Are You Signed Up for ArborWISE Yet?

Join Carolina Tree Care's proactive plant health care program

You know the trees and shrubs on your property are an investment worth protecting because they add value and beauty to your property. You also know that those same trees could become a liability if pests or soil issues weakened their structural integrity.

You don't have to take a "wait and see" approach when it comes to the health of your trees and shrubs. And you don't have to become an expert in plant health care, either.

Just partner with one.

Carolina Tree Care's ArborWISE program is here to make your life a whole lot easier and your trees and shrubs a whole lot healthier.

ArborWISE is Carolina Tree Care's proactive plant health care program for the Charlotte, NC area. Instead of waiting for issues to come up, we can treat your trees and shrubs to prevent problems in the first place.

The program includes pest and fertilization treatments delivered throughout the year. You can also add disease (fungicidal) treatments to your program, if needed. For example if dark spots are ruining the look of your crape myrtles, we can add a fungicidal foliar spray treatment to your spring visit.

Environmental responsibility is important to us. We know that even though we may see these tree and shrub bugs as pests, insects play an important role in the maintenance of our ecosystem. 

That's why our goal when treating your plants isn't total eradication, just control. That being said, your trees and shrubs may still experience some damage from pests. But with our treatments, that damage will be kept to a minimum.

Your ArborWISE program perks

So, besides protecting the investment you've made in your trees and shrubs, why else would you want to join our ArborWISE program? With ArborWISE, you'll get:

• An inventory and treatment history of the trees and shrubs on your property, which you'll be able to access in your Carolina Tree Care customer portal.
• A dedicated professional to monitor and treat your trees and shrubs throughout the year. That means we can often alert you to plant health care issues before they become too serious and/or difficult to correct.
• Access to pollinator-friendly and EPA reduced risk treatments that preserve more beneficial insects and have lower environmental and human health risks compared to traditional foliar insecticides.

You can choose between our four-visit or five-visit program. The only difference between them is that the five-visit program comes with a spring fertilization along with the fall fertilization. We can help you decide which program is best for you depending on your plant health care needs and budget.

Here's what you can expect from each of our visits:

Jan./Feb. Horticultural Oil Treatment

The first visit is all about getting ahead of the pest pressure curve so your trees and shrubs can start the growing season on the right foot. We'll stop by in January or February to apply horticultural oil via foliar spray to kill off and prevent as many pests as possible.

Horticultural oil works by blocking the air holes, or spiracles, that insects use to breathe. The insects then die from asphyxiation. Horticultural oil can also decrease the hatching success of insect egg masses by blocking their oxygen uptake. Plus, researchers have found that it can also be an egg-laying deterrent.

Horticultural oil is great at reducing mite, scale, mealybug, psyllid, whitefly, aphid, caterpillar, plant bug, leafhopper, and adelgid populations. 

Once we spray the horticultural oil, control typically begins within one to two days. Please note that our foliar spray coverage is height limited to 25 feet.

April/May Horticultural Oil + IGR Treatment

During your second visit, we'll equip your trees and shrubs with even more of what they need to resist the upcoming onslaught of summer pests.

You already know about the benefits of horticultural oil, so let's get into insect growth regulator (IGR) treatments.

IGR treatments prevent insects from reaching maturity by interfering with their molting process. As an insect grows, it creates a new exoskeleton inside of its old one. Once the insect sheds the old exoskeleton, the new one takes its place, growing larger and hardening. IGR treatments disrupt that process so that the insects can't mature.

Once we apply the IGR, control will begin within one to two days. The effects will last three to four weeks.

April/May Fertilization*

We may find that two seasonal fertilization treatments would benefit your plants. In that case, we'll add a spring fertilization to your program. 

Depending on the species, plants need 16-19 essential elements (nutrients) to grow and thrive, but most urban landscapes are nutrient deficient. Our fertilization treatment can help remedy that.

Check out this blog post to learn more about the benefits of fertilization.

We'll use soil-injected liquid fertilizer to quickly deliver nutrients right to the roots of your trees and shrubs. For spring fertilization, we focus on delivering increased nitrogen to your plants. This treatment promotes increased above-ground growth, flowering, and fruiting.

*Available with the five-visit program

July/August Inspection & Treatment

Your trees and shrubs are often under the most stress in mid to late summer, so it's important to keep an eye on them during this time. But don't worry, you don't have to do it yourself.

We'll inspect your trees and shrubs for heat stress, pests, and diseases and let you know if anything needs to be addressed. For example, we can treat for warm season mites and leaf-eating caterpillars, both of which are common mid to late summer pests.

We can also apply a granular phosphonate treatment to promote general plant health and disease resistance.

Oct./Nov. Fertilization

While the spring fertilization focuses on nitrogen, fall fertilization focuses on delivering more phosphorous and potassium to your trees and shrubs. This will help promote increased root growth.

If you're already enjoying the benefits of our ArborWISE program, expect a renewal notice in your inbox soon!

If you're ready to enroll in our ArborWISE program, give us a call today at 704-788-8733.