Everything You Need to Know About Tree Pruning and Why It Matters

Tree pruning, or trimming, is the process of selectively removing branches and parts of trees to maintain, control, or improve their shape or structure. Removing branches, buds, and sprouts can break up the plant form and encourage new growth. This pruning can also help to promote healthy and new tree growth. 

Removing dead or diseased parts of the tree is a necessary part of keeping it in good health. Dead wood can attract insects and carry them into a healthy tree, leading to infestations and potential damage. Diseased branches may also be infected with a disease and can spread to the rest of the tree. By eliminating these branches, the healthy growth of the tree can be maintained.

Tree pruning offers a number of essential benefits:

1. Improved Safety: Tree pruning removes dead, decaying, and structurally unsound branches that are hazardous to people or property. Pruning is an effective way to reduce the risk of potential damage from falling branches, falling fruit, and other miscellaneous yard debris.

2. Improved Health: Pruning removes diseased, insect-infested, and damaged branches in order to improve the tree's health. Pruning also helps increase light and air circulation within the canopy, allowing for improved light penetration and air movement to reduce disease and insect problems.

3. Improved Appearance: Pruning can improve the appearance of your landscape by removing excess foliage and shortening long or overly dense branches. It can also make your landscape easier to mow and manage while reducing weeds and branches that may crowd plant beds.

4. Improved Fruit Production: Pruning can improve the quality and quantity of fruit production in fruit trees. Proper pruning can help the tree focus energy on flowering and fruit production, where before, it might have been divided among many branches or shoots.

5. Improved Vigor and Longevity: Pruning can improve the vigor and longevity of your trees by removing weak and decaying branches that can slow the tree's growth. Pruning can also help improve the plant's growth if the tree is in need of more nutrients.

If you are inexperienced in tree pruning, it is best to hire professionals like Richis Tree Service, LLC, who can provide expert tree pruning services in the Centennial, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, and Greenwood Village, CO areas. That being said, understanding the basics of how to properly prune your trees can help you make wise decisions about their care, and help you to recognize potential problems. 

• Cuts should be no more than ¼ inch in diameter and should be made with a sharp, clean pair of pruners or loppers. Prune away any branches growing inward or crossing, suckers, dead limbs, or water sprouts (fast-growing shoots).

• Large limbs should be trimmed with a saw, not just pruners. When cutting a large branch, make a shoulder cut ½ inch above the branch collar (the swollen area at the branch junction where the branch meets the trunk). This helps the wound heal faster and helps the tree maintain the structural integrity of the branch connection. 

• Avoid topping trees or making flush cuts. Topping a tree refers to cutting large branches back to a smaller branch, usually just an inch or two away from the trunk. Flush cutting is when a branch is cut flush with the trunk. Both topping and flush cuts cause excessive damage and leave a large wound that can take a long time to heal.

• Aim for a pleasing shape after pruning. Even though the goal of pruning is to improve the tree's health and safety, you want to pay attention to aesthetics as well. Pruning can help accentuate the natural form of your tree, so keep the balance of the tree in mind when you prune.