Tree Trimming And Pruning Tips
Do you need to prune that tree in your front yard? Periodic tree trimming and pruning helps your trees look their best, keeps them healthy, and prevents them from posing a safety hazard to others.
Three Reasons You Should Trim or Prune Your Trees
1) Safety
Safety is perhaps the most important reason for trimming trees. Dead and broken branches are dangerous and likely to fall at any time, posing a safety risk to bystanders or nearby structures.
If growing near or hanging over a road, falling branches also pose a hazard to drivers and vehicles, and are also liable to damage nearby power lines. Decaying and hollow parts of the trunk, or of large limbs, as well as excessively peeling bark and raised soil around the roots, can be the signs of a potentially dangerous tree.
2) Health
Sick and infected trees can sometimes be saved if damaged limbs are carefully trimmed away. A tree’s health can also be greatly improved by the increased airflow that results from trimming the crown. Branches that grow across each other, grow inward, or rub against other branches, should be trimmed to keep them from damaging each other and breaking.
In addition, “Suckers“—small trees growing at base of the trunk—and water-sprouts—small branches growing vertically from a larger branch—should be removed, as they tend to steal nutrients away from the tree.
3) Looks
Carefully and deliberately pruning a tree greatly improves its appearance, enhancing the appearance of your yard. Pruning will also help a tree maintain its shape, and help it develop a strong trunk and crown.
Pruning should not cause any serious damage, as long as care is taken to avoid forcing the tree into unnatural or unhealthy shapes by removing too much. Pruning also rejuvenates a tree, and will cause it to grow more flowers in the spring.
Three Tree Trimming Tips
1) It is best to trim away branches while they are still young. They are far easier to work with, and removing them won’t damage the tree as much as removing older and thicker branches possibly could.
2) Try to only trim branches that have v-shaped, narrow angles, as opposed to those with u-shaped angles. These branches are much weaker than those with u-shaped angles, making them more likely to break and cause damage. This, however, also makes them far easier to remove!
3) Be careful with the size of the branches you remove. It is best to avoid removing branches that are thicker than five inches in diameter. Branches thicker than 10 inches in diameter should not be removed unless they pose a safety hazard, as doing so may damage the tree. Also, when you are tree trimming be sure not to cut branches too close to the trunk, or leave them too long either.
Three Tree Pruning Tips
1) Keep lateral branches evenly spaced, to maintain a balanced appearance and allow the tree to grow evenly.
2) Remove branches that are growing across other branches, rubbing against others, or growing inward towards the tree. Also be sure to remove any suckers or water-sprouts.
3) Keep some living branches on at least two-thirds of a tree’s height. Some branches are needed on the bottom half to help the tree grow a strong and sturdy stem.
Best Time for Tree Trimming or Pruning
Trees are best pruned during their dormant season – for most trees, this is late winter and right before spring. This is especially true for trees that bloom in late spring, and for non-flowering trees. It is best to wait until the coldest weather of the winter has passed, but before the sap begins to flow and the tree begins to bloom. This will result in much faster and energetic growth come spring-time!
Summer pruning can also be done in certain cases, if needed to slow or direct the growth of certain branches, or to remove any defective and problem branches that pop up when the tree blooms. If you do decide to prune in the summer, wait until the tree has finished growing for the season.
Pruning should be avoided in the fall, as fungi spreads most rapidly at this time of year, and cuts to the tree also take the longest to heal in the fall. Of course, in the case of hazardous and dead limbs, it is best to remove them as soon as possible, at any time of the year.
Thanks for the tip on not having branches removed that are more than five inches in diameter. I didn’t realize that this could be harmful to the tree! I think we’re going to go with a tree service company in order to make sure we don’t hurt the trees on our property in any way.
You mentioned that you should be careful with the size of branches that you remove and to avoid removing branches that are thicker than five inches in diameter. My husband and I are in the process of getting the tree in our front yard trimmed once spring comes. I will be sharing these tree trimming tips with my husband.
My trees need to get trimmed sometime this year. It’s good to know that you should trim branches that are growing inwards towards the tree. Another thing to do is to get your trees professionally trimmed so that you don’t get hurt.
Although the health of the tree is very important, safety is another excellent reason to stay on top of tree maintenance. Thanks for posting.
Everhart Tree Care, that’s a great point. Safety is REALLY important. What kinds of safety tactics / techniques do you all employ?
Definitely agree with the previous comment. Down here in S Texas, there are tons of mesquite trees that can get weak over time if not properly taken care of, which can cause falling limbs, etc.
Thanks for the article, good read. -Matt
We run our tree service out in Arizona, and even though trees are much smaller, safety is still a huge issue. There are some very tall pine trees that we have to deal with from time to time, but our climbers always use the latest methods in safe climbing techniques to be sure we don’t have anything crazy happen. We also do cactus removal and that’s not fun!
There are a few trees in the yard of our new house that needs to be assessed by a tree service. It makes me curious as to how they may handle the situation since we haven’t picked a service yet.
There are a few trees in the yard of our new house that needs to be assessed by a tree service. It makes me curious as to how they may handle the situation since we haven’t picked a service yet. Maybe i just call Stump Grinding Johns Creek Ga
It’s good to know this about tree trimming. We really want to try and trim the trees that border our yard, but I’ve never done it before. Knowing to trim them during late winter is helpful. Honestly, I’ll probably just hire a professional once that time rolls around.
My husband and I bought a new summer home and the trees in the yard haven’t been pruned in a long time. These tips will help us to choose which branches to remove and which ones to leave. There is also bigger trees which I believe would be better to leave for the professionals in some tree service. Thank you for this informative and useful post!
It is really interesting that trees need to be pruned to prevent braches from rubbing against each other or growing the wrong direction. I would just assume that trees know how to grow the right since I’ve never tried pruning mine before. They are looking a bit unhealthy, so I’m considering having them pruned. Hopefully, I haven’t put it off too long and the trees can still be corrected!
This was a well outstanding informative post you have shared on this page about the tips for tree trimming and pruning but if they have them, call the references and ask about their work. Did they arrive on time? Did they clean up well after trimming or removing a tree? Was the homeowner happy with how the trees looked.
Thanks.
Just your hair becomes rough and needs to be trimmed like that a tree needs to be trimmed when it comes to the old stage. Our teams trim the dead tree for new growth and peak efficiency of the tree. We serve our customers to overgrown trees.
Pruning is a process to cut the trees in a way that they will look thin. Pruning is done on a smaller scale it makes the trees attractive and professional. The team of tree pruning Houston always ready when you need to get your tree pruning done. Texan Tree Experts is the best company for Texas tree care.
For more information visit at http://texantreeexperts.com.
You made a good point when you said that maintaining my tree through trimming would be good for my safety. I think I will hire a tree maintenance service to do it for me to ensure the health of my tree. It would also preserve the look of my tree so I will greatly consider it.
I’ve heard that my sister wants to hire a tree trimming service since she wants to maintain the health of her apple tree. Thanks for clarifying that she should do so because it’s for her own safety as well. Since she wants to keep the look of her apple tree, I’ll try to find good candidates that she can contact next week.
I think the look of my tree could be better by trimming it. It would definitely lead to better safety in my house. As you’ve mentioned, it’s better for its health, so I hope that I can hire a tree trimming service that will come over next week.
When it comes to trees and lawns, almost everything we do is dependent on timing and i’d agree that the end of winter – going into the spring is the best time to cut a tree. It reduces stress, disease and dye off because of the smoother transition. Thanks for sharing this article.