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Oak Care in El Dorado Hills Yards

Is your oak in El Dorado Hills looking tired? Call us now at (530) 255-2773. We'll book a local tree trimming company to walk your yard, check the roots and the sprinklers, and say what the tree truly needs.

Here's the funny part. Most oaks in landscaped yards don't die from being too dry. They get too much love.

What a stressed yard oak in El Dorado Hills looks like

Look for leaves that fade or brown at the edges. Look for a thin crown, small new growth, or twigs that die back. Mushrooms at the base are a bad sign too.

In the Master Gardener oak talk, a mushroom showing on the trunk can mean the wood inside is riddled with fungus. The fungus is not what kills the tree. The harm to the wood can bring a limb, or the trunk, down. So a mushroom at the base is worth a call.

Another thing to check is the ground under the tree. Is there lawn? Are there flower beds, or rocks piled around the trunk? Those are the usual causes of trouble.

Oaks mostly want to be left alone

The talk's advice on oaks is mostly a list of what to skip. Here are the main ones, in plain words.

• Don't water them in summer, except in a long drought.
• Don't plant inside the drip line if you can help it. The drip line is the ring on the ground under the tips of the branches.
• Don't rake up the fallen leaves. They work as mulch.
• Keep mulch back from the trunk and the swollen roots at its base.
• Don't pile rocks on the roots or pour cement over them.
• Keep string trimmers away. Germs can get in through the wounds.
• Skip the fertilizer and the weed killer.

That's a short list, and it saves a lot of money.

Lawns, sprinklers and root rot

This is the big one in suburban yards. Grass under an oak, the talk warns, can bring disease when water keeps hitting the trunk or the shallow roots. Armillaria, known as oak root fungus, thrives in warm, wet ground. Phytophthora root and crown rot comes from soggy ground and poor drainage.

UC's drought guide says the same thing in another way. Constant moisture near the base of the tree in summer heat raises the chance of root fungus. It says to avoid frequent summer watering of oaks.

So check your sprinkler heads. If one sprays the trunk, move it. If a flower bed under the oak gets daily water, talk to the pro about changing that.

Not everyone agrees on how much summer water an oak can take. One tree group in Palo Alto flatly says not to water mature native oaks in summer. The UC Master Gardener guide allows a little help in a long drought, if you do it right. See below.

If you must water in a drought

UC Master Gardeners in San Luis Obispo give these steps for native oaks.

• Native oaks usually don't need water once they are settled in. A long drought can change that.
• Early spring is the best time for extra water, if winter rain fell short.
• If summer water is needed, give a few slow, deep soakings over several hours, down to 18 to 24 inches. Let the soil dry for a month or two in between.
• Start about halfway between the trunk and the drip line. Go out 10 to 15 feet past the drip line.
• Never wet the trunk. Keep water a few feet from the base.

Roots spread far. The same guide says most roots sit in the top 3 feet of soil, and they reach well past the drip line. The busiest water-drinking part is the area from the drip line outward.

Want to check your work? Push a long screwdriver into the ground two days after watering. It slides easily through wet soil, so you can see how deep the water went.

Mulch, roots and the work zone

A thin layer of oak leaves under the tree is the best mulch there is. If you add wood chips, UC Master Gardeners say 2 to 4 inches is plenty. Keep them away from the trunk.

Soil packing hurts too. Packed soil from building houses, drives, walks and roads hurts the roots too, the talk says. They get less water and less food. Parking a truck under an oak every day does the same thing, slowly.

Planning a new patio? Tell the pro before you dig. Cutting big roots can hurt a tree as much as cutting big limbs.

What an oak care visit in El Dorado Hills costs

The visit itself should be free to ask for. Pruning an oak is where the money goes.

These are national guides, so treat them as a rough map. Fixing a sprinkler problem usually costs less than pruning. That's one reason to start with a look.

Why El Dorado Hills tree trimming starts with a call

An oak problem often has two parts, the tree and the yard around it. A single pro can see both. We find one who works in El Dorado Hills and book the walk-through.

You don't have to know the words. Just tell us what you see.

Tree trimming in El Dorado Hills, step by step

1. Call us or send the form. Tell us about the oak and what's under it.
2. We book a nearby pro to walk the yard.
3. The pro checks the crown, the base and the ground around it.
4. You hear what's wrong, what's fine and what to change.
5. If work is needed, you get a price first.