As any arborist will tell you, the key to healthy, finely growing trees is a properly yearly trimming and pruning. Unsure of what it all means? Below you will find answers to all of your pruning questions.
What is Tree Trimming/Pruning?
Tree trimming and pruning is an essential aspect of tree care that involves cutting excess leaves and branches of a tree. Think of it as a tree’s well-needed haircut.

Why Do I Need to Prune my Trees?
Tree pruning is essential to ensuring that your trees remain healthy, attractive and stable. The way a tree is pruned often dictates how the tree will grow. Have you ever seen hedges that are oddly shaped? That’s because someone dedicated a great deal of time to pruning the hedges in a particular way. Pruning will also ensure that the tree grows the right way, and in turn, the structural integrity will remain intact.
Not trimming trees can also pose great dangers to your home and your family. During storms and inclement weather, branches can get loose and are susceptible to falling on houses, power lines, and even worse, a person. This can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and more crucially, put people’s lives in danger. Tree trimming and tree pruning is an essential aspect of tree maintenance that helps homeowners avoid such detrimental accidents.

When and How Should I Prune/Trim my Trees?
According to tree specialists, tree trimming should be done once a year, during late fall and winter. This time of year is considered a dormant season for trees. Just like living creatures, trees may become stressed and damaged if they are pruned during active seasons of growth. During the fall and winter, trees lose less sap and are less susceptible to the damage of pests, fungus, and disease.

How Do I Trim my Trees Properly?
The most important thing to remember when trimming a tree is that less is more. The goal is to remove no more that 35% from the base of the tree. If you take off more, the tree may incur damage.