How to properly prune a tree

Pruning is the most common and the most important tree maintenance procedure. There are many reasons to prune your trees.

 

The procedure will increase health and vigor, make trees more safe, and will make the tree more attractive. Pruning will also stimulate fruit or flower production. The overall objective of pruning is to produce strong, healthy, attractive plants. It is important to understand how, when and why to prune, and to follow a few simple pruning principles.

 

First, you want to be sure that you can handle pruning your own trees. Small ornamental trees under 20 feet tall is probably something that you can prune yourself. Bigger trees that require a ladder or chain saw are best left to a professional.

 

Pruning for safety involves removing branches that could fall, cause personal injury or damage your property. Trim branches that interfere with lines of sight on streets or driveways and remove branches that grow to close to power lines. Safety pruning can be avoided by choosing a species that will not grow larger than the space available to them and that are suited to the site.

 

To help improve the health of your trees prune back diseased or insect-infested wood, thin the branches to increase airflow and remove crossing and rubbing branches. Pruning broken or damaged limbs encourages wound closure. This practice encourages trees to develop a strong structure and reduces the likelihood of damage during severe weather.

 

Proper pruning can enhance the look of almost any ornamental tree or shrub, while improper pruning can ruin or greatly reduce its beauty. The overall goal when pruning trees to improve their look is to enhance the natural form and character of trees or stimulate flower production.

 

Pruning, like any other skill, requires that you know what you are doing in order to be successful at it. If you are not sure what to do it is better not to prune than to do it incorrectly and damage the tree. Each year more trees are killed or ruined from improper pruning than by pests and disease.

 

Nashville, TN based Kaily’s Tree Service is a Nashville certified full-service tree company with many years of tree management expertise. Call us today at 615-496-1542.