needed (usually once a year).
• You could also consider pegging mulch mats into the ground.
• Consider chemical-based de-weeder if mulch isn’t possible:
  • Consult a professional to perform this if you are unsure.
  • Carefully spray around the base of the tree to create a 1m ring.
  • Don’t touch the tree with the chemical-based weed-suppressant.
  • Be sure to follow the guidelines for the product.

4. Watering your young tree

It’s unlikely you’ll need to water your tree unless there is a particularly long dry spell. Otherwise, the tree will naturally adapt to the amount of moisture in its environment, which also encourages healthier root growing practices.

Note – If you do need to water your tree, be sure to provide enough water to properly saturate the ground around the tree.

5. Removing pests

Pests can be a particularly difficult challenge for young trees, so keep an eye on the tree stem for any damage, and remove the pest if you see it. You should also review your tree guard, and keep it pressed into the soil firmly to help prevent pests from accessing the tree.

If you’ve maintained a good 1-metre weed-free zone around the tree, this will also help to reduce the number of pests.

6. Communication

An often overlooked element when planting new trees – making sure your team knows where they are!

If anyone maintains or uses the spaces where the tree is growing, be sure to tell them exactly where the tree is to avoid any damage or excessive mowing.

Caring for your tree as it reaches maturity

If your tree passes the three-year mark, it’s in a good position to keep on thriving. Keep the below in mind when it comes to managing your tree for the next decade or so.

1. Managing your tree guards

Between the years 5-10 (most commonly), your tree guard will have fulfilled its role, and should be removed before it disintegrates or starts to split. At this stage, tree guards may hamper growth more than help, so you should aim to remove and recycle them.

At this stage, you could start to consider a full sized tree guard. These tree guards are designed to protect trees from livestock, horses, deer, or other wild animals. Tree guards built by Steel Landscaping Co. are made with steel, giving them a much greater longevity than alternatives.

2. Look out for signs of disease

At this stage, most common diseases will not kill the tree. If you are concerned that your tree is diseased, though, the Woodland Trust has great resources on pests and diseases that can help you assess the disease, and decide if further support is needed.

3. Encouraging new growth

Between 7 and 10 years, your tree may be ready for coppicing.

What is coppicing?

Coppicing is the act of trimming trees at the base to encourage new growth and allow light to hit the floor of the space around the tree. 

By coppicing your tree, you can help to enhance biodiversity in the area, by giving those low-lying plants and insects more space and light to thrive.

Best ages to coppice may change depending upon the tree type, so be sure to research when and if your specific tree should be coppiced.

If you plan to coppice your trees, you should aim to do so between typically between September to March time, when trees aren’t actively growing.

4. Pruning your tree

While not strictly necessary, pruning your tree can help to encourage upwards growth rather than outwards growth.

If your tree is native to the UK, the best time to prune it will most likely be winter, but you should always seek advice, as some trees are better pruned in the summer months.

Follow the steps below when pruning:

• Ensure you use a high-quality pruning saw.
• Cut close to the tree, but be sure to preserve the bulge (also known as the branch collar).
• Cut square to the branch.
• Avoid damage to the tree’s bark.
• Never cut the branch flush with the main stem.

Pruning the tree can be highly beneficial for it, but you should also be aware that improperly pruning trees can make them more susceptible to disease or decay, so make sure to rely on an expert if you have concerns.

5. Thinning your trees

If you have multiple trees in the same areas, you may want to consider thinning them.

Thinning trees can help to reduce competition for nutrients in the soil, as well as moisture and light. By thinning, you provide the remaining trees the opportunity to grow stronger.

Thinning is usually performed every 5 to 8 years after the first thinning, which should be considered when trees are around 7 metres in height, or 10 years old.

Getting a licence from the Forestry Commission

You may need to apply for a Felling Licence from the Forestry Commission if your tree is too wide, although there are some exemptions:

• The tree’s location
• The type of tree work
• The volume and diameter of the tree
• Other permissions already in place
• Legal and statutory undertakings

To learn more about exemptions, read the Getting Permissions page, or reach out to your local Forestry Commission area offices to discuss whether a licence is necessary.

Tree Safety

If you are thinning trees or are concerned about tree safety, please ensure you visit the National Tree Safety Group, where common scenarios can help you determine if and when you can cut down a tree.

If you have any hesitancy whatsoever about removing trees, be sure to also get advice from The Arboricultural Association, or speak to a local tree surgeon.

Managing trees through the decades

As trees reach the ages of 10 and above, they become more and more resilient to issues that would hamper growth in earlier years.

At this stage, you should be considering how to give your trees space to continue to grow and become more stable.

Veteran and old trees, for instance, should be given a lot of breathing space. This includes soil that isn’t polluted or compacted, plenty of light, and surrounding space to grow any additional ‘crutches’ they need.

If there’s been a long dry season, be sure to give them a good watering, so moisture can saturate deep into the soil.

You should also consider how a tree guard can help to support your tree, as well as prevent grazing. It can also help to prevent accidental damage from people.

Managing woodland

If you have a large woodland space, you should consider reaching out to The Small Woods Association, and the Royal Forestry Society. You should also read the Forestry Commission’s booklet, ‘So, you own a woodland?’.

Get long-lasting, professionally built tree guards

At Steel Landscaping Co., we specialise in creating steel products for the outdoors that will last a lifetime.

This includes tree guards to fit a range of trees, from small trees with a 400 mm diameter, to huge trees with a diameter of up to 900 mm.

Our tree guards make it easy to assess the state of the tree while preventing grazing from local wildlife. If you’d like to discuss keeping your tree safe with a tree guard, reach out to our team today, or buy a tree guard directly.