What is Plant Health Care (PHC) and Why Is PHC Important?

The primary goal of plant health care is to provide the proper growing environment for various plants. An arborist needs to have an in-depth understanding of a tree so that he can accurately assess health issues and remedies. Knowledge of tree biology and how the tree interacts with environmental conditions is crucial to detecting any health problems. The arborist also needs good communication skills and must be able to work with the landscape proprietor.

In terms of the physical work of plant health care, arborists may do any of the following based on their assessment of the landscape:

An important note is that plant health care is a continual process. Plants are living things, after all. So consistent monitoring, and especially early detection, are vital components of this process.

Some services we provide to care for a landscapes trees and plants are:

Now that we have the answer to our question, we must consider what causes plants to be unhealthy. While nature has plenty of self-regulating aspects to keep its elements healthy, trees and plants can still be harmed in many ways. The most obvious ways are insects, pests, and diseases, especially trees and shrub varieties that were introduced rather than native to the area. One of the major forces that affect plant health is people.

All of the traffic on your lawn, from both people and equipment and even the building of your house, compacts the soil, restricting root growth and nutrient absorption and resulting in stressed soil. Buildings, roads, and sidewalks are underground barriers to root growth. We want our trees and shrubs to thrive and be healthy, which means addressing these issues and finding solutions for our plants

When we think about tree and plant health care, one thing that is often overlooked is how vital soil health is to the trees and plant life. Trees need the proper amounts of various minerals for health and proper growth. They also need healthy soil with proper pH levels. Inadequate or too high levels can result in poor tree health, evidenced by symptoms like unnatural leaf coloration.

According to the USDA, soil health means “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” To ensure that health, the proper elements must be available to nurture the good bacteria, the bugs, and other organisms that give the soil the ability to support and sustain our tree and plant health care.

• Controls water—Soil helps direct rain, snow, and irrigation water, collecting minerals as the water flows over.
• Stores minerals and other nutrients—Minerals that plants need, like nitrogen and phosphorus, are stored in the soil.
• Filters—Soil comes into contact with many materials, both organic and inorganic. The soil helps to filter out harmful elements.
• Provides physical support—The soil holds the roots of trees and plants in place and gives them stability against wind and other forces of nature.

Maintaining healthy soil using no/minimal chemicals is optimal for plant and tree health care because this type of health is more sustainable and works with an area’s natural ecology. This ecology includes bugs and bacteria, things we typically try to avoid but that are important to the health of the soil.

Some types of bacteria are needed to help the soil and its plant life thrive. As we noted in a previous blog, planting native trees and shrubs is vital to keeping the local ecosystem intact. Helpful bacteria, the bugs that eat them, the birds that eat them, and so on are part of that cycle.

With chemicals, though they are sometimes necessary, those healthy bacteria are killed, plants become dependent, and they cannot produce nutrients independently. A certified arborist will assess your soil health and can advise you on the best tree and plant health care plan for your landscape.