3 Common Tree Pruning Mistakes to Avoid for New Homeowners

Are you looking to prune your trees, but aren’t quite sure how to do it? Tree pruning is beneficial for many reasons. 

Pruning helps to improve the overall health of your trees, helps your trees get more sunlight exposure, helps counterbalance root loss, improves the overall appearance of your trees, and allows you to detect any diseases before they get out of control. 

But, you need to make sure you’re pruning your trees the right way. Check out this guide to learn about the top tree pruning mistakes and how to avoid them. 

1. Not Hiring Professional Help 

If it’s your first time pruning your trees or you have some trees that are incredibly hard to reach, you should hire professional help. 

A professional tree pruning company will be able to assess the overall health of your trees and prune them in a safe and effective manner. Plus, these companies can perform preventative maintenance on your trees that will help them live longer and ward off diseases. 

Many tree pruning companies also offer tree removal services and cleaning services, so if you’re in need of a backyard makeover, they can big of big help. You can check out this tree pruning company to learn more. 

2. Pruning at the Wrong Time 

Another major mistake people make is pruning their trees at the wrong time. Ideally, you want to take care of pruning during the winter months, as this is when trees and plants are dormant and experience less stress from pruning. Not only that, but it’ll be easier for you to see the branch structure during the winter. 

Because pruning stimulates new growth, you should avoid pruning your trees in the fall. All of that growth stimulation will go to waste as soon as winter hits. Also, there are certain trees that are susceptible to pesticides during certain months of the year. Make sure you understand your tree’s vulnerabilities before you start pruning. 

3. Making Bad Cuts 

Tree pruning is both a science and an art. To make your trees look their best, you need to learn the art of making a good cut. Here are the pruning cuts that you need to avoid:

• Flush Cut: This type of cut involves removing the branch collar (you want to cut around it)
• Stub Cut: This involves leaving a stub of a branch that prevents the tree from sealing off from disease 
• Heading Cut: This involves taking off the head of a branch in a random spot, which leaves the tree open to diseases and pests and stimulates the tree to grow weak branches

To avoid these types of cuts, make sure you identify the branch collar, which is the large area just around the base of the branch. Then, cut around the collar. 

Tree Pruning Mistakes: Time to Start Pruning

Now that you know about these tree pruning mistakes, it’s time to get started pruning your trees. Before you know it, your trees will be looking better than ever. 

Be sure to check back in with our blog for more backyard maintenance tips and tricks.