Prune Before the Bloom: Why It’s Best to Prune Trees in the Early Spring

Early spring tends to be the best time of the year to get out in the yard and trim trees. Tree pruning is the most effective during this time of the year for several good reasons. From reducing allergy effects to keeping your yard looking its best, if it’s springtime, it’s time to trim and prune your trees and bushes.

Undoing Winter’s Damage

One of the main reasons to trim trees in the early spring is that it can help undo winter’s damage. If you had a harsh winter, then there are likely lots of trees and bushes in your yard that have weakened or broken branches. If you leave these branches as they are, this can be dangerous. With this in mind, spring is the perfect time to remove weak and broken branches to ensure they don’t fall on you or someone else.

Take Advantage of Stronger Immunity

Spring is a time of the year in which rapid growth and renewal of life take place for your trees. Their immune systems tend to be extremely strong during spring, meaning they are less likely to die from wounds. When you prune and trim in the spring, the trees can use their stronger immunity to be more resilient to wounds and not become sick.

Be Aware of Dangers

Although the springtime is a great time of the year to prune and trim, this doesn’t apply to all trees. There are certain species of trees that don’t do well with spring pruning and trimming, which are:

  • Elm trees
  • Oak trees
  • Ash trees

All of these species of trees have a high susceptibility to certain diseases, many of which are spread by insects. If the trees have wounds due to trimming or pruning during the spring, this means the insects are more likely to be attracted to the wounds and infect the trees. Because of this, it is usually best to prune and trim the trees during late summer or early autumn.

Premier Tree Solutions can help. We specialize in a number of arboreal areas, including tree removal, tree trimming, pruning, storm damage reparation and cleanup, branch clearing and debris removal, stump removal, grinding, Bobcat work and more. If you need tree-related help, give us a shout. Let us know how we can help today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

Save Your Trees With These Tips! 3 Must-Know Tree-Pruning Tips to Keep in Mind

If you properly prune your trees, shrubs, and flowers, you will greatly enhance the look of your landscaping. And while proper pruning can do a lot to increase your curb appeal, you must keep in mind that improper pruning can do just the opposite. In fact, if you don’t know how to prune correctly, you should avoid doing it altogether. For those of you who want to tackle pruning your landscaping yourself, make sure you sharpen your pruning tools and follow these helpful tips.

Start in the winter

The best time to prune plants is during winter, preferably in February, depending on where you live. Plants are usually dormant during the winter, which means when you prune them, it won’t shock them. Heavy pruning should always be done in the winter, while minimal pruning and trimming can typically be performed any time of the year.

Cut branches correctly

If you’re cutting back to an intersecting branch — a lateral branch — make sure it forms an angle no larger than 45 degrees with the branch you want to remove. The diameter of the branch that you are cutting back to should be at least half the size of the branch you want to cut off. To help ensure water is prevented from collecting in the cut you make and to expedite healing, make slants when cutting. Also, when pruning, a woody plant needs to be “opened” to cut out some of the center growth; this allows you to cut back terminals all the way to the buds. Remember, you are cutting them back to the terminals that are pointing outward. If you are pruning thick and heavy branches, you will need to remove them flush with the collar that is found at the base of the branch. DO NOT remove them so that they are flush with the trunk. There is a chemically protective zone found in the area of tissue in the collar, which then helps prevent any serious trunk wounds from developing.

Topping versus thinning

Topping is generally not a recommended practice. This process involves cutting the top of a tree into unnatural shapes, such as completely flat or a dome-like. Unfortunately, it can negatively affect the structure and appearance of a tree because weakly attached branches that have grown back during regrowth can be severed during wind and rain storms. With this in mind, thinning is almost always recommended over topping.  Thinning out a tree keeps the trees general shape while selectively cutting away unwanted branches.

Premier Tree Solutions can help. We specialize in a number of arboreal areas, including tree removal, tree trimming and pruning, storm damage reparation and cleanup, branch clearing and debris removal, stump removal and grinding, Bobcat work and more. If you need tree-related help this winter, either cleaning up after a tree incident or taking preventative measures to ensure cold weather doesn’t affect your yard, give us a shout. Let us know how we can help today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

Introducing JAWS: Changing the Way Tree Removal is Done in Georgia

We at Premier Tree Solutions are the FIRST in Georgia to own and use JAWS – a Palfinger PK40002 Knuckle Boom Crane with a Mecanil SG280 Grapple Saw from Palfleet in Tiffin, Ohio. And while most homeowners probably haven’t heard of this new piece of innovative equipment, it is revolutionizing the tree removal industry. Boasting a wide range of features, the JAWS increases safety for tree removal workers and simplifies the entire tree removal process. It’s a win-win for everyone — property owners and tree removal workers alike.

