The weather is slowly starting to cool as fall takes full effect in Michigan. There are a few things you can do to help prepare and protect your trees for the change of seasons:

• Mulching: Add a new layer of mulch to better maintain moisture levels and buffer extreme temperature changes in the soil. Remember, doughnuts not volcanoes.
• Fertilizing: Adding a slow-release fertilizer in the fall helps provide a nutrient boost over the winter and can promote root growth.
• Watering: As temperatures drop and trees begin to head into dormancy, they don’t need as much water. You can water up until the first freeze, but make sure soils are just a little damp and not soaked.
• Pruning: Now is a good time to prune out any dead, damaged, or diseased limbs in your trees.
• Trunk protection: Sunscald or southwest damage occurs on young and thin barked trees in the winter. Bucks will scrape trees with their antlers, scraping off the bark and damaging the cambium. Tree guards can be placed around trunks to protect against this damage.
• Inspections: Visual inspections can be done year-round, but this time of the year it might be easier to see changes in your tree.

Don't forget to pin your fall plantings to the MiTrees map and help us reach our goal of planting 50 million trees by 2030.