Tree pruning keeps trees healthy and beautiful. Keeping your trees in optimum health can add value to your home in addition to increasing curb appeal. During the pruning process, you can also remove habitats that harbor damaging pests and remove diseased limbs. Also, pruning your trees can create a clearing for objects, walkways, and roadways while opening your view and increase flowering. The professional tree care company in the Tri-Cities, Promier Tree, shares its best tips in the homeowner’s guide to proper pruning techniques so that you can maintain the health and aesthetics of your trees for years to come.
Acceptable Types of Pruning
- Cleaning – Cleaning your trees is the selective removal of damaged, diseased, dying, or dead branches. For precautionary reasons, branches that are over three inches in diameter should be removed by a professional arborist or Kingsport tree care company to ensure the safety of your home, surrounding property, and your tree.
- Thinning – Selectively removing smaller healthy branches can help reduce canopy density. Thinning in the outer third portion of the canopy can help shape the tree without excessive removal of interior limbs. By removing about 50% of branches lower than eight feet, you can thin the top without the risk of sprouting or weakening surrounding branch structures.
- Raising – When seeking to provide vertical clearance, raising is the process of selectively removing live limbs. Exercise caution when removing permanent branches as it could cause structural instability. Instead, reduce and thin larger branches to protect the tree’s health and promote growth.
- Reducing – Removing branches and limbs to lower the tree’s overall height and canopy spread is a process called reduction. When reducing your tree’s size, make sure to exercise caution when choosing which branches to remove. Smaller, less mature limbs are easier to remove and reduce the risk of damaging the tree when removed.
- Structural – Structural pruning is the best way to influence a tree’s natural growth and overall architecture. During structural pruning, larger limbs and more canopy volume get removed. However, for mature trees cabling and thinning are more viable options to protect the tree’s health. For younger saplings, structural pruning is critical to ensure proper growth and shape as the tree matures.
Words of Warning
Pruning your trees involves planning and patience as changes to your tree need to be incremental and spread over multiple years. Over pruning your trees at any time could unbalance the tree or cause undue stress that often leads to structural and significant health complications, possibly resulting in tree removal. Therefore, the experienced Johnson City arborists at Promier Tree advise homeowners not to remove any more than 25% of the canopy at one time to prevent robbing the tree of its energy reserves. Arborists also recommend homeowners allow larger branches remain intact to avoid decay or weakness.
Tree care in Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol, Tennessee
Pruning your trees is an effective way to ensure positive health and growth for years to come. For many tree species in East Tennessee, fall is the appropriate time to prune trees. If you are unsure about pruning your trees or have a question about the process, feel free to contact Promier Tree by calling (423) 872-2988 or contact us online for a consultation.