How “Mulch” Does Mulch Help?

Sure, you’ve heard about mulch. It’s … stuff … that you put on the ground, right? And it helps plants, you’re sure about that one. But how? What is it? And do you really need it? Today, we’re going to answer all your questions and more. Settle in; let’s talk Mulch 101.

What Exactly Is Mulch?

Part of the reason for the confusion surrounding mulch is that it can mean many things. The word mulch simply refers to a layer of material that is applied to the top of the soil as a protective layer. It can be leaf litter, bark chips, shredded bark, compost, or other products that insulate and hold in moisture. The difference is that, unlike a soil amendment that you work into the dirt, mulch remains on top.

Why Mulch?

Well, we gave it away in that last sentence: Mulch is all about keeping heat and water in. When applied, mulch makes it easier for trees and shrubs to stay hydrated, because it’s less likely the water will evaporate from the soil.

Plus, the natural decomposition of organic material gives off heat, which keeps the ground warm. In addition to preventing the heat loss that would otherwise occur with uncovered soil, this keeps delicate surface roots extra warm during cold months. That’s why mulch is so commonly laid down in the fall.

It also smothers weeds, prevents compaction of the soil, and protects tender roots from hostile attacks by nature and overzealous lawn mowers.

How Much Mulch Are We Talkin’?

So how much? Arbor Day recommends clearing the grass from around the base of your tree in a 3- to 10-foot area, then applying mulch in a 2- to 4-inch-deep layer. After application, be sure to learn proper watering practices, Arbor Day advises, because otherwise, mulch will just help you drown your tree. No Bueno.

Call in the Mulch Magnates

Not sure you have what it takes to become the mulch maven your trees need? That’s cool. Give us a call here at Premier Tree Solutions, a growing tree removal business based in Atlanta, Georgia. We specialize in all your tree-related services, including trimming and pruning, storm cleanup, stump grinding, branch clearing, debris removal, and great news, WE CAN DELIVER FREE MULCH!

Give us a call at 404-252-6448 or contact us here and find out more about how “mulch” we can help you!

Trees: An Oxygen Tank for Mother Earth

Breathing: kind of important, right? Unfortunately, with myriad sources continually releasing chemicals and poisons into the air, not to mention the increasing rate of deforestation, the simple act of breathing is becoming more and more difficult.  

Trees can help us there, counteracting ground pollution and an increasingly damaged atmosphere. Think of them as an oxygen tank or a rescue inhaler for the Earth, helping to deal with the increasing levels of “asthma” that affect our world.

How Do Trees Improve the Environment?

Most people know that trees produce oxygen, injecting this life-giving gas into the atmosphere with every exhale (yes, trees exhale!). In fact, according to North Carolina State University, a large tree can produce enough oxygen every day for four people to breathe.

Trees provide another important service as well, and that’s managing carbon dioxide. All plants breathe in carbon dioxide, and trees are no exception. Even more importantly, they then store it in the ground, a process known as carbon sequestration. This takes carbon out of the air, helping reduce the greenhouse effect and global warming as a whole.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Habitat (or Your Favorite Squirrel’s)

Moreover, trees provide habitat for animals of all shapes and sizes. They even provide many other plants a place to call home, as ferns, mosses, and seedlings grow on their branches or in the little pockets formed by branching limbs. Each tree added to the biome helps to make up for those that are being removed at a rapid rate to make room for housing, pasture, and other human pursuits.

In other words, trees work endlessly to improve their surrounding environment and increase the quality of life for all of us who live here on this Third Rock from the Sun.

Want to Do Your Part? Plant Trees

If you care about helping the Earth, your family, and yourself, there’s one simple thing you can do: plant trees. Of course, it’s easier said than done to properly plant then nurture and care for a tree, which is where Premier Tree Solutions comes in.

We’re a growing tree removal business based in Atlanta, Georgia, and we specialize in all things arboreal. We not only help with removal, but our services also include pruning and trimming, handling emergency storm damage, clean up, and assisting with branch clearing, stump grinding, and debris removal. No matter what you need to beautify your landscape, we can help – so get in touch today. Give us a call at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

BE A GEORGIA TREE KNOW-IT-ALL: Black Cherry

Get to know Georgia’s beautiful array of trees and how you can take care of your own! Each month, we feature some of the most popular trees in the state. We are showcasing the Black Cherry. Learn all about the Black Cherry tree below!

Characteristics

The Black Cherry tree produces little yellow-white cylindrical pendulums in May and dark purple to blackberries in August. Also known as the Prunus serotina, the Black Cherry tree grows to 70-80 feet and has a mature spread of 30 feet wide when in open, sunny and moist soil locations.

Landscape Uses

The tree is not recommended for planting in lawns because the berries tend to be messy. In addition, while the mature wood is very hard (often used in furniture-making), the new wood at the highest branches is soft and susceptible to storm damage.

