What To Use for Tree Protection During Construction in Indian River Shore, FL

Tree protection during construction is important if you want the plant to survive. In this post, King Tree Management, Indian River’s trusted tree service, explains more about how to protect your trees. 

General Tree Protection Measures

You can start by creating highly visible barricades around the healthy trees and areas you want to protect. For the best results, place the barricade outside of the dripline to ensure that you protect the roots from compaction. A good rule of thumb is to extend the line one foot for every one inch of trunk diameter. 

Next, check the area inside for soil health and appropriate water amounts. If need be, top up deficient nutrients and make sure the ground’s moist. You’ll need to check this once a week as the tree root may need more water because of the stress of construction. 

You can reduce the stress by covering the tree protection zone with wood chips that are at least four to six inches deep. This helps regulate the soil temperature and locks moisture in. It can also protect against soil compaction. 

What To Guard Against

Knowing what kinds of things to guard against helps you prepare better tree protection during construction. Here are some of the most common issues and how to guard against them. 

Bark Removal

Many machines can strip the bark. The tree won’t survive if the damage is too extensive. You can try wrapping blankets around the trunk before the work starts. 

Surface Grading

This is where your protection zone comes in handy. It tells the contractor where to stop. If they grade the surface too close to the tree, they’ll damage the feeder roots. You can also put a temporary retaining wall around protected trees. 

Trenching

With trenching, the machines literally cut through the root system. This causes extensive damage, and the roots may not survive. Responsible contractors will protect the tree by boring under it. 

Where this isn’t possible, try to position the trench as far from the trunk as possible. Then, make sure that you cut the roots cleanly to facilitate healing. 

Soil Compaction 

This is most often due to heavy machinery driving over the root area. The weight forces air and water out of the soil. Unless you take steps to dig over the ground or punch holes into it, the tree will smother to death. 

The wood chip barrier is very useful in preventing compaction. 

Avoid Soil Fills

Many contractors dump soil they dug out back into the garden. The tree base looks like a good spot, but it’s not. Having too much soil makes it difficult for the roots to get rid of carbon dioxide. 

You’ll see signs of this if the tree starts dying back. It may take some years to occur. Other indicators include smaller leaves and discoloration. 

Contact Our Team for Advice

Would you like to know more about tree protection during construction or something else, like the causes of tree death? The King Tree Management team has the answers. Call us at (772) 633-1939 to schedule a consultation and learn more.