Leaf & Limb

08/12/2025

How you think you should take care of your trees:

- Wait until they’re older to prune
- Focus on how they look
- Trust they'll grow strong on their own

How you actually keep trees safe and healthy:

- Start structural pruning early
- Prioritize strong structure over appearance
- Mimic how trees grow in forests

Trees in lawns aren’t like trees in forests.
They face sun from all directions.
They grow co-dominant trunks and long limbs.
This can make them weak, and even worse, hazardous.

The fix?
Structural pruning.

- Create one dominant trunk
- Shorten overgrown limbs
- Space out crowded branches

Start when trees are young.
The cuts are small.
The impact is big.

Don’t wait for a storm to show you a tree’s flaws.

Make your trees strong now.
Make them safe for decades.

Want to learn more about structural pruning? Download our free ebook: “From Wasteland to Wonder.” https://www.leaflimb.com/wonder/

Trees won’t do this on their own.
They need your help.

08/11/2025

Still using chemical fertilizers on your trees?

They’re not helping your soil — they’re hurting it.

Here’s what your trees and earthworms wish you knew:

👎 Chemical fertilizers add too much salt
👎 They overload the soil with nutrients it doesn’t need
👎 They destroy fungi and bacteria that help roots absorb food
👎 They disrupt healthy underground ecosystems
👎 They cost more and create long-term damage

So what works better?

✅ Compost tea
✅ Made from worm castings and leaf mold
✅ Full of beneficial fungi and bacteria
✅ Strengthens your trees
✅ Fights off harmful organisms
✅ Restores balance underground
✅ Helps roots pull in more water and nutrients

Think of compost tea like probiotics for your soil — no lab-made chemicals, just a living brew.

And worms love it.

Want stronger trees, richer soil, and fewer yard problems?

Feed the soil, not the plant.

Get your free quote here: https://www.leaflimb.com/contact-us/
Or message us. We’re happy to help you start brewing better soil.

08/08/2025

Stop planting boring hedges! (Scroll down to learn what the plant in the picture is...)

Want fast privacy, less work, and more wildlife?

Then skip the expensive Leyland cypress row.

Try a native Thicket instead.

It grows faster. Costs less. Looks better.

Here’s why more homeowners are switching:

🌱 Cheaper to start
Saplings cost a fraction of container-grown plants. You can plant 100+ for the price of a boring hedge.

⏱️ Faster to grow
These aren’t decorative twigs. Thickets grow dense in 12–24 months and adapt better to your soil.

🛠️ Easier to install
No hedge trimmer, fertilizer, or elaborate irrigation system needed. Just basic tools. Dig holes. Drop saplings root-down. Done.

🔄 More resilient
When a Leyland dies, the gap screams at you. When a few Thicket saplings don’t make it? You won’t notice.

🐦 Brings life back
We've lost 1 in 4 birds since 1970. Thickets give shelter, berries, and native bugs for birds to feed their young.

Want a private oasis where life thrives? Reach out to a Treecologist to get a free quote for your very own Thicket. https://www.leaflimb.com/contact-us/

Which, yes, can include a fabulous buttonbush as pictured here.

08/07/2025

A lawn costs 5x more to install than a Piedmont Prairie.

It also takes 25–40 mowings a year. A meadow just needs one.

Maintaining a lawn burns hours of your time and thousands of gallons of water. Meadows ask for none of that.

Is native landscaping out of reach? Is it too costly, too messy, too complex?

Nope. A wildflower patch as small as 6' x 6' helps pollinators thrive and needs far less work than lawn.

Start small. Grow native. Skip the fertilizer.

You don’t need a perfectly manicured yard.

You need a gorgeous one that is bursting with life.

Learn more about Piedmont Prairies: https://www.leaflimb.com/piedmont-prairies-the-process-and-what-to-expect/

*according to a study from Iowa State University in 2021

08/06/2025

What if your garbage could grow gardens?

Most people toss their food scraps.

But those banana peels and wilted lettuce could become black gold for your soil.

Vermicomposting turns kitchen waste into supercharged worm p**p (aka castings) full of rich nutrients.

