You don't need to be an arborist to look after your trees. But knowing a few basics can save you a lot of money and hassle down the track.
Walk Around and Look Up
Sounds simple, right? But this is genuinely the single most useful thing you can do. Every few months, walk your property and look at your trees. Dead branches up top? Cracks in the trunk? Fungi growing at the base? Soil lifting on one side? These are all things you can spot without any qualifications.
In Orange, where orange has cool winters and strong winds that can cause branch damage and tree instability., seasonal shifts hit trees hard. A quick check in late autumn — before the winter storms roll in — can flag branches that should come off before they come off on their own. A spring walk-around catches early signs of pest or disease issues while they're still manageable. And every two to three years, get a professional arborist in for a proper assessment. We pick up things the untrained eye misses.
Working With the Central Tablelands Seasons
The climate here throws a few curveballs at trees. During dry, hot stretches, established trees benefit from a deep soak — especially in compacted suburban soil that sheds water instead of absorbing it. Spread a thick layer of organic mulch over the root zone (keep it away from the trunk) to hold moisture and keep roots cool.
Winter is your best window for pruning deciduous trees. Leaves are gone, you can see the branch structure clearly, and cuts heal well while the tree's dormant. Evergreens like Elm, Maple, Ash, Gum can be pruned most of the year, though it's best to avoid the extremes of midsummer heat and deep winter cold.
After any decent storm, do a visual check even if nothing's obviously come down. Cracks you can't see from inside, partly detached branches jammed high in the canopy — these hide until the next big blow, when they become a real problem.
Things That Do More Harm Than Good
We see well-meaning property owners accidentally damage their trees all the time. Here are the big ones:
Never top a tree. Cutting the leader or major branches back to stubs wrecks the structure and triggers a mass of weak, poorly attached regrowth. It looks terrible and it's dangerous.
Skip the wound paint. Those tins of "pruning seal" at the hardware store? They trap moisture and actually promote decay. Modern arboriculture ditched them years ago. A clean cut heals on its own.
Don't park heavy vehicles or stack materials over root zones. Don't pile soil or mulch against the trunk — that creates collar rot, which can kill a tree.
And please, don't tackle big branches yourself. A wrong cut creates a decay pathway into the tree, and falling timber is no joke. For properties across Bloomfield, Calare, Glenroi, Lucknow, Spring Hill, Clifton Grove, Nashdale, Borenore, we're happy to do scheduled maintenance visits. Keeps your trees healthy, keeps you safe, and it's a lot less stressful than a DIY disaster.