Pruning The Right Material

We prune trees for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we prune to improve a tree’s structure. Sometimes we prune to reduce the chances of limb or tree failure. Sometimes we prune to give clearance to buildings, cars, or people.

In all cases, we focus on pruning the right material from the right places in the tree. Sometimes this means removing large amounts of material. Oftentimes it means working harder to get to difficult parts of a tree’s canopy and removing smaller amounts of material.

Often times the best place to prune requires “going out on a limb”!

“Isn’t it better to prune off more?” Sometimes, not always. Large cuts in the tree are more difficult for the tree to heal and large amounts of canopy loss mean less food and nutrients for the tree. So if the best solution is taking lots of material we’ll do that. If our education, experience, and training tell us the best solution is working harder to take smaller amounts of material we’ll always choose that route. It’s part of our goal of “doing right by the tree”.