Module 4: Tree Pruning and Maintenance

Maintaining a tree in a healthy condition requires periodic inspection, and tree maintenance activities such as pruning, mulching, fertilization, and plant health care. Pruning is the most significant practice due to costs and impact on the tree. Proper pruning can extend the useful life of a tree in your yard for decades. Trees may need to be pruned for any of the following: to remove dead or hazardous branches, to improve the tree structure, to provide better clearance under, over, or through the tree, to increase light or air penetration, or for aesthetic considerations. Timing of pruning is not a mystical horticultural secret. Routine maintenance pruning of dead wood can be done at any time. Generally, it is easiest to prune live wood when it is dormant. Flowering trees should be pruned after blooming. Check with local experts about exceptions.

When a tree is too big to be pruned from the ground, it is time to call in an Arborist. An arborist is a specialist in the care of individual trees. Arborists are knowledgeable about the needs of trees, and are trained and equipped to provide proper care. Hiring an arborist is a decision that should not be taken lightly; tree work should be done only by those trained and equipped to work in trees in a manner that is safe both for them and for the trees. Click here to find out more about how to hire an arborist.

Pruning standards
There is a proper way to prune trees. Pruning cuts should be made outside the branch collar, not flush with the stem. Excess end weight should be removed with preliminary cuts to avoid tearing bark. Pruning is often done to remove dead wood from a tree, to thin the crown for air circulation or to balance weight, and to provide ground clearance. Tree topping, an unacceptable practice, occurs when indiscriminate cuts are made on large branches in an attempt to lower the height of the tree. Topping creates a structurally unsound condition, is stressful to the tree, is expensive to maintain, and is visually offensive. Whenever topping is being considered, removal of the tree and replacement with an appropriate size tree will better solve the problem and reduce hazards in the future.