Tree Preservation During Home Construction Projects

Tree preservation is an essential step in preparing for a home construction project.

Building and remodeling activities can have a significant impact on the landscape and, without proper care, trees can suffer serious damage. In some cases, construction work can even kill strong and healthy specimens or lead to the need for tree removal.

Fortunately, with a bit of planning – and tree preservation assistance from an experienced local arborist – these outcomes are avoidable.

Schedule a Professional Risk Assessment

Before breaking ground on your building project, contact a local certified arborist for a professional tree risk assessment.

During this evaluation, the arborist will walk around your property and evaluate every tree in light of your upcoming construction work. Depending upon their placement and health, some specimens may need to be transplanted or removed.

Prepare for the Home Construction Project

Trees that will remain in place during home construction may need some attention before the work begins. Strong, healthy specimens are much more likely to get through the project without suffering any damage.

To that end, your certified arborist may recommend certain tree preservation steps -- including pruning, soil testing and fertilization -- to ensure optimal health.

Use Barriers for Tree Preservation During Construction

Protecting the ground area within the dripline of every specimen is essential during a home construction project. If the builders aren’t careful to avoid this critical root zone, damage is the likely result.

For that reason, your certified arborist may install temporary barriers around the root zones of trees that are near the building project site. In addition, your arborist may advise asking the builder to sign a landscape protection contract as extra assurance that these areas will remain completely off-limits during construction.

Schedule an After-Construction Assessment

Putting all of these safeguards in place greatly lessens the chance of landscape construction damage, but it could still occur. Accidents happen, and some species are more susceptible to suffering problems as a result of nearby building work.

Some issues are obvious, but experienced arborists can spot early signs of stress that the untrained eye is likely to miss. Left untreated, disease or pest infestation can easily take hold, and once-healthy specimens can suffer an early demise. Because of this, scheduling an after-construction evaluation with a certified arborist is absolutely crucial.

If you’re planning a home construction or renovation project and you live in the greater Salt Lake City area, the certified arborists at Rivendell Tree Experts can assist with your tree preservation needs. We can handle the initial risk assessment, the after-construction evaluation and everything in-between.

With Rivendell Tree Experts, home construction doesn’t have to wreak havoc on your northern Utah landscape. For more information on our comprehensive services, or to schedule a free consultation to discuss tree preservation, contact our Lehi office today.