Tree and Shrub Care Program

Personalized Care for Your Trees

Flat Plains Services takes a personalized approach to protect your trees and shrubs. Our program is designed to help you have an insect- and disease-free landscape.

Our tree and shrub care program includes annual fertilization and two-spray applications for insects and diseases. Our tree and shrub care program will help accomplish the following:

• Increased growth and vitality of young trees and shrubs
• Increased hardiness and longevity against winter conditions
• Increased color and density of the canopy
  

Our Maintenance Program

Our maintenance program is a three-step program that includes the following:

Step 1 – Root Fertilization

• Balanced slow-release tree fertilizer
• Humic acid for increased soil health
• Iron sulfur supplement

Step 2 – Spring Spray Application

• Foliar-chewing or -sucking insect control on deciduous trees and shrubs
• Spider mite and needle disease control on coniferous trees and shrubs

Step 3 – Mid Summer Spray Application

• Foliar-chewing or -sucking insect control on deciduous trees and shrubs
• Spider mite and needle disease control on coniferous trees and shrubs

Our maintenance program is designed to enhance plant health and vigor. It is not a program to correct pre-existing structural landscape problems. Applications for boring insects and vascular diseases on trees and shrubs are not included and may require additional services.

The trees and shrubs on your property represent a valuable and growing investment in your home. Flat Plains helps all our customers to maintain healthier trees and shrubs.

Please contact us for a FREE tree and shrub care estimate.

Deep Root Tree Feeding

In most situations, deciduous trees, evergreen trees, and ornamental shrubs planted in a landscaped environment are growing in poor soil. The Red River Valley area does not have abundant deposits of rich soils and also does not provide enough nutrients for vigorous, healthy trees.

For example, trees that lack nutrients will have poor color, slow growth, and freeze damage. Other symptoms can include:

• Spindly growth in the crown
• High death and loss of young trees
• Increased insect activity (bores, aphids, etc.)
• Increase of disease (needle blight and canker)
• Low fruit production

Flat Plains Services injects, under pressure, the proper amount of fertilizer into the root zone of the trees and ornamentals. We use only high-quality, low-salt, and slow-release fertilizers. One feeding will provide enough feed for an entire year. We use a complete fertilizer plus an iron/sulfur supplement. We recommend fertilizing every year to accomplish the following:

• Increased growth of young trees and shrubs
• Increased winter hardiness and longevity
• Improved color and density of canopy
• Build a hardier plant to resist and overcome disease and insects
• Increased survivability of young plants less than ten years old
  

Lawn Disease Control

Sometimes a disease can infect even the healthiest of lawns. Many are difficult to identify and distinguish from other problems, such as pests, inadequate irrigation, or poor maintenance.

For a turf-grass disease to exist, three primary components must co-exist. If one of the three does not, the condition will not survive. These components are:

• Pathogen - The organism that infects the host and causes damage
• Environment - Environmental conditions like high temperatures and low moisture that reduce the health and vigor of the lawn tend to favor pathogen development
• Host - A grass variety or species that is susceptible to that pathogen

How To Spot the Difference Between Disease and Needed Maintenance

• Spots on leaves, brown patches, or areas of dead grass may look like damage caused by disease, but they do not immediately indicate that there is a disease present in the lawn. 
• Lawnmowers with a dull blade, mowing too short (scalping), lawn damaging insects, a poorly calibrated irrigation system, or a lack of irrigation can also cause symptoms in your lawn that may be confused with a disease. 
• A lack of proper irrigation is the most common cause of stress that leads to diseases in lawns. Proper irrigation is essential, especially during the hot summer months.

Lawn Disease Treatments

If you have determined that your lawn has a disease present, here are the following steps you should take:

• Fungicide application (1 to 2 applications) 14 to 21 days apart
• Maintaining lawn mowing height at 3"-3.5" in the heat of summer
• Identifying stress factors such as irrigation, proper fertilization, or compaction