Having several trees around your property increases the likelihood of you being in a better mood. At least, that is what a bunch of correlational studies has found. So, you should be grateful for the trees you do have because most residential property owners do not have those. Of course, if you have trees in your property, then you have to take proper care of them. Trees don’t just require water and sunlight, they also need protection from the elements, pests, diseases and so on. Plus, they also need to be trimmed now and then as well.
The idea of trimming or pruning a tree does sound easy in principle, but we can assure you that it is much more difficult to execute in practice. Under any circumstances, it is strongly advised that you contact tree care professionals for this job, and in case you do not know where to go, you can check out https://treeservicecarmelin.com/ for more information.
If you are unable to get a tree service company to come over because of whatever reason and you feel that you can manage to trim your tree yourself, then you can keep on reading below for a better idea.
Why Trim a Tree?
Now, a lot of people might ponder over the point of getting a tree trimmed, and your curiosity is justified. Tree trimming and pruning are very important for a tree’s wellbeing and overall longevity. Trimming assures that:
- Your tree will stay healthier because you can remove infected branches of the tree, and consequently save that tree from becoming infested in diseases which would have most likely killed it.
- You can remove dead or weak branches from the tree, which removes the risk of a weak or dad branch potentially falling off and becoming a safety risk for its surroundings.
- You can maintain and control the look of the tree. Trimming will let you keep the branches neat, and will help the tree maintain a better look and shape, so the aesthetics are another added benefit.
Safety Precautions
We once again would not advise an amateur to try and trim trees because that poses a serious safety risk. After all, working from heights without the right tools or experience can have dangerous consequences if one is not careful. So, once again, it is strongly advised to have professionals come in and do the job.
- Always let someone know that you will be working on the tree so that they are alert and know who to call in case of an accident.
- Use a ladder.
- Try not to go up to heights you know you cannot manage.
- Buy proper tools and safety equipment.
Trimming Your Tree
Now that you have made it this far, we will talk about the right way to trim a tree because if you do not trim your tree correctly, not only will it look bad, you can also end up causing problems to its equilibrium and its overall growing process as well.
- The best time to trim a tree is when it is in dormant mode. The dormant season is the period during which the tree is not actively growing. Different types of trees have different dormant seasons, but dormant seasons are usually between Fall-Winter for most trees. This makes for a better trimming job, however, if there is an issue or a hazard, you can trim your tree outside of dormant season as well.
- Different branches will grow out at different angles. As a general rule of thumb, do not trim branches that have a U-shaped angle. However, if a branch has narrow, V-shaped angles, then you should most likely trim them off. Similarly, if your lateral branches are between one-half or three-quarter the diameter of the stem, then they are good to go. However, anything outside of that range will need to be removed.
- You need to conscious of the size of the branch you are cutting. A branch with a diameter of 5cm is fine and can be removed easily. However, if the branch is greater than 5cm but less than 10cm, you should be cautious and only remove that branch if you have a very strong reason to get it removed, and anything branch that is greater than 10cm in diameter need to be avoided and should not be touched.
- When you are trimming a branch, you do not want to cut the branch close to the steam/base, and at the same time, you do not want to leave a long stub either. So, you need to find a happy medium between the two or else you will end up with scars on your tree.
- The best time to trim branches if when they are still young since they are still soft and can be easily removed as opposed to older and grown branches.