Trees are the life and soul of any landscape. However, to get the most out of them while maintaining their health, it is important to provide proper, regular care. This article covers how to cut tree branches properly ensuring your trees stay healthy and beautiful.
Why it is Important to Cut Tree Branches
It is important to keep trees healthy by selectively removing unwanted tree branches to promote the structure of the tree and facilitate its growth in the right direction. It is a vital tool in helping maintain the health and aesthetics of a tree while ensuring that it never becomes a security concern for the lives and property around it.
What Are The Advantages Of Cutting Tree Branches?
Done right, cutting off tree branches offers several key advantages:
- Protects property from potential damage from broken or dead tree branches.
- Ensures proper ‘breathing’ room and exposure to light for all the branches of a tree, facilitating healthy growth.
- Gives a clean and visually appealing look to the tree, which helps lift the appearance of the entire landscape.
- Gives a tree a good foundation to live a long and healthy life.
- Trains a tree to grow in the right direction.
How to Cut Tree Branches Properly
- Properly maintaining your trees offer a broad range of benefits only when done right and that involves several factors:
Know when to cut tree branches: There isn’t a single best time to cut tree branches. Typically it is best to cut branches of spring-flowering trees in spring, right after they are done flowering while those trees that flower in summer and autumn are best pruned in late winter or early spring. However, when faced with dead, damaged, or diseased branches, cut branches regardless of what season it is as this is in the interest of the health of the tree and is for the safety of people and property around it. - There is a proper way to cut tree branches: You might think cutting out branches from your tree is not all that complicated. However, tree branch removal is a science and there is a proper method of doing it to ensure the optimal health and growth of the tree. It is important to have that knowledge so you either do your research before attempting it yourself or hire the professionals for the job.
- Know how much to cut: Tree branch cutting is of different types with each type fulfilling a different purpose. Depending on what type of pruning your tree needs, the amount of branch removal required will vary. So, for example, tree branch cutting to reduce its density requires the removal of branches from their origins, whereas tree pruning for the purpose of tree maintenance is more about removing dead branches and making simple, clear cuts.
- The right tools make all the difference: The wrong tool is likely to cause more harm than benefit to the tree. So, know the right tools for your cutting needs and use them to get the most out of the job. Pruners, for example, are best for small branches while prune saws are best for branches that have a diameter of more than 4-6 cm.
- How to cut branches from a tall tree: Many people are not able to get branches cut from tall trees because they don’t have the right tools, or they can’t reach high enough. For safety reasons, you should not climb the tree to get branches. You can use a ladder and a pole saw if it’s on ground level, but make sure that no one is nearby so they don’t become injured (make sure children are inside or far away). You should also make sure there’s enough room around the base of the tree to avoid injury if anything falls or comes loose. If you’re cutting branches from trees higher than 20 feet off the ground, it is best to hire a professional tree service company like Hidden Oak Tree Care.
- Different tree branch types need to be cut differently: Fruit trees are cut differently from conifers. When pruning a fruit tree, make sure to cut flush against the branch or trunk at a 45 degree angle to prevent rot or infection. Focus on cutting out any leafy growths such as suckers, waterspouts, and the like as they suck out the water and other essential nutrients from the main branches of the tree. Remove lower and upper growths of the tree to keep the balance even between the higher and lower level and to ensure sufficient exposure to light for all the main branches. Finally, flowering trees have thick branches that can run into each other and cause problems. This is why it is important to give your main branches room by cutting out the extra branches that might run into them and cause them trouble. Conifers, on the other hand, need to be trimmed for a specific reason and not as a matter of routine. They are most commonly cut either to help retain their form and shape or to rid them of diseased/damaged branches. With conifers, it is also important to know what type of conifer you are dealing with as each reacts differently to pruning. Additionally, different conifers have different growth patterns, which means they all have different optimal times for pruning. Therefore, research your specific conifer properly before deciding on when and how to cut it.
As long as you take these key factors into consideration, there is no reason why your tree cutting won’t yield you the best, most valuable results in terms of tree health and aesthetics. But, if you are stuck on how to cut tree branches properly, contact the experts at Hidden Oak Tree Care. We will take the job off your hands and make sure your trees remain healthy and look great.