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The Importance of Pruning

February 2018
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With spring just around the corner, the time is now to start making plans for your property! Regardless of the vision you have, tree pruning should be one of the first tasks you undertake this spring. Envision Landscapes can help complete this task for you!

Trees: So Much More than Just a Pretty Landscape!

In addition to beautifying a landscape, trees play an essential role in our lives. They filter water and air, act as a barrier between noise and temperature and help create a stable soil.

Ensuring your trees can provide these benefits relies, in part, on proper pruning methods.

The Benefits of Pruning Trees

Especially after winter wreaks havoc on trees, it’s important to get them properly pruned. Doing so increases the tree’s strength, reducing its risk of stems and branches breaking off. Plus, trimming back specific areas of the tree enhances views of your property, and can increase the tree’s flowering.

Pruning can also be used to remove a potential hazard or cut back overhang impeding a path or building structure.

Types of Tree Pruning

Depending on what your end goal is with your trees, various tree pruning methods are available to help you achieve that goal. The most common tree pruning methods include:

Shaping: Properly shaping a tree can help decrease a tree’s height or canopy spread and enable a particular shape to be obtained.

Thinning: Help reduce the number of branches or canopy weight at certain key points along the trunk and invite more sunlight or airflow in with proper thinning techniques.

Structural Pruning: Structural pruning helps train young trees to become strong and upright with well-spaced branches.

Restoration Pruning: Help damaged trees improve their structure, form, and appearance with restoration pruning.

Targeted Pruning: Targeting certain branches while pruning is great for removing certain hazards.

Vista Pruning: Create a certain view through your tree by pruning “windows” into the tree’s crown.

Take Care when Pruning Trees

Although it may appear relatively easy, there’s a right and wrong way to prune trees.

Pruning trees incorrectly cannot only cause major tree stress and weaken the tree’s structure, but the tree could become more susceptible to infection – and could even die.

Some trees that have been improperly pruned in the past can still be restored. Since no more than 25% of the tree’s canopy should be removed at one time, more than one pruning session may be required. If too much pruning is completed at one time, the tree may go into shock, which can lead to imbalances (and even death) in the overall tree system.

Trust Envision Landscapes to Prune Your Trees Properly!

There are proper pruning standards available which are recognized and followed by arborists. At Envision Landscapes, we have the knowledge and experience to prune your trees correctly – ensuring they remain healthy for many years to come.

Contact us today to arrange your tree pruning for the spring or to learn more about our full range of services!