Tips for preparing your trees for cooler weather in the fall

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The hot, dry summer may have taken a toll on your trees, so now is a good time to prepare for the coming fall.

According to Dan Preziosi, the director of trees at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, it’s good to take steps to make sure trees are ready as the weather starts to cool down.

He says you should make sure your trees get enough water, but that it’s 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 — the ring of soil that extends to the outer edges of the tree’s leaves.

“If it’s a tree that’s in a yard that a lot of kids have been playing around all summer and the soil might have gotten compacted, fall’s a good time to kind of loosen that up and take some measures to make sure it gets through the winter.”

After aerating the soil, it’s good to follow up by adding a thin layer of mulch on top.

Preziosi added that making sure trees are well-watered can help keep them from starting to turn their leaves too early.

He also said that fall is the perfect time for planting trees.

“That gives them a chance to get established over the winter,” he explained. “Usually they’re going into their dormancy, so they don’t get as stressed during their planting. You don’t have to nurse them in as much as you would if you planted them in the spring.”

Preziosi said that if you’re interested in planting a tree, you can apply for one on the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society website. The society does plantings twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring — 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.

PHS also offers applications for people interested in volunteering to help with tree planting.