Fertilize your own trees? (Frost: power lines, luxury, camper)

[motown mary]

Got a ghastly quote for treating my oak trees this fall...thinking about doing it myself.
Has anyone taken on tree maintenance themselves? In Michigan, we never worried about fertilizing but I guess it's critical here because of the pests & heat. Our oak has some scorching that fertilization will prevent next spring, as well as some holes in the leaves from critters.

[SnappyBob]

In the spring spread some good compost around the base in the shape of a dough nut and don't let the ground around it dry out too much during droughts. A good wet for a while and allowed to dry before soaking again cycle is best. Just do that and they should be fine. Oaks in the forest don't have anyone coming around annually to apply fertilizer. Spend you money on the soil that your trees are growing in. The hole in the leaves are probably from a wasp that lays it's eggs on the leaves. Totally harmless unless the tree is baren of leaves right now which would be unusual and cause for alarm. Oak wilt is a problem in some areas. If it is a problem in your area I just wouldn't plant any new oaks.

[motown mary]

Helpful, thanks! You're totally right about letting nature do it's thing, it was just sounding like hiring a tree guy is "what you do" down here. Have you ever trimmed your own trees? What do you paint the wounds with? And is there a certain time of year to trim oaks? Back in MI, we had to wait until fall to trim back our Japanese Maple.

[Camper1]

Texas Oak Wilt Information Partnership.

Just be careful.

[SnappyBob]

It's best to wait for a good "killing Frost" to trim your trees. They make a commercial paint to cover the wounds with but I've heard that any latex paint works just as well.

By all means check out the link supplied by camper1. There is some good information there.

[Camper1]

Originally Posted by SnappyBob

It's best to wait for a good "killing Frost" to trim your trees. They make a commercial paint to cover the wounds with but I've heard that any latex paint works just as well.

By all means check out the link supplied by camper1. There is some good information there.

Just FYI, CPS is out trimming our trees that are to close to the power lines as I write this so I am going to go out on a limb here ( ) and guess now would be an OK time to trim. I spoke with a supervisor yesterday and they said any paint will do, JUST DO IT now.

I have posted this before, but we have oak wilt. You don't want it.

[TXtrkgrl]

I hear that you need to paint them within 5 minutes of cutting.

[SnappyBob]

CPS trims trees all year long. They have to in order to keep up. They don't have the luxury of waiting for the best time for the trees sake. Their main objective is to keep the limbs away from their power lines. Your trees are not going to fall over dead if you trim them now or any other time. Winter time is the optimum time but not necessarily the most opportune time.

It's almost impossible to protect your trees 100% from disease infestation entering through wounds. There are too many opportunities for wounds. There are lightning strikes, wood peckers, lawn mowers banging into trunks, even string trimmers used too aggressively on especially young trees can do a lot of damage.