Asking the Professionals of Tree Service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area: Who is the Culprit?
What do you do in order to ensure that those mighty trees, those flourishing seedling remain healthy?
Regular watering – check
Regular trimming – check
Spraying herbicides and pesticides – check
Enriching the soil with mulch and manure – check
Yet, you find that your plantings, especially the young trees and tree seedlings are increasingly declining and eventually dying. Who is the culprit? What’s causing damage to your trees in the front yard?
As experienced professionals, providing tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area, every year we receive hundreds of such complaints from our clients. They express anger and frustration, primarily because they are unable to understand the cause of the incurred damages. However, when they communicate the findings with us—the sign of a girdle, a deep scrape, a new growth on branches been chewed off—the situation becomes clear.
Beware – The rodents and deer are causing damage to your trees!
Please note: The aim of this blog is to provide general information to our readers about how rodents and deer can cause damage to your trees. Our readers must understand that every individual case varies and only an onsite inspection from a qualified arborist can provide a comprehensive assessment. If, you are observing signs of tree damage in your garden or backyard, please contact your local company that offers professional tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area, for further guidance.
How Can Rodents Cause Damage to Your Trees?
Mice, voles and other rodents can cause damage to your trees by girdling off barks, usually within 30cm of the ground. A girdle may sound as a minor damage to our readers, but the scavenging often penetrates beneath the bark, damaging the cambium and phloem of the tree. This stops the supply of water and nutrients to plant cells, inhibiting tissue growth and resulting in an eventual death.
However, the extent of damage is dependent on the area which has been girdled. If, the bark has been eaten from around the entire trunk, then it could be very difficult to save the tree. You can consult a local arborist for performing a bridge graft in an attempt to save the tree. But, if the tree service expert deems the practice unnecessary then the only solution you have got is to remove the tree so that it cannot compete with other healthier trees for nutrients and water. Always hire a professional tree removal service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area to safely perform the practice.
Another way through which rodents can potentially damage your trees is by feeding on the roots and stems of a tree, while sometimes even chewing off entire tree seedling. Again, in any of these cases, the damage incurred to the tree can result in an eventual death.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Trees From Rodents?
There are multiple solutions that you can exercise to protect your trees from rodents. Some of these are discussed below:
- Use Hardware Cloth: You can use a mesh of hardware cloth and wrap it around the tree trunk to protect it from rodents. The meshed cloth should encircle the trunk to up 20 to 30 inches above the ground. Seeping the mesh into the ground, will also protect the root and stem from being chewed off. However, when wrapping a hardware cloth around the tree trunk and its root, you should make sure that it does not interfere with the growth of tree. Work with an experienced company that provides professional tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area for securing a safe wrap.
- Use Chemical Repellants: You can also use chemical repellants like denatonium benzoate which keeps rodents away from housing a habitat near the trees. These repellants should be sprayed in the season of late fall, when branches and trunks are dry and temperatures are above freezing point. However, not every chemical repellant can be applied on every genus of tree. It is advisable that you consult a qualified and professional tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area. The arborist will be able to instruct you better about which rodent repellant to use and which one you should avoid.
How Can Deer Damage Your Trees?
Even though, you won’t find deer in large numbers in Dallas and Fort Worth Area, but those which do end up finding their way to your garden, can cause much significant damage to your trees than what rodents can incur. Deer can damage your trees in two ways:
1) By chewing off new growth on branches and biting the top of young trees.
2) By scraping their antlers and rubbing off their forehead against the tree trunk. They do this to remove the velvet from their antlers or mark their territory.
The bite may end up wounding a tree while the scrape often leads to vascular damages. Depending on the wounded area, the consequences vary. A damage around the entire circumference of the tree results in death. However, a scrape on the top or bottom may only affect the growth of the tree in the wounded region. It is important to seek professional advice in case if the tree has been damaged by a deer. A company providing tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area would be able to propose a better solution after assessing the tree wound.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Trees From Deer?
Among the different strategies that you can deploy to protect your trees from deer, some of the most effective ones are:
Planting Deer Resistant Plants: You can plant deer resistant plants around your trees to keep your hopping nemesis away from a territory. These include the likes of daffodils, foxgloves, poppies, sages, lavenders, peonies and salvias. Some of these plants have an unpleasant taste that deer don’t like, while some have a stinky fragrance that puts them off. For more information please contact a tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area that resources qualified arborists.
Applying Deer Deterring Chemicals on Trees: Many deer deterring chemical products are available in the market which help homeowners to protect their trees from these animals. These chemicals, primarily contain thiram. However, before applying these chemicals on your trees, it is advisable that you seek professional help of a tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area to protect trees from any chemical harm.
Use Fences and Tree Guards: Use fences and tree guards for protecting multiple and individual trees from deer. Make sure that the fence and the tree guards are of ideal height but do not interfere with the growth pattern of the trees.
Need Any Help?
We are here to facilitate you. Offering reliable tree service in Dallas and Fort Worth Area, our team of professionals is experienced in handling all kinds of tree removal, tree care and tree pruning needs. We also employ qualified arborists to provide comprehensive tree maintenance services. Contact us today, for a free estimate.