Trees, whether fruit, shade or ornamental, need to be cared for to maintain their best health and provide you with their greatest value. The most basic care that can be given a tree is proper pruning. Pruning can be done for many reasons, but it should always follow principles and standards to achieve the desired results without harming the tree. Improper pruning can disfigure the tree, or worse wound the tree beyond what it can recover from thus starting a slow decline of the tree’s health eventually leading to the tree’s death and loss of the value it provides.
Pruning is often thought of as something that is done after the tree is too big, but the benefits of pruning young trees has a far greater cost to benefit ratio. By pruning young trees you can guide them into a strong structure that is less likely to fail during storms. You can direct them away from structures before they get too close by selective branch removal. If branches can be foreseen as needing removed while they are young and small, the tree will be better able to heal over the wound and maintain health.
Pruning Techniques:
- Crown Raising – the removal of lower limbs, usually to provide clearance for pedestrians, vehicles or buildings.
- Structural Pruning – usually involves removing deadwood, rubbing branches and guiding the future growth into a strong structure that will ensure a long life for the tree.
- Clearance Pruning – pruning branches back from buildings, roofs, signs or access ways.
- Vista Pruning – pruning to provide more desirable views. We have technology to help find the tree parts that are blocking satellites and sunlight.
- Thinning – removing interior branches. Often done for air circulation, this technique can be over done and should be used sparingly.
- Deadwooding – removing dead branches from the tree, often for safety’s sake but also so the tree can heal over old wounds.
- Topping – reducing the tree to an arbitrary height. A discouraged practice by modern arborists because of the damage it does to the longterm health of the tree.
- Reducing – an alternative to topping that leaves the branches with natural ends and leaves to support the vitality of the branch.
