For many homeowners, learning how to trim trees is a useful skill to figure out. Being able to trim trees lets you improve overhead clearance for a walking path or driveway, prevent trees from spreading out over your home, and helps keep them healthy by encouraging new growth and eliminating dead branches. While tree trimming may seem straightforward, it is more complicated than many people think, assuming you want to do it right.
Trim During The Dormant Season
If you can, opt to trim your trees when they are in their dormant season. This will minimize the stress on the tree and negative impacts. You can, of course, trim a tree at other times of the year, particularly when there is a hazard like a dead branch. In most cases, the dormant season is early winter or late fall. Pruning at this time minimizes sap loss and reduces the risk of the wound becoming infected by fungus or insects.
Know Which Branches to Remove
When you trim or prune a tree, you should put some thought into which branches to remove and which ones to leave alone. Generally speaking, you can definitely remove branches with a diameter of under five centimeters. Carefully consider your decision if it is five to ten centimeters and avoid trimming a branch with a diameter of over ten centimeters unless it is necessary. Additionally, you should try to trim branches with weak, narrow angles shaped like a V and keep those with stronger U-shaped angles.
Tips For Tree Pruning
An offshoot of tree trimming, tree pruning has its own specific tips and methods. You can prune trees with crown thinning or crown raising. Crown thinning lets you thin out the crown of the tree, but you should always take are to never remove over a quarter of the living crown at the same time. Doing so will weaken the tree. During the pruning process, aim to keep the tree’s lateral branches evenly spaced and prune off the branches that run against or cross other branches.
Crown raising is a pruning technique that can improve the clearance so cars or pedestrians can pass under. This process requires extreme caution during the pruning process as you should make sure there are still live branches on two-thirds of the tree’s height. Removing too many trees on the lower half may make it harder for the tree to develop a strong enough stem.
The Easiest Method: Hire A Pro
Of course, the easiest way to trim trees on your property is to just leave it to the professionals. They will already have the appropriate tools on hand, including for actually cutting the tree, reaching the higher areas of it, and safety gear. They will also be familiar with basic safety steps to prevent injury while trimming trees and know the right spots to cut to minimize the impact on the plant in question. Tree service professionals in Austin will even be able to spot any signs of disease before they get started so they do not accidentally spread a tree infection or other problem with contaminated sheers.
Source:
https://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-trim-large-tree-branches/