The Ultimate 2026 Pruning Calendar: When and How to Care for Your Trees

When pruning trees, timing matters. This is certainly the case in Georgia with our milder winters, early warm spells, and occasional freezes. Pruning at the wrong time can stress out trees. And who needs an ornery oak?

With that in mind, our expert tree professionals drew upon their knowledge, as well as data from the University of Georgia Extension, and put together a suggested tree pruning calendar for 2026. The goal: to help make sure you stay, ahem, a cut above.

Suggested Tree Pruning Calendar 2026

Late January-February: Early 2026 will be a good time for dormant pruning on many deciduous trees, those that shed their leaves seasonally. During dormancy, trees slow down their growth processes and stress levels are less risky. Late winter is a good time to prune fruit trees, especially temperate ones such as apple, peach, and pear. That’s when winter dormancy is wrapping up, and the risk of freeze injury won’t be as high.

Early to Mid-March: The sweet spot for renewal pruning of overgrown trees in north Georgia is early to mid-March. This type of pruning technique focuses on removing older, declining, unproductive wood in an effort to stimulate fresh growth while keeping the overall structure and health of the tree in good standing. It’s a method typically relevant for fruit and ornamental trees.

Early Summer: Trees that bleed lots of sap from pruning wounds include those of the shade and flowering variety. Think dogwood, maple, birch, elm, beech, willow, flowering cherry, and flowering plum. While these sap excretions aren’t harmful, they’re not necessarily aesthetically pleasing. The best way to keep sap bleeding to a minimum is hold back on pruning until after the leaves fully mature in the spring.

Late Fall/Early Winter: Skip pruning in the late fall and early winter. It can confuse a tree and slow down its dormancy process. During the fall, trees pull energy into their roots for the winter, and pruning can cause trees to redirect that energy toward healing or growth. Any new growth in the fall won’t have time to harden before the frost of winter. This puts a tree at risk of cold damage. However, there are some exceptions in terms of fall pruning. If limbs are damaged, diseased, or dead, they should be removed as soon as possible. The same goes for any branches that are hazardous and pose a safety risk. Check out Premier Tree Solutions’s fall pruning blog for more information.

Pruning Tips

To properly prune, you can’t simply go wild with your shears and snip with complete abandon. Technique and safety are paramount. Consider the following basic suggestions from Premier Tree Solutions:

  • Remember to cut just outside the branch collar. The branch collar is the swollen, ring-like area at the base of a tree’s branch where it joins the trunk or a bigger branch. This technique helps keep both the natural structure and healing mechanism of the tree intact.
  • Make slants when cutting. Slanted cuts stop water from collecting in the wound. Additionally, it assists in speeding up the healing process.
  • Use the right tools for the job. Depending on the type of project, consider tools such as pruning shears, lopping shears, hand saws, pole saws, or small chainsaws. Before investing in tools and going to work, research the appropriate tool for the task at hand. And don’t forget to keep tools clean and sharp, which only enhances their performance.

Call a Premier Tree Solutions for Your Pruning Needs

Premier Tree Solutions experts are just a call away and can provide personalized service for your specific pruning needs. We offer pruning services, including hand pruning. Our experts can assess the situation and prune your trees at just the right time. If you have questions regarding tree pruning, call Premier Tree at 404-252-6448 or schedule a complimentary assessment online.

How to Identify and Remove Invasive Plants Before They Harm Your Trees

Imagine an unwanted houseguest who overstays their welcome by raiding your fridge, covering you with negative attention, and leaving you with a parting gift in the form of an unshakable illness.

In a way, that’s what harmful, invasive plants can do to trees. They often compete for the tree’s resources, such as water and nutrients, sunlight, and space for growth. Their vines sometimes wrap around trees, causing strangulation. The weight of vines can weaken branches, making a tree more vulnerable to disease and damage. And certain invasive plants release chemicals in the soil, which block tree growth.

To properly protect your trees from these more-than-pesky plants, it all begins with invasive plant identification and awareness. The following are three of the most common ones that threaten trees in the Southeast. Additionally, we share tips on how to remove invasive plants.

English Ivy

This trailing and climbing evergreen vine has glossy, darkish green leaves. English ivy remains notorious for wrapping around and smothering trees, blocking sunlight from its leaves, adding compromising weight, and bringing moisture that welcomes rot and pests.

Removal tip: The University of Maryland Extension suggests creating an ivy-free band that spans about 3 to 4 feet above the ground. Start by first removing the leaves and smaller vines in order to expose the larger vines attached to the tree’s trunk. Then gently pry the vines away from the entire circumference of the trunk and cut off the vines. Once you’ve created the cleanest band possible, it will cause any vines above it to eventually die and fall off of the tree.

Chinese Privet

Although it’s an ornamental shrub with tiny, glossy oval leaves, arching branches, and white flowers with bluish-black berries, the Chinese privet has a reputation for causing trouble. It can choke out and displace native trees, and shake up ecosystems with its dense thickets. The Georgia Forestry Commission listed the non-native privet, which includes the Chinese privet, at the top of its 2023 non-native, invasive plants list.

Removal tip: If the shrub is small or young, pull it out by the roots. A recent rainfall can make the task easier. It helps to grab the plant’s stem and pull the whole root system from the ground. Removing larger shrubs calls for a leverage-based tool sometimes called a privet puller or uprooter. If you have to resort to cutting down the privet, finish the job by immediately brushing the cut stump with triclopyr, an organic herbicide.

Kudzu

It creeps, it crawls, it’s kudzu. Experts say the invasive perennial vine that’s known for covering Georgia landscapes and just about anything in its path can grow as much as 1 foot per day. Kudzu creates a lush, leafy blanket of green that has the potential to smother other vegetation. It blocks sunlight, which can result in damage and death to trees. In fact, the weight of a mass of kudzu can be heavy enough to pull down younger trees.

Removal tip: According to the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, kudzu roots can grow as deep as 9 feet. It’s difficult to eradicate kudzu and often takes multiple seasons, which span from May to late fall. As new growth appears, cut back the vines to the ground. Once vines are cut and removed, cover the area with heavy plastic. A poison ivy herbicide can be used for smaller infestations. After cutting large vines at the ground, you can brush the remaining base of the vines with a triclopyr-based herbicide.

Let Premier Tree Solutions Remove Invasive Plants

Trying to protect trees from invasive plants can be challenging, especially once they are wrapping around and smothering your trees. Premier Tree Solutions professionals can identify the culprit, and are equipped and ready to solve your specific problem. Call 404-252-6448 or schedule a complimentary assessment online.