Today you decided to trim your tree! But of course the burning question, how to trim trees correctly? You certainly don’t want to permanently damage your beautiful trees by making bad cuts or cutting branches that should not be cut. Making random cuts and stripping or tearing bark from the tree trunk is detrimental to the health of the tree!
Tips on how to trim trees correctly:
- Make an undercut on the bottom of the branch to prevent the bark from stripping off the tree trunk.
- Remove lower limbs for more clearance and for more sunshine beneath the tree to promote thicker grass.
- Cut away small limbs or twigs from the middle of the tree, any dead limbs you find can also be removed.
- Limbs that are being removed are cut at the branch collar, the bulge where a tree and branch connect.
- Usually 20% to 30% of the tree can be reduced without harming the tree when doing crown reduction.
- The best time to trim a tree is autumn or winter when the growing season is over, although they can be trimmed year round.
- And last but certainly not least, you need a sharp tool to make clean and smooth cuts to promote faster healing, like a chainsaw, hand saw, loppers, or hand pruner.
I want to share some tips and advice I have learned over the last 15+ years cutting down and pruning trees! I love my job, it allows me to work with my family, and I want to share useful information with others so they are able to prune and maintain their own trees correctly!