Spring cleaning for your yard and garden includes pruning. Although trees grow quite naturally without pruning, this routine landscape maintenance allows your trees to reach their full potential and live a long life.
Pruning during springtime aids with enhanced growth and helps more flowers, foliage, and colorful stems to flourish. Pruning in the spring helps control the size and shape of both trees and shrubs and contributes to their overall safety, health, and aesthetics.
Why Is Tree Pruning Necessary?
Pruning removes unwanted branches to improve a tree’s structure and directs new, healthy growth. Removing diseased, dead, and weak growth is key to improving the health of your growing trees and plants. Thinning out (removal) opens the canopy allowing for more air and light to get in, resulting in enhanced strength, shape, and overall condition. Pruning retains the natural growth pattern and health maintenance of all plants.
The four most popular tree pruning methods involve the crown. The tree crown is the top part of the tree, which features branches that grow out from the main trunk and support the various leaves used for photosynthesis. Crown thinning, crown raising, crown reduction, and crown cleaning are all pruning methods that create a tree with good light and air circulation, which encourages better branch distribution, fruit and flower production and limits disease expansion. The crown of the tree is essential for producing leaves for photosynthesis. Without a solid and healthy crown, the rest of the tree will weaken over time.
While there is never a wrong time to prune, there are optimal times to prune. The best time to prune will depend on when your tree or plant starts to bloom. If your tree starts to flower after midsummer, spring is the best time to trim. You can safely perform tree pruning in spring after the leave and buds have formed. Pruning too much of a tree increases its risk of developing a pest infestation or disease. As a guide, do not remove any more than 10 percent of the tree’s branches. The 10 percent rule ensures you are not doing more harm than good.
Trimming the trees in your yard also creates a safe environment for your family and friends. Well-pruned trees are sturdier and healthier and able to withstand winter storms and high winds—too much foliage results in top-heavy trees prone to falling. Dead branches, diseased trees, and weak limbs are all a danger to people and property.
There are pruning practices that the experienced crew at Artistic Tree and Landscape Creations use to keep your trees healthy. To learn more call us at (412) 303-4443.
