Liriope’s Muse: Tree Care Tips from a Master Arborist
TRUSTED TREE CARE SERVICES SINCE 1970
Liriopes Muse: What To Do With Dead Trees In Your Landscape
Disclaimer:
It is important to note that not all trees make good candidates to be recycled and reused. If the tree has succumbed to a pest infestation of any kind, the following ideas are not applicable. Borers and other pests leave trees brittle, hollow, and dangerous and pose a risk to the other trees and shrubs in your yard. In this case, it would be best to have the full tree cut down and removed from your property.
If your tree has succumbed to a disease or fungus of some kind, it is important to consult with an arborist to make sure it is safe to use its wood in your landscape. Because many diseases and fungal infections are highly contagious and can innoculate the healthy trees and shrubs in your yard. Fungal infections can be especially dangerous as they can remain in your landscape for 25-50 years preventing you from reestablishing a healthy landscape.
Get Creative!
The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting and reusing parts of a tree! From DIY projects that take just a few hours to projects that require professional level skills or simply gathering dropped leaves and sticks to create something simple. Getting creative can give your old tree a new life and not only is a great way to reuse it, but is a free way to spruce up your yard!
The following are some examples of crafts that you can make with your tree:
- Hollow out stumps for planters
- Make wood slice coasters
- Create wood yard furniture
- Chisel out a sculpture
- Carve cutting boards
- Press leaves in a picture frame
- Paint leaves or wood slices
For more crafty inspiration I recommend browsing Pinterest!
Repurpose it!
Not the crafty type? Repurposing your dead tree is a good way to give it a second life!
- Firewood is one great way that you can repurpose the trees wood and save a few dollars. Just ask the tree crew to leave a few logs behind and split them yourself. (to learn more about splitting firewood, see here)
- With the help of a lumber milling company, you can mill the wood into your very own lumber!
- Grinding up the extra wood into chips or mulch for your landscaping is another excellent way to repurpose your tree. When the stump of your tree is being ground you can ask the tree crew to leave the wood chips behind. This said, not all trees make good candidates for mulching. If your tree has succumbed to a pest infestation, disease, or dangerous fungi it would be best to not keep the chips as they can spread and innoculate the other trees and shrubs in your yard.
- Using branches to line raised garden beds (in replacement of bricks) is a unique way to spruce up your yardscape.
Remove it!
Removal is always a good option if you do not have the space or use for the excess wood or if it has a pest infestation, disease, or dangerous fungal infection. For tree death diagnosis and tree removal, reach out to an arborist near you!
Eric Putnam BCMA, Inc. is here to help, we have arborists highly knowledgeable and experienced in diagnosis and tree removal. Give us a call today to schedule a consultation!
Liriope’s Muse - Expert Tree Care Tips
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Charles Eric Putnam
ISA Board Certified Master Arborist ®
TX 0198B
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