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Here are some useful tips for keeping your plants happy and healthy. For more tips, visit the tree care tips archive on bartlett.com.

• Use coffee grounds to add acid directly to your alkaline soil to help acid loving plants take up nutrients. Call/Email NPHC for an appointment with one of our arborists to help identify your acid loving plants and to learn the proper techniques for using coffee grounds as a soil additive.
  
• Mulch your trees and shrubs using arborist woodchips, decorative bark or compost. Mulching helps the soil hold moisture, builds beneficial soil organisms and studies have shown a 400% increase in root development with proper mulching techniques.
  
• Remember to provide supplemental deep watering during hot summer months to keep trees and shrubs healthy. Also plant drought resistant species to save water and the cost associated with too much watering. Trees and shrubs need more water than your lawn so deep watering your plants every week or two will give them the extra hydration they need in the hot weather.