Shade Tree Care

Help keep our City beautiful! Residents are expected to provide reasonable maintenance of the trees in their tree lawn (devil strip).

Follow these tips to care for your shade trees:

• Water your tree, once per week with a minimum of 10 gallons of water, during the first growing season*. Be sure to give it that much water, rain or shine. Don't count on the rain to provide what the tree needs.
• Weed killer and dogs are especially harmful to young trees, so keep them away.
• Remove any shoots growing from the base of the tree.
• Grass or flowers around trees compete for nutrients and water, so don't plant any right near the tree.
• Avoid injury to the tree. Don't scrape it with lawn mowers, weed whips or other sharp objects. Breaks in the bark (girdling) allow easy access for disease and insects and also reduce the tree's ability to absorb nutrients, which can kill the tree.
• Remove damaged branches from the tree and any 'eye-pokers' that can injure passersby.

Mulch

Mulch volcanoes kill! As beneficial as mulch is, too much will kill trees and shrubs. More than 2 to 4 inches is over mulching! Piling mulch around the trunk or stem, in a mulch volcano, will also kill the tree.

The Problem:

• Continuous moisture on the trunk will cause cankers and splits and allow disease and pests to attack!
• Excess moisture in the root zone will stress the plant and cause root rot.
• Thick blankets of mulch can become matted and actually prevent water from getting to the roots.

The Solution:

• Check depth of mulch. If 2 to 4 inches is already there, just rake to refresh it and break up mats.
• If mulch is piled against the trunk or stem, pull it back several inches so that the base of the trunk and stem crown are exposed.
• Apply a 2 to 4 inch layer, but do not place mulch near the trunk. Mulch out to the tree's drip line or beyond.
• Keep mulch flat, not mounded, so that water will not run off.

Share this information with your landscaper.

Wadsworth Shade Tree Commission

Thank you for caring for the trees!

Reminder: No dumping of brush, leaves, or grass is permitted on park/city property.

*New trees planted in tree lawns are selected by the Wadsworth Shade Tree Commission and planted by the City of Wadsworth Parks Department. Formed in 1962, the Commission meets monthly to consider new plantings and review conditions of the planted trees. Major pruning of trees is done by the Shade Tree Commission and the Parks Department.

Email the Shade Tree Commission with questions.