April Spotlight for Trees in Minnesota

**Top 3 Tree & Landscape Tasks for April**

The BIG Oak’s April TREEfecta

Every month, The BIG Oak will spotlight 3 tasks to focus on for each month. Here is a look at the TREEfecta for April:

#1 Landscape Bed Clean-up

Once the snow melts, it is time to get landscape beds cleaned-up and ready to go for spring. This would include any of the following items:

#1 Pruning / cut-back of hydrangea and roses.

#2 Cut-back for all ornamental grasses.

#3 Cut-back for any remaining flowering perennials that were not cut-back in fall.

#4 Shrub rejuvenation

#5 General weeding / bed clean-up

#6 Application of weed prevention

Ornamental grasses must be cut down before new growth gets mixed in with old growth. At that point it become difficult to separate new green growth with old brown growth from the previous season.

#2 Tree and Bed Mulching

This can be done along with landscape bed clean-up work or as a separate service. I prefer to mulch early in spring, so trees and beds looks good as the grass starts to green up in spring.

April is a great time to weed and clean-up mulch circles for trees and landscape beds.

#3 Tree and Shrub Fertilization

Trees in urban sites have to grow in an environment which is very different from where they thrive in nature. Trees in natural settings grow in a soil that is not compacted by construction, lawn mowers, and other human activity. The soil is rich in nutrients, leaf litter, and organics. Biological activity of natural soils is high. And, of course, there are no lawns to compete with in natural settings. The annual practice of raking up leaves in fall from a mature tree can remove as much as 35% of the nutrients that a tree would need for the following year to grow and be healthy. Fertilizing trees in urban sites can be one of the most proactive, cost-effective maintenance practices that can be done.

Bonus reminder from The BIG Oak = Lawn fertilization is NOT tree fertilization.