Plant Health Care and Trees
Plant health care, also called PHC, offers a total health approach to landscape and plant health. Your arborist will monitor your property, watching for potential or actual problems in your landscape that might be best avoided or dealt with by implementing a PHC treatment program.
Traditional landscape pest control programs rely on “cover sprays.” The pest-control sprays offered to the client are based on the company’s knowledge of common pest problems and control measures in the service area. The cover-spray type, method, and timing are pre-determined by the company. The homeowner may have the option to choose from several pest-control programs. Traditional pest control programs are not necessarily obsolete or “bad” for the environment and maybe the best option for clients who have overriding concerns about program costs or are only concerned about one specific pest problem.
In contrast, plant health care technicians consider the landscape when deciding how to best care for plants. PHC technicians manage plant problems through careful monitoring of the landscape environment. Chemical controls may be part of the treatment, but they are not necessarily used in every treatment. Because of this, every PHC program is customized to fit the client’s property and expectations.
The PHC technician maintains landscaped plants by:
- evaluating the landscape’s environment
- noting the causes of plant stress (stressors)
- maintaining plant performance through proper cultural practices
- investigating the landscape through monitoring
- identifying and treating problems as they occur
The following are examples of some common problems:
- Improper matching of the plant’s requirements to the landscape site
- Improperly planted
- Subjected to improper maintenance practices
- A combination of improper plant siting (wrong plant/wrong site), improper planting and improper maintenance techniques can cause plant stress and decline.
Your expectations
A PHC technician also will consider your expectations when deciding how to implement a PHC treatment program. One important question is, when do you, the client, want to resort to chemical control of pest problems? Some clients will tolerate a greater percentage of plant damage before requiring action. Other clients will tolerate very little plant damage. Often a client will tolerate less damage on a prized ornamental specimen tree located in the front yard as opposed to a group of shade trees growing in the backyard. This requires the PHC technician to apply a higher action threshold to some trees and/or sections of the landscape than others. Here, communication and understanding between the client and plant health care technician are key.
A professional arborist can examine your trees to find the source of a problem and recommend what, if any, treatments are required, including thinning dense woods, planting new trees, correcting soil deficiencies, increasing water and nutrients, or managing pests.
Need help finding a certified arborist to help with your plant health concerns? Click here!
*Information provided by a TCI Board Certified Master Arborist, Certified Treecare Safety Professional.
Recent droughty summers, a cold winter, and various other environmental and pest problems have killed many trees in our area. Usually when a tree is removed a stump is left behind. Here are several suggestions on how to remove tree stumps easily, quickly, and economically.
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if any, treatments are required, including thinning dense woods, planting new trees, correcting soil deficiencies, increasing water and nutrients, or managing pests.
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Often a client will tolerate less damage on a prized ornamental specimen tree located in the front yard as opposed to a group of shade trees growing in the backyard. This requires the PHC technician to apply a higher action threshold to some trees and/or sections of the landscape than others. Here, communication and understanding between the client and plant health care technician are key.
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Plant health care, also called PHC, offers a total health approach to landscape and plant health. Your arborist will monitor.
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A fundamental understanding of basic tree biology is pertinent to ensuring your PHC professional’s properly advise you on the species that can and should be planted within your area. We strive to educate all of our tree service customers on making these types of decisions. A true PHC professional always should. Thanks for publishing this information.
Often a client will tolerate less damage on a prized ornamental specimen tree located in the front yard as opposed to a group of shade trees growing in the backyard. This requires the PHC technician to apply a higher action threshold to some trees and/or sections of the landscape than others. Here, communication and understanding between the client and plant health care technician are key.
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I think most of the time that homeowners thing plant and tree care is done strictly by nature. They don’t understand that plants are no different than humans. A little care goes a long way to a healthy life.
We never really worked with smaller plants for customers only their larger trees but sometimes we see plants that need a large amount of help!
Impressive content. Worth reading for.
I learned a lot from your post. I am also having a hard time caring for my plants and trees. This is really helpful and I will share this with my coworkers. Thank you!
This is really helpful to those who are having a hard time like me. Thank you!
I appreciate your post and I like the content! Thank you!
A professional arborist like myself will be able to identify any issues trees may be causing. It may not be growing properly or looks a little funny. This is a great article with helpful facts!