Video: Deep Root Fertilization

CAMPBELL — Host, Sarah Rutan: When it comes to caring for the trees on your property, one healthful measure to consider is deep root fertilization. Today we’re in Campbell with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Simon Tunnicliffe of West Valley Arborists to learn more.

Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Simon Tunnicliffe: One of the services that we offer here at West Valley Arborist is deep root fertilizing of trees. And the reason we do this is we like to replenish the trees with nutrients and minerals that are already in the soil. So, the way we do this is the hydraulic soil liquid injection method. And as you can see here, Michael’s basically pushing the probe down into the roots of the tree. We don’t want to go down any further than about 14 inches there. So, we reach all the fibrous, hairy feeding roots that will absorb the fertilizer that’s suspended in water. And what we do is we basically move around the tree in kind of a bicycle spoke pattern, moving the needle every 18 inches on center, and then reapplying.

As you can see, he’s just pushing that down into the soil there. And then applying the pressure. And this is hydraulically introduced to the soil. It sprays laterally. So, it aerates the soil at the same time. The primary reason why we do this is because we need to replenish nutrients that aren’t always available to the tree. A lot of the times, especially in a lawn situation like this, you’ve got competition. The grass is competing for the nutrients, the minerals, the moisture.

So, we’ve actually found some remarkable results by doing this application. And that’s something that we do either yearly or bi-yearly, all depending on the trees’ needs. And at the end of the day, it’s all about the tree.

Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local top rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.org.