What’s so great about it you ask? The JAWS enables tree removal service providers to cut down entire trees without having to climb them. You got to see this to believe it! Workers use remote control operations from the ground, which eliminates the dangerous possibility of falling from trees during the tree removal process.

Known as the safest and most efficient way to remove trees, the JAWS makes it unnecessary for tree removal workers to climb trees and cut them by hand. This new type of equipment enables tree removal to be performed much quicker than traditional methods, and it also helps save money while promoting safety and reducing the need for redundant cleanup tasks. It also eliminates damage to your property that can be caused by the traditional way of dropping trees and limbs on the ground. We call it low impact/no impact tree removal because you will never know we were even there!

There is no denying that tree removal is a dangerous type of work, whether the job is big or small. In 2015, according to the Tree Care Industry Association, there were a total of 125 fatal accidents in the tree removal industry as well as 59 serious accidents. Workers are often called to job sites where dying and hazardous trees must be cut through for removal and this is why the JAWS is proving to be of such value to the industry. Utilizing the proper tools and pieces of equipment can greatly minimize the occurrence of injury and death in the tree care industry, and when using a grapple saw like the one you see on the JAWS, there is no need for a climber, which ultimately reduces the exposure to severe or fatal injuries that are often seen in tree removal.

Premier Tree Solutions is the first to bring this innovation to Georgia and we want you to be among the first to experience the difference! Check out our photos and video clips on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Let us come out and provide you with a free assessment to determine if the JAWS is right for your job. Contact Premier Tree Solutions today at 404-252-6448 to learn more about the JAWS and how it is changing the way tree work is done in Atlanta. You can also contact us here to schedule a free assessment.

The Ultimate Damage Control: How to Undo a Storm’s Mess

Did a storm smash through your yard and leave wreckage in its wake? Whether you’ve suffered damage to trees and shrubs or other areas of your property, it’s important to follow the correct steps and ensure you put things back to rights as soon as possible. Here are five steps we highly recommend for you to take to get your property back from damage.

1. Assess Trees

Signs to look for include cracks or splits in tree limbs or trunks, dropped branches, or burnt areas from lightning strikes. These all indicate serious damage to trees and potential instability, which could result in injuries to people or further damage to your property if left unattended.

2. Call in the Specialists

If you need major clean up, significant pruning, to de-limb a tree, or to ensure the safety of your remaining trees and large shrubs, you want to work with specialists. Make sure they’re licensed and insured; otherwise you’re liable for anything that happens on your property, including the injury of tree workers themselves. Call them to come out and inspect your property, then make a recommendation on whether or not you need services.

3. Repair Structures

Once you’ve ensured there will be no further damage to your property and all hazards have been removed, you should repair any structures that may have been damaged. Unless you’re handy yourself, you’ll likely need to call in a contractor.

4. Perform a Main Clean Up

With or without the help of tree care specialists, you want to clean things up as soon as possible. That includes de-clogging your gutters if you see a lot of debris in them, picking up sticks and leaves that might be suffocating other plants, and performing minor pruning on shrubs and small trees. It’s especially important to inspect plants for damage or open wounds and remove those parts, as they can lead to infection.

5. Tidy

Now all you need to do is tidy up. If parts of your lawn were damaged, try to put the sod back in place as best you can. Replant smaller plants such as flowers or herbs, right overturned pots or ornaments, and put your yard back the way it was.

If you need help cleaning up your yard after a storm, call Premier Tree Solutions today. We specialize in helping you get your property shipshape again, from tree trimming and pruning to removal and stump grinding, and everything in between. Let us know how we can help today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

New Year, New Yard: 5 Yard and Tree New Year’s Resolutions You Should Make

The New Year is a time for fresh beginnings. This go round, don’t just confine your goals to that disregarded gym membership or finally, finally giving up the Cheetos habit (we’re not there either). Show your tree some love as well. Without further ado, here are five arboreal aspirations to put on your list.

1. Prune with Precision

Pruning is crucial for trees, especially young ones. If you don’t take the time to trim your trees, they may grow beyond their capacity to support their own limbs, making breakage more likely. Pruning helps to ensure that branches are strongly attached to the tree, with narrow crotches rather than right angles. Plus, it makes trees look more pleasing to have elegantly spaced limbs and twigs.

