We all know trees are important, but just how much do they do for the local ecosystem, including the people who keep them maintained? Let’s take a look at some of the benefits trees provide to the surrounding plants, animals, and communities.
Trees and Other Plant Life
It’s no secret that trees provide oxygen by breaking down carbon dioxide through their own form of respiration, but did you know that trees can also benefit surrounding vegetation? Many homeowners take a lot of pride in their lawns, but without a few trees around, things could look bad for certain grass types. Popular lawn grasses like centipede grass and zoysia both need some respite from the warm sun, and trees provide that shade. Likewise, many garden plants and flowers benefit from the shade cover that a full and healthy tree canopy can provide.
Tree roots also provide security and stability for the soil on your property, which in turn helps keep grass and plants from being washed away with the topsoil. In order to maintain your trees’ positive impacts on the rest of your property’s greenery, it’s important to schedule regular tree services. Rotting or diseased limbs can fall and spread infection to other plant life on your property. Generally speaking, this happens via fungus or other invasive pests that may move from a dead, fallen limb to some fresher vegetation. That’s why it’s crucial to have deadwood removal conducted regularly, and the best and safest way to do that is with professionals. Arborists are skilled at assessing a tree’s health and properly removing limbs that are dead or at risk of dying from disease. This is crucial for the tree’s health and the health of the rest of your landscaping. Additionally, arborists can perform the important task of tree inventorying, which is a way to record and plan which trees make up your property. They may have suggestions for trees to trim or prune more aggressively to help keep things properly shaded. They can also make recommendations on which types of trees you could add to your landscaping that may benefit the whole ecosystem.
Trees and Animals
The entire local ecosystem can benefit from the shade that trees provide, but animals are especially reliant on trees for a number of things. From protection to nutrition, trees provide animal and insect life with countless perks. And in many cases, the animals provide some level of benefit to the trees in return. Birds rely on trees for nesting, food in the form of fruits and nuts, and protection from winds and storms. Bird species, in turn, catch insects and other pests that may otherwise cause problems for you and your landscape. Squirrels and chipmunks are also very dependent on trees for shelter and food. While anyone with bird feeders or an immaculate lawn may be cursing squirrels most of the time, they do benefit other plants and animals. They act as seed and pollen dispersal for trees and flowers, helping to plant new trees when they forget where they stashed their nuts. Controlling the squirrel population can minimize the negative impact they have on your property, and one of the best ways to do that is with preventative tree service. Removing dead parts of the tree that could provide ample nesting material to squirrels means fewer squirrels on your property and fewer holes in your lawn.
Insects also rely on trees for a respite from the elements during rain or wind. Many insects also eat leaves and lay eggs within trees or on their leaves. With most insects, the amount of damage done by consuming their vegetation is minimal and doesn’t harm the tree. Caterpillars, for example, eat many leaves, but this can benefit the tree in the long term. A healthy tree will regrow any leaves that were eaten and can be pollinated later by the butterfly that the caterpillar becomes. Likewise, the many insects sheltered and sustained by the large trees are less inclined to consume leaves and flowers from smaller plants, protecting them from substantial damage. A few leaves to a tree are nothing compared to the same amount of leaves on a flower. In all, trees provide animals and insects with a variety of important uses, and they help the tree produce fruit via pollination.
Trees and People
Trees and people have a complicated relationship, to say the least. Deforestation and pollution have greatly damaged the tree population of certain areas, but after all of that, trees remain. We rely on them for so much more than fresh air to breathe, but what are the benefits of tree planting to the local community? It may be surprising to learn, but trees, especially suburban and urban trees, can do a lot for each and every one of us. Tree planting is a great community-building tool that gets people out and among their neighbors to work toward a common goal. Studies have shown that neighborhoods with more trees are generally more close-knit than those without. Most of the reasons for this are simple but not something you’d think of right away. Our overall comfort is improved by trees, given their natural ability to provide shade. In fact, trees can lower the temperature of city streets by multiple degrees in the heat of summer. This then lowers energy costs since air conditioners have to work slightly less hard to keep things cool in wooded urban and suburban areas.
Trees also do a great deal of work preventing flooding in urban areas with overburdened storm drain systems. Trees soak up a considerable amount of water, so the more trees and less concrete you have, the less flooding you’ll see. Trees also filter water, removing pollutants that could otherwise spread and kill smaller plants. Trees have a known benefit on property values, especially when they’re well-manicured. That’s why it’s so important to work with a landscaping company you can trust. The Parke Company can help you stay on top of your trees’ health, which benefits the ecosystem, your property’s overall look and feel, and your wallet.
Treat Trees the Right Way
Want to make sure your ecosystem is operating at peak efficiency? Start with the trees and call The Parke Company today for a consultation and estimate on any tree service needs you may have.