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The Biology of Trees and How to Take Care of Them

School is out for summer and people are enjoying the warm outdoors. Around this time, the trees are now full of leaves, ready to soak up the summer sun. Have you ever wondered how trees grow? What even is a tree, exactly? In this article, Connor Tree Service will tell you all you ever wanted to know about trees and later explain an important way to take care of them.

What Exactly Are Trees?

In the most simple of terms, a tree is a plant with a wooden stem and is a perennial. A perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. Hold on though, wouldn’t bushes qualify as trees, then?

In truth, there isn’t a precise set of standards for what qualifies, but there is a general rule of thumb that most experts agree on, that being that in addition to the plant having the wooden stem and being a perennial, it also grows to more than 13 feet tall. While some bushes are still going to pass through this filter, in general, you can tell a tree from a bush when you look at one.

How Do Trees Grow?

As trees age, they don’t just grow to a certain width and then only grow taller. They continue to grow in both width and depth as well. Trees grow taller by forming new cells at the ends of their branches. They grow in-depth through their roots, working the same way as the branches, which spread deeper and further out into the soil as they age.

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How Old Is My Tree?

You can actually tell the age of a tree with a relatively high degree of precision by counting the number of rings in the wood. However, this method involves cutting down the tree, so a less precise method is typically used, where they will measure the circumference of the tree in centimeters and get a decent ballpark estimate of the age by multiplying that by the growth factor of the given tree. This growth factor varies between types of trees, so it’s important to have the correct multiplier.

The Importance of Pruning

Now that you know what trees are and how they grow, the experts in tree service in Mt. Pleasant, SC will show how you can take care of them and keep them in their best shape.

It is important to understand that while trees are normally capable of taking care of themselves to a degree, if you want the ones on your property to be in the best condition, you will need to have occasional maintenance done on them. Prunings are normally the go-to.

A typical pruning that doesn’t disrupt the tree’s growth involves the removal of all the deadwood that the tree is wasting resources on, as it will continue to send nutrients to places that aren’t even using them. This is something that a tree has no mechanism to do itself, so it’s very important to have it performed periodically.

If you’re looking to prune the tree for other reasons, like removing a healthy branch that might be too close to your home, you may want to consult with an expert like us on when the best time to schedule a pruning would be. Pruning healthy branches won’t kill the tree, but it will hurt it a bit and will take some time for it to heal over the place where the branch was removed.

This also slows the growth of the tree, so a younger tree that’s still filling in will take even longer to reach maturity. The best time to perform the majority of the work is during the winter when the tree isn’t actively using resources to grow.

Lastly, remember that prunings aren’t something that can be done carelessly. If you just cut at any angle, you have a chance of either damaging the blade, hurting yourself, or even potentially fatally wounding the tree if you cut directly into the main trunk. When in doubt, leave it to the professionals.

Final Thoughts

To the layman, it may seem like trees don’t require any sort of maintenance. They’re everywhere, all over the world, they can take care of themselves just fine, right? The truth is that trees are complex beings and if you want them to really thrive, you need to give them some tender loving care. The experts at our Mt. Pleasant tree service are here to help. Contact us to get a quote for your unique needs today.

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