Few outdoor chores are easier than tree trimming. After all, you only need a saw, some clippers, a reasonably tall ladder, and a garbage bin to place the clippings.
Well, think again. Tree trimming and pruning professionals might make such work seem easy, but you need to arm yourself with more than just the tools of the trade. Attempting to shape your shrubbery and trees without the proper knowledge can result in a mangled mess. Pruning correctly means understanding what, when, and how to cut.
The Right Kinds of Cuts
Though people often use “trimming” and “pruning” to refer to thinning out branches, the words hide a wealth of technical detail behind their dictionary definitions. For instance, pruning can have multiple purposes, including enhancing views, prompting fresh growth, and ensuring the safety of passersby and property.
The first consideration is usually aesthetic, and fine pruning that improves a plant’s appearance is generally involved.
Standard Pruning
Alters the structure of a tree, usually to train it to take a new kind of shape.
Safety Pruning
This often involves removing dangerous deadwood or thickly grown sections that could threaten the tree during high winds or winter chills.
Crown Reduction
This comes into play when a tree has grown too big for its proverbial britches and often involves snipping away crossing branches. Doing this without the proper knowledge can spell disaster.
Pruning: The Time and Season
Feel free to indulge in occasional fine pruning or deadwood removal whenever you’d like. However, other types of trimming can radically change a tree’s development.
Trimming during winter will typically lead to explosive growth during spring, while trimming during summer does the opposite, retarding the development of cut limbs.
Any flowering tree will flourish when trimmed at the end of its blooming cycle, but avoid pruning around autumn. Mold and fungi thrive during that time of year and can damage your plants.
Hallmarks of Proper Pruning
This may seem like a big undertaking. Homeowners with lots of ornamental and mature trees should consider hiring a professional.
But how can you tell whether or not tree trimming has been done properly? An expert should always cut big branches so that the bark doesn’t tear away in strips down the tree’s trunk and secure them with ropes ahead of time to ensure they don’t plummet to the earth.
A professional should also never use climbing gaffs. Though convenient, these steel spikes can cause irreparable cosmetic harm and introduce an insect infestation.
Any reputable tree company must have tall enough ladders, ropes, and safety harnesses, or lifts available.
Finally, you don’t want to deal with rough or ragged cuts. Such carelessness can harm the tree’s health and lead to unsightly dieback.
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