Pruning helps improve the health of a tree. It is a tree maintenance procedure and makes a tree aesthetically pleasing. If neglected, a tree could make your entire yard look rather shabby and increases the risk of potential injury to someone or your property. An example of this is when dead, broken limbs appear on your lawn. Another reason would be pruning young trees that can prolong the life expectancy of a tree. Aside from the looks, pruning is vital for the growth of trees. We reduce the risk of limb failure and prune out the imperfections.

There are other reasons, as well. Trees provide the cool comfort of shade, filter the sun’s rays, muffle noise, and act as a windbreaker. Also, it may reduce cooling costs during the summertime. In turn, during the winter, proper wind screening lowers heating costs.

It is essential for an expert arborist to prune your trees as cutting too much into the branch collar may cause improper healing. Consequently, it could adversely introduce pests and diseases. Pruning too far can show an unsightly stub while attracting pests due to decaying necrotic wood tissue.

Trees are also giant contributors to oxygen production through the process of photosynthesis. Trees release oxygen when they use energy from the sunlight to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water.

So be kind to your trees. You’ll find that, in return, they’ll be kind to you. They will look good, too.

Tree Topping

G&V has been on a “crusade” educating the general public that “topping” is not proper tree pruning. Topping has been used in the past to reduce the height of large trees. This is a fruiting technique which increases fruit production. The issue is that this style of pruning is meant for smaller fruit trees, not large mature trees. Pruning trees in such a manner will cause the sprouts that grow from the cuts to become large treetops, which means that these sprouts do not have the proper attachment when they grow large. As a result, once you top a tree, the bigger it gets, the more unstable it becomes.