Tree Trimming: Pruning your yard trees has various benefits and helps in keeping them healthy and strong. Cutting off large and heavy branches or affected limbs helps the tree recover and makes it more disease resistant.
But tree trimming is neither simple nor an easy task. But most homeowners, don’t understand the complications of tree trimming and end up damaging their trees while trying to undertake the job themselves.
This amateur effort of saving money can permanently ruin the look of valuable trees and leave them vulnerable to diseases and storms – resulting in long-term costs.
While the best method is to hire professionals and opt for the best tree trimming company in Buffalo NY. Many of us would still want to try trimming ourselves.
To help these people. Here are some common mistakes you should avoid while doing tree trimming.
Common Tree Pruning Mistakes To Avoid
Topping
One of the most obvious and ugly tree pruning mistakes. Topping happens a lot during crape myrtles pruning.
It involves cutting away a large section from the top of the tree’s crown or the leafing branches across the top half.
Topping lifts the tree and leaves an ugly deformed branch structure that can neither be looked at nor can it be fixed.
Incorrect Timing
There are usually good and bad times to prune a tree which most of us don’t know. For example, oak trees should not be pruned from Feb to June in Texas due to the spread of oak wilt disease at that time.
Pruning a stressed tree will make it weak and instead of becoming healthy and growing the tree will die.
Additionally, pruning west-facing branches in summer is a bad idea as the large limbs shade the tree and pruning will cause sunscald on red oaks, maples, and other species.
Sunscald damages the trunk bark and causes permanent damage to the tree.
Improper Cutting
One of the most common mistakes of tree trimming is when people cut the branches too close to the main trunk. This action removes the branch collar of the tree which possesses specialized cells that help heal the wound in the tree.
A branch collar can be identified as a small bump where the branch meets the trunk. It is responsible for creating cells that prevent diseases from entering the trunk.
Cutting that off will open a passage for diseases and pests that results in the early demise of the tree.
Over Pruning
Pruning is all about shedding out the heavy branches but trimming more than 15 to 20 percent of a tree’s foliage at one time is counterproductive.
When you remove too much of the canopy the tree is unable to create food and structurally support itself. Most inexperienced people usually trim and thin their trees so the grass beneath can grow but they end up killing the tree.
In fact, you should not prune more than 5-10 percent of the tree’s foliage in one go to ensure you have a healthy tree and turf in your yard.
Conclusion
Tree trimming is way more than cutting some branches to make the tree look thin. And when people don’t do it correctly, trees that took years to grow, die within months and their yard’s condition gets worse.
To avoid this environmental hazard, make sure that if you are not well researched, don’t go on trimming the trees yourselves. Look for professional tree trimming and tree care services that can take care of that for you.
Local Residents of Buffalo can contact Branch Specialists and take the benefit of hiring the best tree trimming services in Buffalo NY and ensure their yards look aesthetically pleasing and remain healthy.
