Reasons For Tree Pruning

Tree pruning involves removing or reducing the size of branches and limbs on a tree. It’s done for many reasons including improving safety, enhancing beauty, promoting healthy growth, opening vistas, and providing clearance for traffic and structures. Good pruning includes removal of dead, dying, or diseased limbs, crossing or rubbing branches, sucker growth from rootstock, water sprouts from limbs, and other objectionable growth. Pruning also consists of thinning the crown by removing branches that are too close together to allow air and light to penetrate the canopy. Thinning is a specialized technique that requires experience and should only be performed by a qualified arborist.

One of the most important reasons for routine pruning is to prevent property damage from wind and storm damage. If your trees have heavy or misshapen limbs, they can easily break or splinter during high winds or bad weather, potentially damaging your home, cars, or other landscape features.

Misshapen limbs are a fire hazard as well. They can block visibility and cause tripping hazards. They also may drop limbs during heavy rains or during a bad storm, causing potential property damage. Regular pruning helps to prevent these types of problems by promoting the natural shape of your trees.

Other reasons for regular pruning include reducing insect and disease infestation, preventing or minimizing the spread of disease from tree to tree, and promoting plant health. Poorly pruned trees are more susceptible to pest infestation and fungus, and they can be less productive and healthy. Insects and fungus love to live in the closed spaces of poorly pruned trees, where it’s dark and damp and hard for air to circulate. Proper pruning promotes open space and dries out the moist areas that attract insects and fungus.

The best time to prune is late winter through early spring. This window varies by climate but usually occurs when ground thaws, nighttime frosts end, and leaves start to sprout. During this time, the trees have stored up food for the summer, and wounds caused by pruning will have had a chance to heal over the winter.

When pruning mature trees, it is a good idea to keep the pruned limbs no more than two-thirds of the total tree diameter. This will reduce the risk of limbs breaking off in wind and snow or as a result of old age. It is also a good idea to remove any limbs that are dead or damaged, especially if they are leaning or in decline. This will help to ensure that the remaining limbs are properly weighted and anchored. Lastly, it’s important to remove any limbs that are growing towards your home or structure. This will not only protect the integrity of your roof and foundation but it will also protect your loved ones from unsightly and potentially dangerous limbs that could fall on them.