chicken wire, plastic tubing, or stiff wiring around the base of a tree. The guard should be at least four feet in height. One to four inches of space should be between the tree trunk and the guard. As the tree grows, the trunk guard will need to be replaced or removed.
Protecting Trees During Construction
If you are planning to build or remodel your home, part of pre- construction planning should be a discussion of tree protection. Trees located too close to construction are at risk. Heavy equipment or loaded pickup trucks parked at the base of a tree will destroy its root system and compact its soil. Cement mixers, paint cans or tools near a tree can also be damaging. Talk with your contractors and get a tree expert involved early in a consultation on tree protection measures. To minimize damage, you or your contractor should install a barrier of orange fencing and an “off limits” sign around the perimeter of your treasured trees. Tell contractors where they can park vehicles and walk on and off the property as well.
Montgomery County street trees are protected during construction.
Another unintentional way to kill a tree during construction is changing the grade of the soil surrounding a tree. Adding or removing as little as two inches of soil can have an adverse impact on roots and soil quality. And remember to keep your trees watered and mulched during construction. Your trees should be monitored and protected throughout the construction phase to make sure incremental and minor damage doesn’t become a larger problem for a tree, post-construction. After your building or remodeling project is finished, hire an arborist to advise on rejuvenating your trees by aerating root zones as needed, repairing bark and trunk wounds, treating crown injuries, and/or fertilizing if it is needed. Remember that you may not notice minor and incremental damage that is obvious to a trained arborist or tree care expert. Once in decline, it takes a tree a long time to die, and removal can be emotionally taxing and expensive. Another Note about Bark
Loose bark from the edges of a tree wound should be trimmed back to bark firmly attached to the sapwood (the layer of wood under the bark). Carefully remove all shredded sapwood, too, and leave a smooth surface. Leave old bark wounds undisturbed, especially when callus or tissue has developed along the outside edge of the wound. Trees protect themselves from decay organisms through compartmentalization, and callus tissue is part of that defense mechanism. Review Chapter 1 for more on tree defense processes.
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