Plant Health Care
Learn what plant health care means, what implementation involves, and how it benefits trees and shrubs.
By TreesAreGood®
International Society of Arboriculture
Plant Health Care
Plant Health Care (PHC) involves monitoring and using preventative treatments to ensure your trees stay healthy. Symptoms such as discolored leaves, dead branches, or early leaf drop may require contacting an arborist. Sometimes the cause of concern is a minor problem, other times the problem is more complex and requires a remedy.
Why PHC? Why Not Tree Health Care?
Trees share the landscape and the soil with turf grasses, shrubs, and other plants resulting in the roots of all the plants intermingling and competing for water and nutrients. The care of each plant in a landscape can affect the health of every plant in the landscape.
Why Contact an Arborist?
Arborists have the experience and training to detect potential tree and shrub problems before they become threatening or hazardous. They can prescribe services for trees and shrubs to prevent problems and can consult with other services to coordinate treatments.
What Does a PHC Cover?
PHC involves monitoring tree and shrub health. The monitoring may be annual visits or more frequently. Frequency and complexity of the program depends on the size and diversity of your landscape, as well as your landscape goals.
Detected Problems
If a problem or potential problem is detected during a monitoring visit, your arborist will work with you to develop a solution such as reducing lawn irrigation frequency so soil conditions aren’t too moist for tree roots.
Other Solutions
Other solutions include more detailed suggestions, such as pruning or spot applications of pesticides. Your arborist will provide you with information about your trees and shrubs that will let you make appropriate management decisions for your budget and goals.
What Will a PHC Cost?
Because each program is individually designed to fit the needs of a particular landscape, accurate pricing will depend on findings from an arborist’s site visit and assessment. You may have an interest in developing a plan for a few key trees in your landscape, or have the entire landscape placed on a program.
PHC Payment Structures
PHC programs can also be structured in different ways. Some programs may charge a fee for monitoring and bill each treatment separately or they may have an annual fee that covers all monitoring visits for the season as well as many potential treatments.
Visit TreesAreGood.org for more information and free, downloadable brochures.
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