As sturdy as trees are, they require regular care to make sure they stay healthy and safe from pests and disease. Pests can do a surprising amount of damage to your trees, so it's worth putting in the time and effort to keep them out of your yard. Here's how you can protect your trees from annoying and harmful pests.

Take Care of Your Soil

While it might seem counterintuitive to focus on your soil with so much of your trees above ground, healthy soil is a great way to indirectly keep pests away from your trees. Keeping your soil in good condition helps your trees stay healthy and covers many weaknesses that pests can take advantage of. Here are a few ways to keep your soil healthy.

• Keep your soil well aerated and avoid over-watering; soil that stays waterlogged too long can suffocate trees or cause root rot.
• Remove weeds and other invasive plants from around your trees. Not only do they compete with your trees for resources, but they can provide homes or food for pests that can then move to your trees.
• Avoid over-fertilizing your trees, as this can also weaken or kill roots or harm the rest of your trees.

Healthy soil is a more indirect method of keeping pests away, but strong and healthy trees are much less susceptible to damage from pests. If you're worried your soil isn't in as good a shape as it could be, an arborist can help by examining and testing your soil to see if anything needs to be done to improve it.

Bring in Pest-Eating Insects

Just as there are insects that can damage your trees, there are insects who hunt common pests who would be a welcome addition to your trees or garden. There are several pros to using insects to help keep your pest problem in check. While many pests can develop resistance to pesticides, they can't do the same with predators. Pesticides will also wipe out both harmful and beneficial insects, which may not always be ideal. Finally, introducing these predators to your garden can be much less expensive than regular treatments.

There are a few ways you can go about bringing these insects to your trees. First, you can try adding plants that attract these insects. If you aren't sure what you need, ask for a professional consultation to see what would benefit you most. Second, you can buy insects in bulk to be released into your yard. If you're looking for a quick solution, the latter will help more, but it's a good idea to read up on them before buying and releasing them for the best possible results.

Have Trees Professionally Treated

When in doubt, professionals are always there to help. Beyond using chemical treatments to both kill existing pests and protect your trees before they can be harmed, arborists can make all kinds of recommendations as to what your trees need to be healthier and more resistant to pests. This may be changed to how your trees are trimmed or irrigated or addressing soil problems. The health of your soil will be checked, but they may also need to check the depth of your trees as well.

If they do determine that your trees need to be chemically treated, they can decide what treatments to use and when they should be applied. What treatments are used can depend on anything from what type of pests are in your yard and what kind of trees you have to what time of year it is and current weather conditions, so it's a good idea to seek professional tree and shrub care services when trying to get rid of pests using chemicals.

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