How to Protect Young Trees

Home improvement expert Danny Lipford gives you tips on protecting trees that you plant in their early stages of life.

Barbara: I’ve just finished planting this tree for a customer. And I am pretty sure the first question is going to be how much do I water it? It’s very important to water it probably just twice a week but water it very thoroughly when you do and then you give the whole root all the chance to dry up in between the watering. Danny: Now what about staking it off? I see people using strings and stakes to stabilize the tree, I guess to keep them from falling over in the wind, is that a good idea? Barbara: Well Danny, you know we used to dot that but we’ve actually discovered with some new research that it’s much better for the tree to be blown in the wind a little bit because what it does, is it stimulates a lot of the roots and you end up with a stronger root system. So we actually don’t stake anymore. Danny: Now say what—I know you are using mulch, that really helps to keep that moisture in, doesn’t it? Barbara: The mulch is just great and it does so many different things. The most important thing for my perspective is that you’ve got lawn mowers that are going to come, take care of the grass if you don’t put the mulch and on top of that the worst thing are the string trimmers. Danny: Oh yeah. Barbara: You know they’ll come up around here and they will cut right straight through this very thin bark on a sapling like this and then you’ll pretty much kill the tree. Danny: But what about like a plastic sleeve, you know like a drain pipe or something like that wrapped around? I see that all the time. Barbara: Well, a lot of people do use that and I think that if you’ve got rabbits and other types of problems that are going to meddle there, you can put it on for a period of time but you got to remember to take it off as the tree gets bigger and I don’t think it’s not attractive. Danny: I see. Barbara: So I prefer the mulch. Danny: Okay, well I guess you’re about ready for some water here.