2. Deal with Damage

If your tree does summer damage from a storm – which can happen year-round, not just in winter – make sure you deal with it immediately. Leaving trees cracked or wounded invites infection and can make it more likely that they will drop branches. This poses a danger to people and property as well as the trees themselves.

3. Make Mulch Happen

Mulching keeps trees warm in winter and traps moisture during dry periods. Cover the ground around the tree to a depth of 2-4 inches with leaf mulch or bark chips, leaving a 6-inch ring around the trunk clear.

4. Water Well

Watering your tree is important in the summertime, as well as in hot spring and fall weather. During the dormant period, avoid it. But during times of growth when you’re not getting enough rainfall, make sure you give long, well-spaced drinks, waiting until soil is dry then saturating to a depth of 12 inches within the drip line (the area covered by branches above).

5. Support with Space

Avoid planting smaller trees or shrubs within the drip line of a tree, which can compete with its water sources. Instead, dedicate that space to grass, wildflowers, or steppable plants such as mosses, wood violets, or low-growing herbs.

Premier Tree Solutions is a growing tree removal business in Atlanta, Georgia. We specialize in a wide range of tree care services, including tree removal, pruning and trimming, storm damage and clean up, stump and branch grinding, clearing and debris removal. If you want help keeping those tree resolutions, make sure you let us know right away at 404-252-6448.

Bring On the Storm: How to prepare your trees for freezing weather

Trees: beautiful, picturesque … deadly?

Well, not usually, but trees have been known to drop limbs, crack down the middle, or fall over. This can cause damage to cars and property, and even injure people and animals. If a tree limb hurts someone else or their property on your land, you could even be liable. Not to mention that leaving your tree at the mercy of cold weather could result in damage to it, or even tree death.

That’s why it’s important to make sure you’ve got your botanical beauties well in check. Here are three tips to make sure you do just that this winter.

  1. Look for Disease or Damage

One of the best things you can do to keep your trees healthy and prevent damage to them or property is to remove dead, rotten, or diseased limbs. These are more likely to grow brittle in cold weather or break under the strain of ice or high winds. Removing all unhealthy branches greatly reduces this chance, so use this guide to pruning out dead or diseased wood this winter.

  1. Check Cables or Braces

Many trees rely on some form of support to hold up overlarge branches or limbs to keep them from tipping over, or to support them while they grow. When these anchoring devices become too tight, however, winter can bring danger in the form of brittleness. If trees are too tightly contained or become iced over, they can snap, potentially ricocheting and hurting someone. Similarly, high winds can create too much stress, resulting in the same thing.

  1. Don’t Wait on Storm Cleanup

Storm cleanup is critical after a rainstorm, hailstorm, or other weather event. Leaving trees partially damaged is a bad idea, because unstable limbs can fall off or even split trees down the middle. Avoid this by getting professional cleanup as soon as possible after a storm.

Premier Tree Solutions can help. We specialize in a number of arboreal areas, including tree removal, tree trimming and pruning, storm damage reparation and cleanup, branch clearing and debris removal, stump removal and grinding, Bobcat work and more. If you need tree-related help this winter, either cleaning up after a tree incident or taking preventative measures to ensure cold weather doesn’t affect your yard, give us a shout. Let us know how we can help today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

What Questions Should You Ask Every Tree Removal Company Before Hiring?

Tree removal can be a dangerous business. Not only can it lead to property damage, improper procedures can even mean the loss of life for workers or others in the area if they aren’t careful. That’s why it’s important to get the right tree team. These three questions will help you select the best team to complete the job.

1. Are You Licensed and Insured?

If tree removal professionals don’t have licenses, this indicates that they are not properly educated and equipped to be removing your trees, so you shouldn’t hire them. Insurance is even more important – if your tree care specialists don’t carry it, you will be liable for any damage that occurs on your property. Unfortunately, if you have not made every effort to ascertain their license and insurance status, it will be very hard for you to make a case disputing this. Always ask for proof of both.

2. Can You Provide a List of References?

Any company worth their salt should be able to provide references for you that will show their credibility. In fact, most will immediately produce a list of three or so people you can call to learn more about their work and their approach to business.

Note that these should be quality references. A company whose only reference is the office manager’s grandmother isn’t doing too well; you should take a pass on them. Opt for companies that can demonstrate experience in the business by providing several references. Even if the company is new, you can trust them as long as they’ve done good work and can prove it.

