Tree CareTree care is the practice of using the methods of the management, cultivation and study of trees (and other perennial woody plants like vines and shrubs), such as felling, trimming, pruning, and thinning in the human made environment of homes, buildings, sidewalks, energy and sanitation systems. Tree care is one aspect of urban forestry. Though urban my conjure ideas of large cities, it need not be so. Urban refers to even suburban or rural areas, wherever trees are deeply interwoven into the fabric of human settlments.
Tree care is important because trees are essential part of the built human environment. Trees serve several important functions that affect humans and our settled areas including large cities like ours. One major function of trees is that they improve air quality by removing pollutants from the air. Tree do this by filtering through their leaves, larger sized pollutants called particulate matter that are the result of burning fuels like gasoline, dust or microscopic metals. These materials are more numerous in urban environments. When these materials contact the leaves of a tree they get trapped, deposited on the tree so to speak. Trees also disperse particulate matter by thinning clouds of particulate matter that contact them. Another function of trees is that to produce oxygen. Trees produce oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process whereby light energy is converted into chemical energy. In the case of trees the light is comes from the sun and is absorbed by the leaves of the tree. When the light hits the leaves, it combines with the water and carbon dioxide also absorbed by the leaves and separates the carbon from the oxygen. The carbon is used to create produce carbohydrates in the form of sugars that combines with other nutrients to feed the plant. The oxygen is released a a byproduct of producing the energy for the plant. That oxygen released into the atmosphere is what we and many other living things use to breath. Because tree's need carbon dioxide to produce energy for themselves they are important factors in reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Less carbon in the atmosphere helps to reduce the effects of climate change. Those are just two of the ways trees are essential to human life. Because trees are so important and valuable, caring for trees is equally important. This is even more the case when we consider that trees in our human built world face stressors they do not face in their natural environments. They do not have the the same defenses or adaptation mechanisms available to them that they would have in the wild. That's why trees need human help to thrive. The best way to keep trees thriving is perform periodic seasonal checkups. Trees in winter need different things than in summer and spring and in fall different than in winter, spring and summer. During a regular tree care check-up a your tree expert will check for physical or pest damage, review tree growth, touch up or install mulching, address soil compaction. |
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