Protecting Your Property’s Living Assets: The Essential Guide to Tree Preservation During Construction and Renovation

When you’re planning a construction or renovation project, it’s easy to focus on the exciting new additions to your property while overlooking the valuable mature trees already gracing your landscape. Tree preservation during construction isn’t just an environmental choice—it’s a smart investment in your property’s future. Research consistently shows that established trees can boost property values by up to 12%. More importantly, large trees can’t be replaced, so sometimes they are worth the effort.

Why Tree Preservation Matters

Mature trees provide benefits that extend far beyond their aesthetic appeal. A mature shade tree can have a cooling effect on the surrounding landscape in the summer and act as a windbreak in the winter months, reducing heat loss from homes. Trees can also prevent runoff and limit erosion, especially on sloped areas. Additionally, wildlife habitat forms naturally in and around mature trees, supporting birds, beneficial insects, and other creatures that enrich your property’s ecosystem.

The financial aspect cannot be ignored either. Replacing trees after construction can also be costly and time consuming. When you consider that it can take decades for newly planted trees to reach the size and impact of established specimens, preserving existing mature trees becomes a clear priority.

Common Construction Threats to Trees

Understanding what can harm trees during construction is the first step in protecting them. Adverse impacts from unmitigated on-site construction can undermine a tree’s stability by impairing soil quality, limiting access to light and water, or by causing physical damage to roots, trunks, and branches.

The most serious threats include:

Soil Compaction: Heavy equipment, storage of supplies and materials, and work activities within or near a tree’s dripline can compress soil, making it difficult for roots to access water and oxygen.
Root Damage: When roots, especially those over two inches in diameter, are severed during construction, trees can become less stable, absorb less water and nutrients, and lose stored nutrition, all of which can lead to decline and/or death.
Physical Injury: Gashes and cuts in tree trunks can occur from accidental vehicle and equipment hits, strikes from materials such as lumber or steel beams, hand and power tools, etc. Such impacts open wounds by breaching the tree’s protective layer of bark and exposing it to damaging insects and plant diseases.

The Tree Preservation Process: A Step-by-Step Approach

Phase 1: Pre-Construction Assessment

Prior to beginning a construction project, the property owner should have a city forester, licensed arborist or certified tree appraiser, evaluate every tree in the proposed construction area to determine if preservation is worthwhile. This professional assessment is crucial because “No two trees are the same, it’s impossible to know what’s going on underground just by looking at the surface.”

During this phase, professionals will:

Record the variety, location, size, and health of each tree
Consider location, present size, future size, species, vigor, cost of preservation, and cost of removal
Identify stressed, unhealthy trees that have wilting leaves, dying limbs, thinning crowns or other signs of declining health and always remove insect-, disease-, or storm-damaged trees prior to construction

Phase 2: Species Considerations and Selection

Not all trees respond equally to construction stress. Certain trees are very sensitive to root disturbance and are not typically good candidates to try to save. This list includes: oak, white pine, sugar maple, beech, hemlock, black walnut and tulip tree. Conversely, other species are quite tolerant, such as: river birch, black gum, crabapple, honey locust, larch, red maple, sycamore, Norway spruce and white spruce.

Phase 3: Establishing Protection Zones

Once trees are selected for preservation, post highly-visible and strong barricades and signs around the trees and areas to be protected. An effective zone is a radius of at least 1.25 feet of protected area for every inch of trunk diameter. A tree with a trunk diameter of 12 inches requires a protected radius of at least 15 feet and ideally 30.

Within these protection zones:

No trenching, digging or soil disturbance of any kind should be allowed in the TPZ
No building materials, waste materials, excess soil, paints or supplies should be stored within the TPZ
A three inch layer of mulch should be applied to the area within the TPZ

Phase 4: Active Protection During Construction

Successful tree preservation requires ongoing vigilance throughout the construction process. Preserve at least 50 percent of the root system to maintain a healthy tree. During summer construction, trees require adequate water, enough to saturate the soil, every one to two weeks.

If work must occur near protected trees, apply interlocking heavy equipment mats, ¾” plywood, 6 inches of organic mulch, and/or other materials that help to absorb and distribute the weight of equipment, foot traffic, or storage of materials in order to prevent soil compaction.

Phase 5: Post-Construction Care

It may take several years for trees to overcome and adjust to the injury and site changes that occur during construction. Trees that are stressed are more prone to insect and disease infestations than healthy trees. This is where ongoing professional care becomes essential.

Post-construction care should include:

Pruning any damaged trees
Reducing tree stress caused by unintended construction damage by optimizing plant care with water, mulch, and fertilizer where appropriate
Keeping a close eye on the canopy for signs of dieback. When roots are injured there is typically a corresponding loss of branches aboveground. This can occur several years after the initial injury.

Professional Expertise Makes the Difference

Tree preservation during construction requires specialized knowledge and experience that most homeowners and general contractors simply don’t possess. Ultimately, saving mature trees during construction is not easy, but it is possible with care. This is where partnering with experienced professionals becomes invaluable.

For property owners in Suffolk County, New York, jones tree service offers comprehensive tree preservation expertise. As a licensed arborist, Jones is committed to offering scientifically based landscape management and delivering quality services. Jones Tree and Plant Care will inspect your landscape, diagnose any problems, and make recommendations based on knowledge and expertise gained through over 10 years of experience in the industry.

Jones Tree and Plant Care creates specific programs based on the needs of each individual customer and property. A total tree and plant care approach will improve growth, condition and appearance of your property, all while using environmentally sensitive, affordable treatments. Their certified arborist credentials ensure that they have passed extensive examinations developed by some of the nation’s leading experts on tree care and are prepared to diagnose problems, recommend solutions, and offer services such as pruning, installation, and pest management that are essential for healthy trees.

The Long-Term Investment Perspective

When planning your construction or renovation project, remember that “Prevention is easier than correction.” By investing in proper tree preservation during construction measures now, you avoid the costly and emotional toll of removing damaged trees later, not to mention the decades-long wait for replacements to mature.

The tree preservation process may seem complex, but the benefits far outweigh the effort. That magnificent oak or maple that survives your renovation becomes an immediate asset, providing shade, wildlife habitat, and natural beauty that new plantings simply cannot match for many years to come. With proper planning, professional guidance, and careful execution, your mature trees can continue to enhance your property for generations to come.

Whether you’re planning a small home addition or a major renovation project, don’t let your valuable mature trees become casualties of construction. Invest in professional tree preservation services to protect these irreplaceable living assets and ensure your property maintains its beauty, value, and environmental benefits for years to come.