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In South Florida especially, fertilizer helps to maintain healthy trees. Fortunately, fertilizing is usually not necessary for trees growing in or near lawns and adjacent to shrub beds treated regularly with fertilizer. This is because most of the tree's fine feeder roots are located near enough to the soil surface to utilize the fertilizer spread on the lawn and landscape beds. On the other hand, trees growing in confined soil spaces such as parking lot islands will benefit from a regular fertilization program.
 Many trees respond well to a fertilizer containing nitrogen and potassium. At least 30 percent or preferably more of the nitrogen should be slow release. Palms and other trees may benefit from additions of iron and manganese.
An important investment in tree care is in a systematic pruning program. The advantages of pruning include reduced costs each time the tree is trimmed, reduced service requests, improved safety and reduced liability, improved pest control and healthier trees. Tree pruning is a special service which should be performed by professionals with a clearly defined objective, such as pruning out dead, diseased or broken twigs and branches or thinning the canopy to provide more light to promote turfgrass growth.
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