PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) \u2014 The hot, dry summer may have taken a toll on your trees, so now is a good time to prepare for the coming fall.<\/p>\n
According to Dan Preziosi, the director of trees at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, it\u2019s good to take steps to make sure trees are ready as the weather starts to cool down.<\/p>\n
He says you should make sure your trees get enough water, but that it\u2019s important to aerate the soil around tree roots as well. It could be as simple as using a garden hoe or or other tools to loosen up the top couple of inches of dirt under the drip line of the tree \u2014 the ring of soil that extends to the outer edges of the tree\u2019s leaves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s a tree that\u2019s in a yard that a lot of kids have been playing around all summer and the soil might have gotten compacted, fall\u2019s a good time to kind of loosen that up and take some measures to make sure it gets through the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
After aerating the soil, it\u2019s good to follow up by adding a thin layer of mulch on top. <\/p>\n
Preziosi added that making sure trees are well-watered can help keep them from starting to turn their leaves too early. <\/p>\n
He also said that fall is the perfect time for planting trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives them a chance to get established over the winter,\u201d he explained. \u201cUsually they\u2019re going into their dormancy, so they don\u2019t get as stressed during their planting. You don\u2019t have to nurse them in as much as you would if you planted them in the spring.\u201d <\/p>\n
Preziosi said that if you\u2019re interested in planting a tree, you can apply for one<\/a> on the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society website. The society does plantings twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring \u2014 with fall being the more popular season. He encourages people to try to submit their applications as soon as possible so their trees can be planted in time.<\/p>\n