Just like your routine hair cuts, tree trimming is a natural and vital part of promoting a healthy, growing tree. However, a tree is a living organism, unlike your hair, and improper tree pruning can cause damage to your tree. The most important thing to keep in mind when pruning you
r trees is that pruning will affect the structure, health, and vigor of your tree. These consequences can be both negative and positive.
What to Do
When done correctly, tree pruning can help maintain the overall health of your tree. It is important to know that there are specific circumstances that must be in place to determine if pruning is needed though.
It is common for trees to be routinely trimmed. It is recommended to do this once every season to cut back dead foliage that may be preventing your tree from reproducing fresh leaves.
You may prune your trees to:
- remove dead branches
- remove diseased branches
- trim overgrown branches that are susceptible to damage
- remove potentially harmful branches over sidewalks, roofs, windows, parking areas, etc.
- trimming back wound damage done to trees, not to aggravate the existing bark, but to get rid of bark that may not allow the wound to heal correctly
What Not to Do
Consequently, tree pruning can cause more damage than benefit to your trees. When considering if this is the proper method, consider whether you are:
- ignoring all proper guidelines for tree pruning
- trimming more than 25 percent of the overall foliage of the tree
- pruning tree limbs that are not structurally sound
- cutting back too much that will inhibit proper healing
Finally, our certified arborists strongly advise against top cutting your trees.Top cutting is when all top layers of each branch have been completely snipped. Not only does this method inhibit any regrowth for your tree, it also has a negative effect on the overall aesthetic of your tree. To put it simply, this is much like shaving your head bald when trying to grow longer hair. It is an impractical approach to promoting your tree’s overall health and wellness.
Since it is easy to cause harm to your trees, we strongly recommend seeking the help of our certified arborists. While our experts know when it is appropriate to prune trees, they can also assess the correct diagnosis for tree damage, disease, and pest control. Trust your local Virginia arborist to get the job done properly and
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