Ned Patchett Tree Care & Consulting Explains the Common Pitfalls Homeowners Encounter When They Try DIY Tree Pruning
It’s certainly true that we live in an age of DIY everything. Need to lay flooring? Watch a YouTube video. Want to redo your kitchen backsplash? Pinterest to the rescue. Change the motor in your car? You got this. If you can do all that, surely tree pruning isn’t that hard, right?
Wrong! Tree pruning is not only an art but an exacting science. There are numerous details that are vital to know when pruning your trees such as the appropriate time, where to prune, how to prune for maximum health, disease prevention, and safety of the tree, and not least of all, the safety of the person doing the pruning.
If you don’t know how to properly prune your tree, it can be tempting to watch a couple of videos and DIY it yourself. However, what the DIY videos won’t tell you is the right conditions for the tree you need to prune. It won’t tell you how to do it right for your landscape and geographical area. And it won’t tell you how to maximize your safety. Professional arborists know all of this, and more. When you DIY, you not only risk permanently damaging the tree, but causing harm to yourself, your landscape, and any people or objects nearby.
Poor Pruning Could Cause Future Damage and Danger
There are many factors that go into pruning a tree properly. Some people will DIY their tree pruning and, at first, everything appears fine. The tree looks good, it seems healthy, and you’ll think you did the job well.
When a tree pruning service comes to your residence and trims your tree, they don’t just think about what your tree will look like when they’re done. An arborist will consider the long-term health and safety of the tree. Pruning it in the wrong spot will not only cause damage to the tree but can weaken it to the point of being a hazard months or years later. One wrong cut could cause a tree to tilt, fall, split or expose it to disease which will then kill it from the inside out. Tree cutting services will ensure your tree not only looks good but is healthier as a result of their pruning job.
Common DIY Mistakes with Tree Pruning
Even the most well-intentioned DIY homeowner can easily make mistakes when pruning trees if they haven’t been trained to do it properly. Here are the most common.
- Cutting Incorrectly: A common mistake we see is when homeowners cut branches too close to the trunk of the tree. They cut so closely, in fact, that it makes it harder for the tree to heal and exposes it to disease and damage.
- Pruning Too Much: Typically, only 5-10% of a tree needs to get pruned and you should never prune more than 15-20%. Over-pruning can not only cause the tree to lack enough foliage to soak in nutrients but can compromise the tree’s structure.
- Topping:Cutting the top of the crown off doesn’t help the tree grow or produce blooms. All it does is leave you with an ugly tree.
How We Can Help
At Ned Patchett Tree Care and Consulting, we have years of experience among our team of professional arborists. We’ve worked with every type of tree and can help you determine the best course of action to take for the trees in your yard.
We are a full-service tree care company and can provide help to diagnose disease, prune your trees in the right way at the right time, manage the health of your trees, and advise when trees need extra help or preventative care.
To the casual observer, most trees “look” fine. When a tree service specialist from our team looks at your trees, however, they’ll determine problem areas that need to be addressed, know how best to prune and shape the tree for its health and the look of your landscape, and know what can be done to ensure the longevity of your tree and your safety.
