Trimming your trees is one of the biggest responsibilities you have of homeownership. If you have beautiful trees on your property, you need to take care of them. Whether you need to do that for them to look better, so that that the tree continues to grow in a healthy way, or you need them to be trimmed for safety reasons, you need to keep your trees neatly pruned and trimmed.
If you have trees with branches that are damaged or too big, diseases growing rampant on your tree, or some other problems, it is time to have that tree pruned and properly taken care of immediately. Trees that grow out of control and unhealthily might cause many more problems for you and your home. There are some other times that you may want to trim your trees, especially after certain events that can do significant damage to the tree itself.
Here are a few different ways to tell if your trees need to be pruned:
4. Your Tree Is Growing Out Of Control
- Trees that grow too big can be stressed and can’t sustain themselves
- Trees can grow too closely to someone’s home or other structures
- Uncontrolled growth only gets worse
Trees that grow out of control can be extremely dangerous and it is best not to let them get to that point. If they are too large, or there are branches that are just unwieldy, you need to get them pruned. You will want to tackle this problem as early as possible because too much-uncontrolled growth can lead to other problems. Mainly, pruning too much can open your tree up to many diseases and wounds that don’t heal properly.
Do not remove larger portions of your tree, as this requires quite a bit of work and is extremely stressful to the tree itself. When a tree is stressed, there is less chance that it will come back from the damage – there is even less chance that it will be able to fight off fungi and other pathogens, according to Home Guides.
Get your trees pruned regularly and you won’t have this problem.
3. You Need To Remove Diseases
- Infected areas need to be removed as quickly as possible
- Unprofessional pruning can allow it to spread
- Inspect the leaves of the tree for signs
When trees become too diseased to care for them, the diseased area needs to be removed as quickly as possible. When you ignore the problem, the disease may not only spread to the rest of the tree, but to the surrounding trees and other greenery in your yard, according to Trees Are Good.
There are many ways that diseases spread and so many different symptoms. You want to get to know your trees when they are healthy so that you can know when they are diseased.
Sometimes, the infections need special treatment. This is why all tree pruning needs to be done by a professional.
2. There Has Been Damage To Your Tree
- Damage caused by you, the environment, or other trees
- Wounds open tree up for disease
- Malformed branches and internal damage need to be cleaned as well
Sometimes, trees get damaged despite our best efforts. If this happens to your tree, you want to get them inspected for problems that won’t heal by themselves. Sometimes, the damaged area will need to be cut out and then the tree can heal. It might seem silly to make a bigger wound, but sometimes that is the only way to heal.
It is important to note that your tree doesn’t have to be pruned after every wound, but you might want to have it inspected, just in case there are problems.
Don’t think that wounds are just cuts or dents in the trunk, they can be so much more. According to Texas A&M, “Tree wounds are common and the causes include: broken branches; impacts, abrasions and scrapes; animal damage; insect attack; fire; etc. Wounds usually break the bark and damage the food and water conducting tissues. Wounds also expose the inside of the tree to organisms, primarily bacteria and fungi that may infect and cause discoloration and decay of the wood.”
1. Tree Pruning May Be Necessary After Water Events
- Water softens bark and opens them up to wounding
- Bigger branches could have split
- Roots can be damaged as well
Flooding, heavy rains, pool drainages, and other water events might lead to pruning for your trees. Damage from storms is an obvious reason to prune your trees, but trees may also rot after a water event. Smaller branches should be trimmed away if they look waterlogged.
However, you have to be careful about trimming too much if you are going to do the trimming. This is why it is important to have a professional do the trimming. Floods and storms can bring many chemicals into the area, especially yard chemicals that can kill your trees.
According to Iowa State University, “Below-ground studies show long-term flooding can lead to death and decay of large portions of a tree’s root system. Flood-sensitive species unable to produce new roots after flooding quickly die, whereas roots of flood-tolerant trees either survive flooding in an active or dormant condition, or they regenerate from the root collar or trunk near the water surface.” This means that you certainly want to have a professional take a look at your trees and ensure that everything looks like it should.
If you are worried about your trees or you see something that just doesn’t look right, make sure to give Arbortec Tree Service a call at (303) 466-3175. While you can certainly watch over your trees and love them, there is nothing that beats the practiced hand of professionals.
Header photo courtesy of faeryhedgehog on Flickr!