Landscape & Urban Design Issue 21 2016 | Page 60

Your Fall Landscape Checklist W ith fall upon But how can you be sure that your continue to feed over the winter, us, we await trees will stay healthy and strong this apply a slow-release fertilizer to the arrival of fall, continuing to welcome you home replace nutrients and improve the beautiful, with their beauty? resistance to damage from disease, vibrant colors to dawn the leaves of our beloved trees. Over just a few weeks, those bright green leaves transform into shades of dark brown, buttery yellow, deep red and vibrant orange. The changing leaves welcoming you home is one of the best parts of fall. insects and stressful weather. There’s much more to these majestic trees than the eye can see. Mark off each of the steps in this fall checklist and your trees will be sure to stand tall and beautiful season after season. Step One: Fall fertilization Step Two: Hearty hydration Fall is the season to give your trees a hearty gulp of water before winter strikes. To make sure they are wellhydrated throughout the freezing winter, quench your trees’ roots. Subsurface watering is an efficient Pretty soon, after their colorful arrival, With a hot summer and cold winter, way to reach the tree’s roots. Using an you will find yourself raking up the trees are bound to lose vital nutrients injection probe, water is distributed crunchy leaves and bidding farewell in the soil. throughout the top 12 inches of To help make sure your trees gain soil— the area your trees need water nutrients lost this summer and the most. to your trees’ foliage for the next couple months. 60 Landscape & Urban Design Issue 21