Let's face it. Tree health care isn't on the same level as your primary care physician. Skipping past the fact that it would be unreasonable to expect technology to be on a similar level, the real issue is that trees' best interests are usually not the primary consideration in the planning in our shared urban environment. Even still there are some fundamental ideas we can work with to improve any tree's chances for survival. Proper pruning, applying timely treatments, improving soil environments and regimented monitoring are all tools that arborists have to help fight the fight for our green friends.
Let's start with pruning. This is the first thing most people think of when they think about helping their trees. As an experienced veteran tree guy, I can tell you that most people get the wrong idea about pruning. With native trees in Austin, like the live oak, pruning is usually done for functional reasons rather than for the tree health. The right idea is to prune the tree in a manner that we can live with it without damaging the tree. Cleaning out deadwood will definitely improve the trees longevity, but cutting off limbs so we can drive under them is not ideal for the tree. Ideal would be moving the road. You can learn more about tree pruning by reading my pruning series. In general, tree pruning is the least impact factor for improving health for sick trees.
The highest impact approach for seeing quick results is implementing a series of timely treatments. Understand, when I say quick results I mean 1-2 years. There are very few scenarios where we can produce visually noticeable improvements for tree disorders in less than a year. Lets look closely at my statement of "implementing a series of timely treatments." The most common mistake I see made when attempting to fertilize a tree is that people (even many arborists!?) will pump a bunch of nitrogen in the ground at no specific time of the year and then walk away from the tree as if all its problems are solved. The important thing to know here is that timing is CRITICAL. I like to explain this by comparing trees to grass. Grass maintains a constant state of growth; that's why it has to be cut once a week. You can put fertilizer on turf at any time and get virtually the same response: greener grass and faster growth.
Trees are not the same. Trees go through a cycle of defferent growth stages through out the course of the year. Early in the spring the focus is on foliage growth; virtually all trees are producing an entire canopy of leaves. During the bulk of the "growing season" there is very little growth (percentage wise); this is mostly an energy producing time for trees. As late summer and fall approach the trees' focus shifts to root growth. Sixty to seventy percent of a tree's root growth for the year takes place in the fall. So, depending on what time of year it is, the treatment is going to have a different affect on the tree. It is mission critical that you put the right stuff on the tree at the right time of year.
Improving the soil environment is a relatively new technique being used by arborists here in Austin, and a very good one. What I'm talking about here is basically air-tilling the soil and mixing in organic matter. Our native "soils" are heavy clays with very little, if any, organic matter. Mixing in organic matter improves water penetration, aeration and microbe activity among other benefits. The new development that is making this popular is the use of an airspade. In the past there was no good way to till up the soil without destroying the inhabiting roots. An airspade is a high powered air compressor tool that blows apart the clay chunks. This breaks up the soil and doesn't damage vital tree roots. Although not necessary in every situation, this is an important technique in our arsenal of tools.
Every sick tree is going to be a different scenario. There is not a template you can apply to every tree. The foundation for any successful recovery is diligent monitoring and keeping good notes. My company policy is to keep a map showing the location of every tree on a property and taking a photo(s) and notes on every inspection; 4 times per year as a minimum. The trees condition will be constantly changing.
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