Here’s how to start your own indoor worm bin:

🪱 Get 1 lb of Red Wiggler worms
📦 Use a breathable container (a worm bag or a drilled Rubbermaid bin works)
📰 Add shredded newspaper, old leaves, and a handful of forest soil for bedding
🥬 Feed them small amounts of non-greasy veggie scraps, banana peels, coffee grounds
💧 Keep moisture like a wrung-out sponge
🌡 Maintain 55–80°F (70°F is ideal)

Avoid giving worms:
❌ Citrus
❌ Meat
❌ Onion
❌ Oily food
❌ Anything rotten

Within 5–6 months you’ll harvest your first batch of compost—worm castings that boost soil health and plant growth.

Used right, it only takes about a 1/4 cup of castings to transform tired soil into thriving habitat.

This isn’t a gimmick.

We’ve done this in basements, classrooms, warehouses—you name it.

Want to see results for yourself?

Turn your trash into living soil.

No yard required. Start with a box and a few hundred worms.

Need a supply list or step-by-step guide?
Drop a “WORM” below and I’ll send it to you.

08/05/2025

Worried about your trees falling in the next hurricane?

You’ve seen the news. Massive trees ripping through homes. Blocking roads. Crushing cars.

But what about the trees that didn’t fall? The ones that stayed strong through storm after storm?

Here’s the reality:

Strengthening trees helps reduce risk.
But most people unknowingly weaken their trees every day.

How?

- Poor pruning leads to weak limbs
- Construction cuts and compacted roots
- Soil is stripped of nutrients and life
- Mulch is piled into deadly volcanoes
- Trees are isolated, stripped of the collective strength they have in forests

The result?

Even healthy-looking trees snap or topple in bad weather.

And then the damage is done.

The cost?

- Tens of thousands in property repairs
- Emotional stress
- Unsafe yards for your family
- Loss of beloved trees

But there’s a way to stormproof your trees.

Start with three essential steps:

1. Structural pruning
Removes weak joints, vertical limbs, and overextended branches. Done early, it can prevent major failures later.

2. Leave the roots alone
No cutting. No soil piling. No digging into root zones. Protect roots like you’d protect the foundation of your house.

3. Restore your soil
Add compost. Spread arborist wood chips. Plant understory vegetation. Create living, thriving soil again.

Want to go further?

- Assess leaning trees
- Watch for fungal growths or cracks
- Group trees rather than isolate them

Trees can be safe, strong, and beautiful.

All it takes is the right care.

The second-best time to start?

Right now.

Talk to one of our Treecologists and protect the trees that protect your home.

08/04/2025

Do holes in leaves mean trouble?

Not usually.

In fact, those chewed-up leaves are often a sign that your yard is alive and healthy.

Here’s what might be going on:

🦋 Caterpillars are having lunch — and later might turn into butterflies
🐦 Birds are feeding their young — caterpillars are key to their diet
🕸️ Tent caterpillars and webworms are building homes — but rarely hurt the whole tree

Instead of reaching for the spray can, grab a chair.
Pour a glass of wine or coffee.
Sit outside and listen.
That buzzing, chirping, fluttering life is what you’re supporting.

And yes, some bugs do overstay their welcome.

😬 Bagworms can kill trees like arborvitae or cedar
☠️ Fire ants around pets and kids might need some disruption
👀 Carpenter ants in your tree? They’re showing you where rot already existed

So what’s the fix?

🌱 Pick harmful bags off trees and leave them for the birds
🌧 Use the garden hose instead of boiling salt water — it saves your plants
🧠 Remember: holes in leaves are normal
🧺 Rewild a corner of your yard — native plants bring native bugs, which feed native birds (and can be predators to the pesky bugs, too)

Pay close attention and you'll start to see the patterns of what's normal and what is cause for alarm.

08/01/2025

Ants are not the enemy. Seriously.

You saw a few crawling up your tree trunk…
In your mulch…
Or near your shrubs…

And your first thought?
“Time to go nuclear!”

Wait. Before you grab the bait traps or pour boiling vinegar…

Here’s what ants are ACTUALLY doing in your yard:

🐜 Breaking up compacted soil
🐜 Boosting nutrients by pulling organics underground
🐜 Controlling pest populations
🐜 Spreading seeds of native plants
🐜 Helping wood decompose and return to the soil

Carpenter ants in dead wood?
They’re recycling debris you didn’t know was a problem.

Even fire ants—yes, the painful ones—can be gently evicted with repeated flooding from a garden hose.

One homeowner blamed ants for killing her roses.
Turns out, the real problem was her own “solution”: boiling salt water.

