Avoiding Landscape Decline
Don’t Forget the Trees and Shrubs
A scorching month of summer weather shows its results pretty fast on lawns and flowers. But did you know that your more deeply rooted trees and shrubs can suffer long-term (or even permanent) damage from weather extremes, too?
It’s natural not to notice the changes happening to your larger landscape plants, because they appear more slowly, sometimes evolving over several years. Extremes in temperature, moisture and wind all take their toll.
For instance, a series of very dry winters, followed by hot and dry summers, can begin a process known as plant decline. Plants in decline begin to thin and produce smaller leaves. They may lose an excessive number of branches and generate more dead wood. Flowers decrease in size and number, and pests tend to increase due to weakened resistance.
Because these symptoms show up so slowly, they’re often overlooked completely.
Nutrition is key
Regular feeding of your landscape plants will help to overcome some forms of decline and strengthen plants’ resistance to disease and pests. Root feeding will stimulate recovery of the roots and will promote new, vigorous growth. The process of feeding puts nutrients into the soil so that they can be easily picked up by the roots.
Your landscape is growing and changing all the time. It’s affected by good and bad weather and can be very expensive to replace. Regular care should start with inspections and feeding.