Black Cherry Care

It’s best to prune the Black Cherry tree after the berries have fallen. Because the seeds germinate so easily, this tree can quickly invade lawns, borders, forests and even bushes. That’s right: It can grow from a seedling even in the underbrush! It prefers deep, moist, rich soil of varying pH levels but will tolerate poorer soils and drought once established.

Signs of Distress

Common Black Cherry tree characteristics include rot, spot and knot diseases. Trees can also get blight, canker and powdery mildew.

For pruning and trimming service — for your Black Cherry or any other tree — reach out to us online or give us a call at 404.252.6448.

Autumn Arboreal Awards: The Best-Dressed Trees in Fall

It’s that time of year again: the air is getting cooler, kids are picking out their Halloween costumes, and pumpkin spice has taken over from here to Seattle to Savannah. Just around the corner is the year’s best fireworks show: the changing of the leaves.

In response to cooler nights and crisper days, fall leaves begin to lose their chlorophyll – the compound that makes them green – leaving them bright, beautiful shades of orange and yellow. In some cases, red anthocyanin pigments also form.

The takeaway is that nature’s chemistry gives our eyes a treat. Now the question becomes: which trees are the best, and which should you consider for your own yard? Here are five of the top choices for fall color.

  1. Black Tupelo

The black tupelo is the answer to your desire to see all of the fall colors on one tree. Its leaves turn stunning variegated shades of red, orange, yellow, purple and scarlet, all on one branch – and sometimes in one leaf!

  1. Sugar Maple

Not only does this blessed tree give us the world’s best pancake topping, it’s also a show-stopping autumn beauty. In the earliest days of fall, it fades from green to yellow, then to orange, and then to fiery red before dropping its leaves altogether.

  1. Aspen

If you love yellow, aspen is here for you. Unlike some other trees, which display mottled leaves of various shades, the aspen is devoted to one color: yellow, yellow, and more yellow. Group these trees together for an extra-special color statement.

  1. Baldcypress

Typically, you don’t think of conifers as having fall color, because they’re not deciduous. The bald cypress, though, is an exception, losing its needles every fall in a brilliant orange show.

  1. Sweetgum

The sweetgum is notable not only for its lovely combination of yellow, red and purple leaves but for the fact that those leaves hang on for quite a while after other species go dormant.

Call Premier Tree Solutions if you’re ready to get a little of that fall color into your life and need help with cleaning up your property for fall. We are a tree care and removal business, based in Atlanta, and provide a variety of services, from trimming and pruning to storm cleanup, branch clearing, and stump removal. Keep your landscape and your trees healthy and happy by calling Premier Tree Solutions today!

What is that Smell? Meet the Callery Pear Tree

Dear Callery Pear Tree: What’s Your Deal?

The Callery pear, or Pyrus calleryana, is native to the Far East. It has a lovely shape and is a visually interesting plant year round. In fall, it turns gorgeous shades of fiery orange, red, and purple. In summer, it is covered in lacy green leaves, and in winter its bare branches outline a nice, round, even crown. In spring, white blossoms cover it from head to toe.

Only problem? El Stencho.

The scent of the Callery pear has been compared to chlorine, locker rooms, bleach water, and worse. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly for us to discuss some of the other comparisons but trust us: it’s bad. Of course, if you have a Callery pear in your yard, you don’t need anyone to tell you that: you’ve already experienced it in spring.

The Limb-Dropping Leviathan

Another downside of the Callery pear is how quickly it grows. This is one of the main reasons it is often used as a landscape tree because it fills in quickly, but it creates dangers as well. Plants that grow quickly don’t have time to develop strong crotches, and tend to drop limbs due to wind, snow, and ice. They’re also fairly invasive and compete with native trees up and down the east coast.

Good Riddance to Putrid Plants

Ready to get rid of that Callery pear for good? We can help. Premier Tree Solutions is a growing tree removal business in Atlanta. In addition to storm cleanup, branch clearing, trimming and pruning, we can also get that pesky tree out of your yard once and for all. If you’re tired of the stench of old bleachers and pool water, give us a call and we’ll take care of it.

If you don’t mind putting up with the smell and other downsides in exchange for what is definitely a beautiful tree, that’s just fine. Give us a call for trimming and pruning instead. That way, you can keep the plant in check before its insane growth rate can endanger your property or family. Either way, we can help!

BE A GEORGIA TREE KNOW-IT-ALL: White Ash

Get to know Georgia’s beautiful array of trees and how you can take care of your own! Each month, we feature some of the most popular trees in the state. For October, we are showcasing the White Ash. The White Ash is a large, deciduous tree with medium to coarse texture and medium growth rate. It can also grow to 50 and 80 feet tall. Learn more information below!

White Ash

BE A GEORGIA TREE KNOW-IT-ALL: Butternut

Get to know Georgia’s beautiful array of trees and how you can take care of your own! Each month, we feature some of the most popular trees in the state. For September, we are showcasing the Butternut Tree. Butternut trees are nut trees that make clusters of sweet nuts that are used in baking. When mature, butternut trees have a spread of about 35 to 50 feet. Learn more information below!

