Best Time to Trim Trees
As a homeowner, when you look at the trees on your property, the two main things you think of are how the trees affect the appeal of your home and the value they add to your property. As Taylor St. Property Management explains, trees make your home more valuable, and you need to care for the trees to maximize that value.
Caring for the trees on your property means ensuring they have all the water and nutrients they need. It’s also about protecting them from pests and diseases. But that’s not all; caring for a tree also means occasionally trimming its branches to protect both the tree and your home.
Why do you need to trim a tree?
When you trim a tree, you make it smaller by reducing its crown. There are many reasons why you should do this. Some of those reasons include:
1. To strengthen the tree
Trimming a tree makes it more tolerant of stress. The tree can better resist strong winds, ice storms, and hurricanes. A tree that has been properly trimmed is less likely to fall over during inclement weather. Trimming a tree protects it, as well as your home.
2. Make the tree healthier
Contrary to what many think, trimming a tree does not harm it but actually makes it healthier. A tree that a trained arborist has trimmed will have a better structure, and that tree will be able to thrive for many years into the future.
3. Provide clearances for large vehicles
Tree branches can threaten the safety of everyone in your home by preventing access to large vehicles. The branches could make it harder for a fire engine to reach the house in emergencies. To make your home accessible at all times, you need to control the growth of trees.
4. Protect public and private property
Keeping the growth of a tree under control ensures that its branches do not interfere with overhead power lines. Proper tree trimming will also protect your family and property by reducing the probability of the tree falling on your home and destroying it. Also, damage to the shingles on your roof could cause severe leakage and leaves can cause damage to your roof.
What is the right way to trim a tree?
When trimming a tree, there are specific guidelines you should follow to not harm the tree and to ensure you do not lose the benefit of having that tree on your property. Trimming a tree haphazardly will weaken it and put the things you want to protect at risk.
Given that the main objective of trimming a tree is to improve its structure, you should keep the following in mind when trimming a tree:
- Branch architecture: This is about how the tree branches are attached and spaced and the root flare. A trained arborist does not just look at the silhouette of a tree but through its leaves to see the actual skeleton of the tree.
- Growth characteristics: Trimming a tree is all about achieving the perfect tree structure, that is, a single trunk that runs from the root all the way to the tip. To maintain the strength and balance of the tree, all other branches that compete with its main trunk should either be removed or reduced.
When should you trim your trees?
The best time to prune trees is during the dormant season, from the beginning of fall to the beginning of spring. This is when the tree is not producing many leaves, and there is no photosynthesis. There is very little growth during this time because the tree’s metabolism has slowed significantly.
Why is this the best time to trim your trees?
1. The cut will not attract bugs
There are lots of bugs around during the summer, and when you make cuts in your trees, those bugs are attracted to the exposed parts of the tree because of the sap. Bugs carry fungus and bacteria and can transfer those to your trees, increasing the possibility of disease. Bugs will also lay eggs in freshly pruned branches, turning the tree into a nest.
2. The tree is not stressed
Trimming a tree during summer puts a lot of strain on it. Trees allocate many resources to produce leaves and grow their branches during summer. Cutting those branches after the tree has invested all that effort weakens the tree. If a tree is trimmed in summer when it is less active, the effect is less strenuous on it.
3. The tree has time to heal
Trimming a tree during the dormant season gives it time to heal. The tree is not struggling to protect itself from bugs or to sustain its summer growth. All the plant resources can be diverted to healing the trimmed branches. The tree recovers faster and more completely when trimmed in the dormant season.
About Jose Knows Trees
To remove dead tree stumps, many homeowners turn to DIY methods. However, that process can be more expensive, damaging, and time-consuming than you bargained for. Instead, let Jose Knows Trees of Mesa, Arizona, tackle all of your tree and stump issues. Family-owned and operated since 2010, Jose Knows Trees proudly serves the Phoenix East Valley area, including:
- Mesa
- Gilbert
- Chandler
- Queen Creek
- And beyond
Keeping your trees healthy is important, but it doesn’t have to be difficult or overly expensive. Contact Jose Knows Trees today for professional tree services in Arizona.