Tree Care/Planting

Source: Bolton Hill Website

tree1In addition to their aesthetic value, our trees provide us with life-supporting oxygen, increase our property values, and produce enough shade to save us 10 – 50% on summer cooling costs.

Water: All trees need plenty of water. Between April and October, water your tree twice a week with at least 10-15gallons of water, allowing the water to run into the soil slowly. Slow watering encourages water to seep down to the lowest roots encouraging deep root growth and healthy trees.

Mulch: Mulch helps to retain moisture, enrich the soil and keep weeds down. Do not heap the mulch onto the tree trunk. Mulch lightly with about 2-4″ of wood chips spread evenly around the base of your tree. The mulch should look like a donut when you are through. If your tree is in a tree pit, cover the entire area with mulch. Replace the mulch as needed.

Geotextile fabrics can lead to higher temperatures, and it is hard to get weeds out of them. If you use them, be sure to cut slits for air and water movement. Black plastic and peat moss should be avoided altogether as tree mulch.

Remove the Stakes and Wires: The support wires can strangle your tree if they are not removed. After one year, the stakes and wires are no longer necessary and should be removed.

Protect and Loosen the Soil: Gasoline, oil, strong detergents, dog waste, and salt can kill a tree’s roots. Keep poisons away from your tree. Periodically, loosen the soil around your tree with a hand trowel to a 1-2″ depth and then cover with the mulch; this helps air and water to get to the tree’s roots. Do not loosen soil any deeper than 2″ or you may damage the small surface roots.

Weed and Clean: Keep the area around your tree free of trash and weeds. Keep lawn mowers and weed trimmers away from the tree to avoid wounding the trunk. Do not chain bicycles or nail signs to your tree. Any action that damages the bark opens your tree to infections and diseases.

Don’t overlook orphan trees that ‘belong’ to no one address, they need just as much care as the one in front of your door! As importantly keep vines off all trees, they strangle and promote disease. Remove all shoots that sprout on the tree’s trunk and at its base.  The tree will thank you with years of beauty and cooling shade.

Request a Tree

A request can be made to the City for the planting of a street tree on the City strip between the sidewalk and the curb by completing the attached form: Tree Planting Request Form

The Parks Committee encourages residents to request street trees to replace dead trees and to fill in empty spaces on the City strip. The original Guilford design had all of its streets tree lined.