Let There be Fruit! How to Grow Your Own Fruit Trees From Leftovers

Are you looking for a neat way to grow your own fruit trees? If so, there’s a good chance you can start in your kitchen. That’s right. You can use leftovers and scraps in your kitchen to grow fruit trees. Let’s take a closer look at how you can do this. 

How to Use Scraps in the Kitchen to Grow Fruit Trees

First, you will need to find any leftover fruit. The type of fruit you have will, of course, determine the type of fruit trees you are able to grow. For now, let’s take a look at what you will need to grow a pineapple tree, orange tree, and tomato plant. 

What you need:

  • Leftover pineapple
  • Leftover orange
  • Leftover tomato
  • Cups
  • Toothpicks
  • Seed-starting soil

Pineapple Tree

To grow a pineapple tree, you are first going to slice off the crown of the leftover pineapple (you want as little fruit attached to it as possible). Now, pluck off the leaves, making sure that five inches of the crown can be seen. Next, set​ the crown outside in a sunny spot for two to seven days to ensure it dries as much as possible. Once dry, place the crown in a glass of water, using toothpicks to hold it up so that only about a quarter of the bottom part of it is in the water (the pointy end should be facing upward, not touching the water). You will want to change the water once a week. After two to three weeks, roots should be visible and you will transfer the plant into the seed-starting soil once the roots have achieved two to three inches in length. 

Tomato Plant

  • Take a leftover tomato and slice it into three horizontal pieces.
  • Fill a cup three-fourths of the way with seed-starting soil and lay the pieces of tomato on top.
  • Cover the tomato pieces with more soil until the cup is almost full.
  • Leave in direct sunlight and moisten the soil frequently.
  • Watch your tomato plant grow.

Orange tree

Take the seeds out of a leftover orange and clean them with tepid water. Next, fill a plastic cup with seed-starting soil, but make sure you first create two to four drainage holes in it. Now, push your seeds about a half inch under the soil and add just a bit of water to ensure the soil is moistened but not soggy. Take plastic wrap and cover the cup and set it in a warm place. Once the seed has sprouted, you will need to remove the plastic and set in a sunny spot. Water the seedling often, but with only small amounts of water. If the tree becomes too large, you can plant it in the ground or move to a larger container. 

 

Here at Premier Tree Solutions, we love all trees. We’re experts at trimming, pruning, storm cleanup, tree removal, stump grinding, and many other services. Give us a call today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

Save Your Trees From Growing Pains: The Best and Worst Fertilizers for Your Trees

When it comes to taking good care of your residential or commercial property, it all starts with your landscaping. Fortunately, there are several tips you can follow to help ensure your trees and plants look their best at all times. Let’s take a quick look at the best and worst fertilizers to get for your trees. 

There are several nutrients that your trees will need in order for them to grow to their fullest potential. These nutrients are typically separated into three categories:

  • Macronutrients
  • Secondary nutrients
  • Micronutrients

The three main macronutrients that are needed are potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous. You need to make sure the fertilizer you choose for your trees has large amounts of each of these macronutrients. Secondary nutrients that the fertilizer should be rich in include magnesium, calcium, carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen. Most of these nutrients are acquired through air and soil, so a fertilizer does not need heavy amounts of them. The micronutrients that a fertilizer needs to provide are zinc, boron, copper, manganese, nickel, and chlorine. 

It is highly recommended that before you purchase a specific type of fertilizer for your trees that you first perform a soil test; this will help you pinpoint the exact nutrients that your soil is lacking. By pinpointing these nutrients, you can then know which type of fertilizer will be best for your trees. 

Types of Fertilizers: The Best and the Worst

The best type of fertilizer for your trees will depend on your needs and goals. Liquid fertilizers tend to be very fast-acting. Trees absorb them quickly, meaning they need to be applied once every two to three weeks. Most times, these fertilizers require that you mix them with water. A granular fertilizer will be applied in dry form and is easy to control because you can see how much you are applying as well as exactly where the fertilizer is landing on the ground. Available in two forms — quick-release and slow-release — granular fertilizer proves very advantageous for growing trees. Lastly, plant food spikes are another type of fertilizer that ​works well. You drive the spikes directly into the ground by the tree you are growing and nutrients are released over an extended period of time. 

Need an expert for tree services? Contact Premier Tree Solutions today! We’re experts at trimming, pruning, storm cleanup, tree removal, stump grinding, and many other services. Give us a call at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

Be a Georgia Tree Know-It-All: American Hornbeam

Get to know Georgia’s beautiful array of trees and how you can take care of your own! Each month, we feature some of the most popular trees in the state. In this blog, we are showcasing the American Hornbeam. At a mature state, The American Hornbeam can grow between 20-30 feet. Learn more information about the American Hornbeam below!

American Hornbeam