A healthy tree is an investment in your property. It provides shade, beautifies your outdoor landscape and enhances curb appeal, thus elevating the overall value of the property. If you are going to trim or prune your tree, you need to do so with caution and have a good reason to prune.
Typically, trees are trimmed for three reasons.
- Looks: Pruning a tree helps it to keep its shape and appearance. Attempting to over-trim a tree to get it to keep a particular shape, however, can do serious damage.
- Safety: When branches and tree limbs break or die, they can be a serious hazard because they can fall at any time, potentially injuring people and animals, or damaging property. Limbs and branches also might need to be trimmed if they grow too close to utility lines or structures.
- Health: If a tree is suffering from disease, then pruning away the affected area may be the only way to prevent the entire tree from dying. A tree also can benefit from having its crown thinned to improve airflow.
If you choose to prune your tree yourself, then use the following technique.
Be strategic when making your trims. Look for the branch ridge, which is on the upper surface of a branch and runs parallel to the angle of the branch at the stem. Any cuts should be made outside of that ridge and angled down and away from the stem of the branch. Be sure not to cut at the branch collar, which grows from the stem tissue at the bottom base of a branch. These techniques should be used on branches whether they are living or dead.
Incorrectly pruning a tree can do serious damage. If you want to ensure your tree is protected while being trimmed, then you should consider hiring a professional landscaping company such as Promier Tree to do the work. This will cost more up front but will save you money in the long run. Professional landscapers have access to tools not available to the consumer and possess the experience from working with all kinds of trees in a wide variety of situations and conditions.
Do you have a tree that needs to be pruned? Are you unsure whether your tree needs to be trimmed? If so, then call the office of Promier Tree at (423) 872-2988 to schedule an on-site consultation by one of our certified arborists.
Promier Tree serves the areas of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport, TN.