There are several reasons why tree pruning is necessary, especially if you have a lot of trees, or if any of the trees on your property are particularly large.
Here’s a little more about why having your trees pruned is so important.
Tree health
One of the main reasons for tree pruning is to keep the tree healthy and help it to grow.
A knowledgeable, skilled arborist can first target dead and dying branches and areas of the tree. This removes the chance of any disease making its way to the rest of the tree, but it also helps the tree to stop putting energy and nutrients into trying to grow the damaged areas. Instead, its energy will go into growing the healthier areas.
Similarly, careful pruning can help to remove branches and growths that are perfectly healthy, but don’t add to the tree’s growth or overall shape. For example, an arborist can target new branches and prune them back, allowing the tree’s energies to go into strengthening and growing existing branches.
Overall, careful pruning helps to keep the tree healthy and growing well.
Safer environment
An unhealthy or weak tree can be a serious hazard for people, property, and even other nearby plants.
Without pruning, unhealthy or dead branches may break off under strong winds, heavy rain, or simply from decaying until they are no longer strong enough to remain on the tree.
When they fall, they can land on property, vehicles, or other plants in your garden. Yet most hazardous of all is the possibility that it could land on you, a family member, someone visiting your home, a stranger passing by, or even a beloved family pet.
Pruning will help to ensure that all the branches on your trees are healthy and strong, and not in any danger of breaking off and becoming a serious hazard.
More yield
Whether it’s a fruit tree, a flowering tree, or a beautiful leafy evergreen, good pruning can help to create more of the goods. In other words, more fruit, more flowers, and more gorgeous green leaves.
That’s because a skilled arborist will only prune a maximum of 25% to 35% of the tree’s crown, and will focus on removing dead, damaged, or superfluous branches and offshoots. This ensures two things. One, that the tree still has enough leaves to catch sunlight and gain the energy it needs to grow and thrive. And two, that the tree is putting all that energy into things you want, such as flowers and fruits, rather than spreading its energy too thin and growing more branches that it doesn’t need.
If you think your trees having been as bountiful or as beautiful in recent years, or can’t figure out why they’re not producing as much as you’d like, an expert pruning could make all the difference.