Trees

If trees and shrubs are a significant part of your home's landscaping, fall is a great time to help protect your investment.

Establishing trees on your acreage in the fall is a good investment, both for aesthetic reasons and more practical ones, such as lowering your energy bills in summer and winter. You can keep young trees strong and healthy through the winter and beyond by avoiding some common mistakes.

The wind drives up heating costs, causes problems with drifting snow, and affects livestock. A carefully designed windbreak can help your bottom line, while adding to the overall beauty of your property.

Using tubes or wrapping trees prevents sunscald, which is what happens when the bark of the tree warms up during the day and freezes at night.

When the sap is running, this Minnesota couple runs with the sap.

Maple trees are a beautiful addition to any acreage, and if you're lucky enough to have established maples in your grove, you may be able to make your own maple syrup.

Cover's Apple Ranch, perched in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, may be best known for its "mile high apple pie" but the apple orchard's ability to continue a profitable business in a challenging location is perhaps its most notable feature.

A lifelong dream fulfilled, this Wisconsin family started their own Christmas tree farm, keeping the family tradition alive.

• What it takes to grow evergreens
• Grow your own Christmas trees
• Pine tree diseases
• How to choose a Christmas tree

Deciding what trees stay and which ones go is often a big decision for people in timber production who depend on their trees for income. Larry Krotz with the Walnut Council says trees such as oak, pecan, and walnut need full sunlight to develop.

• Managing your woodlot

If you cut in the wrong spot, or prune the wrong time of year, you could be doing more harm than good.

• When to cut down a tree

With a tree journal, you can log leafing and blooming times, pruning records, growth per year, and other helpful facts. This is a fun project to do with the kids!

A property of beautiful trees doesn't take much work on your part. The biggest challenge, in fact, may be leaving them alone.