The roses didn’t survive either.

Do you need to love ants? No.
But fear or hate them? No reason.

Think of them as nature’s tiny rototillers, doing work that builds a better backyard from the ground up.

Want to improve your soil without growing an ant farm? Send us a message to schedule a free quote from one of our Treecologists.

07/28/2025

Think mulch is harmless? Look again.

Piling mulch high around the base of your trees, also called a "mulch volcano," is doing real damage.

Here’s what happens when you pile mulch like this:

🌋 Rot sets in at the trunk, weakening the tree
🐛 Insects and diseases move in
🪓 Roots grow UP instead of OUT, strangling the tree at the base
🌳 The health of your tree is at risk

The fix is simple:

✅ Keep mulch 2-4 inches deep
✅ Pull it back 6+ inches from the base of the trunk
✅ Use organic mulch like wood chips or leaves
✅ Replenish annually and don’t all it to build up at the base of your tree (also known as the root collar)

Want healthy, strong trees? Start by tearing down the volcano.
We’ve seen entire neighborhoods lose trees from this one mistake.

Unsure of where to start? Reach out to us for a FREE quote. We offer root collar excavation, soil improvement, air spading, compost tea, and other services to help your tree from the ground up. https://www.leaflimb.com/contact-us/

Tree service, tree care, arborist consulting, tree pruning, and tree planting in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Apex, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Clayton, and beyond.

07/23/2025

Most people think strong trees survive storms by luck.

But here’s what separates storm-resilient trees from the ones that fail.

It comes down to 3 things:

- Strong structure
- Uncompromised roots
- Healthy soil

Start with structure. A tree with one main trunk and well-spaced branches is far less likely to split. Structural pruning while the tree is still young cuts the risk early.

Then, leave the roots alone. No digging, no grading, no construction under the canopy. Roots stabilize trees. Disturb them and the entire tree becomes vulnerable.

Finally, fix the soil. Most suburban soil is compacted and weak. Spread 3–4 inches of mulch under the canopy. No mulch volcanoes—keep it away from the trunk. Over time, the soil rebuilds and helps the tree absorb water and nutrients more efficiently.

Skip these steps, and you're not leaving it to luck—you’re stacking the odds against your tree.

Walk outside this weekend. Pick one tree near your house.

Check for:

- Co-dominant leaders (two main trunks instead of one)
- Buried trunk flares
- Bare compacted soil

Does one of these need a fix? Reach out to get a free quote from one of our Treecologists. https://www.leaflimb.com/contact-us/

The next time a storm hits, you’ll know your tree is ready.

07/22/2025

Think tree roots grow deep? Think again.

They rarely go deeper than 3 feet.

Instead, they spread WIDE—often 2 to 3 times the width of the canopy.

So when you build a patio, dig a trench, or regrade soil near a tree…

You’re not working “next to” the tree.

You’re IN its vital root zone.

And here’s what happens when you damage that zone:

- The tree loses stability
- Roots rot
- The canopy dies back
- The whole tree can collapse

Even piling soil over the roots or driving a truck across the yard can suffocate them.

Want to protect your trees?

Do 3 things:

- Measure the trunk diameter 54” from the ground
- Multiply that number by 6 = Structural Root Zone aka Don't Mess with This Area
- Multiply it by 18 = Critical Root Zone aka Protect This Area

Then stay outside those zones when you build.

So many trees die for no reason.

All because we forgot what’s underground.

Want to ensure your trees are healthy and happy? Reach out to one of our Treecologists for a free quote: https://www.leaflimb.com/contact-us/



Image credit: Kutschera, L., & Lichtenegger, E. (2002). Wurzelatlas mitteleuropäischer Waldbäume und Sträucher (2nd ed.). Leopold Stocker Verlag.

07/22/2025

Did you miss out on this adorable baby eastern box turtle in your inbox today? 🐢💌 Don’t worry—we’ve got the Treecologist Tribune highlights right here:

🌧️ Record-breaking rainfall & what it means for our trees
🍃 Leaf holes, webs, and bags—what’s harmless and what’s not
🐜 Why ants aren’t your enemy (and might even be tiny soil heroes)
🌱 A gentle reminder to slow down and sit outside—just 10 minutes a day

Want the full scoop delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter here: https://www.leaflimb.com/