Plant Health & Maintenance

(click the issue name for detailed information)

Chlorosis

Chlorosis is a common problem of shade trees growing in the urban areas of Minnesota. Oaks tend to be highly susceptible, but many other tree species including maples and birch also suffer from this disorder. This is a chronic condition which slowly decreases a tree’s overall vigor and ability to survive.

Girdling Roots

Urban landscapes are filled with trees that are planted too deeply. When root systems of trees are planted as little as six inches to several feet below the soil surface, they are buried too deep. These roots are unable to support the nutrient and water needs of the tree.

Manganese and Iron Chlorosis

One character of tree soils that can directly impact tree health is soil pH. The pH of the soil influences the ability of soils to release and or hold onto chemical nutrients that are needed for trees to live and be healthy. The measurement of pH is just the ability of soils to exchange hydrogen ions for other chemical elements.

Prescription Organic Matter

At Rainbow Treecare we understand that the nutritional needs of trees are species specific and change from infancy through maturity. Based on twenty years of University research, Rainbow Treecare has developed soil modifiers that improve the ability of roots to absorb water and nutrients at all stages of life.

Root Enhancement System

The majority of a tree’s biomass is underground in its root system. Since trees cannot move they must survive by adapting to the soil conditions in which they are placed. Urban situations stress a tree’s ability to maintain and regenerate root health, which is reflected in its above ground appearance. Rainbow Treecare has developed a Root Enhancement System© (RES) that promotes fibrous root growth for greater capacity to acquire water and nutrients from urban soils, resulting in increased tree health and vigor.

Tree Cabling

Tree cabling involves the installation of hardware that is intended to reduce the risk of catastrophic failure. Support cables are used to reduce tree damage by limiting the lateral movement of branches and increasing the weight that a supported branch joint can sustain.

Tree Growth and Tree Health

Growth is not always healthy. Just ask a doctor if you should eat less and exercise more. The same scenario goes for trees. As trees mature they need to grow less and utilize their photosynthetic energy for other processes like reproduction, defense and storage. In urban environments we often need to slow a trees growth to help it recover from stresses such as root damage, soil compaction, and severe pruning.

Tree Nutrition

Rainbow Treecare utilizes prescriptive nutrient programs based on soil tests to enhance tree and shrub growth, vigor and environmental stress resistance. By understanding that a “one size fits all” fertilization program is not in the best interests of plant health, we reduce the potential problems associated with the over and under application of fertilizer. Rainbow Treecare utilizes soil and plant information to manage the health of individual trees based upon actual nutritional needs.

Trees and Drought

Trees require four resources to live: 1) sunlight 2) carbon dioxide 3) nutrients 4) water. Water drives all the processes within a tree from photosynthesis to root growth and nutrient uptake. As trees grow they invest energy in creating a root system that will support them in times when water is a scarce commodity. In urban landscapes we often create situations where the trees’ natural drought resistance is damaged or is circumvented. In these situations trees can be irreparably damaged by a lack of water.