3. Can You Get a Detailed Proposal?

A good tree care specialist should be able to scope out a job and provide you a professional, detailed written description of your desired scope of work and an associated cost so you know exactly what you would be buying. If the proposal is non-descriptive and you just base your decision on price, then you could be left with an unexpected mess. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS INCLUDED AND WHAT IS NOT – GET IT IN WRITING.

Premier Tree Solutions is a growing tree removal business based in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in a number of tree-related areas. We provide tree removal and trimming, storm damage and cleanup, branch clearing and debris removal, stump removal and grinding, and Bobcat work. Let us know if we can help you today. Contact Premier Tree Solutions today at 404-252-6448 or online here.

Shop Smart: Check For Insurance When Choosing An Arborist

Trimming, pruning, or even cutting down trees is an important part of yard maintenance, and many of these chores can’t be done on your own. When you need help with those tall oaks and pine trees, your first instinct is likely to head to a professional tree service, which is definitely a smart move.

Want to know an even smarter move? Checking the tree service’s insurance. When it comes to potentially dangerous situations like tree care, you want to make sure you’re going with reputable, qualified, and insured arborists. Here’s how to spot a good company with good insurance.

Prevent Foreseeable Accidents

A lot of accidents can be prevented if you take the time upfront to ensure you’re working with tree specialists who are qualified and are knowledgeable about safety protocols. However, sometimes accidents are unavoidable. When that happens, you want to make sure you haven’t made the even bigger accident of forgetting to check an arborist’s insurance.

Why? Because if accidents or injuries happen on your property and the arborist isn’t insured, you may become liable. If you don’t want to pay for damages or medical expenses, you should check that your tree care specialist has both liability and worker’s compensation insurance, without any exceptions.

Ask for Proof of Insurance

The easiest way to determine whether your tree care specialist is insured is simply to ask. They will be able to tell you what kind of insurance they have and what it covers. Note that if you hire a company from another state, you have to make sure they also cover work in your state.

Know that asking about insurance shouldn’t be awkward, and doesn’t imply that you don’t trust the arborist. In fact, a good tree care company will be glad you asked, because they can demonstrate how they can be trusted. On the other hand, a less-than-splendid company will probably turn sour if you ask for insurance. They might show you false or lapsed proof of insurance, which is another issue to look out for.

Call and Confirm

The only way to make sure your arborist truly is insured is to call their insurance provider. A tree care company can provide you with the number to do so, after which the insurance company will send you the requested proofs of insurance. In some cases, liability and workers compensation insurance are covered by separate companies, so you will need call both to be certain.

Need tree help that is also properly insured? Contact Premier Tree Solutions today at 404-252-6448 or online here.

Be Your Own Tree Hero This Fall! Let Proactive Trimming Save The Day

Most tree owners have heard that pruning is a chore to be done during the spring or summer months. While this is true, fall is a great time to prune as well. Once leaves drop, it’s easier to see where the tree has structural weaknesses. It is also a time to see if the tree needs branches or limbs removed to minimize damage in winter weather. Let’s take a quick look at fall pruning guidelines.

Why Prune Proactively?

The truth is that while bad weather can damage trees no matter what you do to prevent it, proactive pruning can minimize the potential damage. Reducing the number of open wounds in cold weather helps the tree remain strong and healthy until warm weather returns.

Colorado State University advises to always look for limbs that form narrow “V” crotches when you prune. This is where damages is likely to occur. You should also remove any branches that look dead or previously damaged because they are most likely to break during storms. This will preserve your trees against snow, ice, and high winds.

When to Perform Fall Trims

You can prune in fall at any time you need to remove dead, damaged or diseased branches. While this does pose a small chance of weakening the tree, it’s a good to remove limbs before they get ripped off in storms, creating jagged wounds that are much more dangerous for trees.

Annual Pruning Vs. Winter Protection

You should note that pruning in fall does still expose the tree to cold, pests, fungus, and disease at a time when its defenses are low. Confine your pruning efforts to removing limbs or branches that pose a danger to people, property, or the tree itself. Perform your annual pruning for shape at the end of the dormancy period, just before the tree breaks bud in spring.

Call in an Expert

While there are some pruning chores homeowners can do without endangering themselves or the tree, certified arborists are trained and outfitted for the big jobs. If you need help, call Premier Tree Solutions. We’re a growing tree removal business based in Atlanta, Georgia, and we specialize in pruning, tree removal, storm cleanup, storm damage repair, branch clearing, and stump grinding. Let us know how we can help today at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.

A Little Tree TLC: Benefits & Drawbacks of Tree Wrapping

With the winter months fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to think about a little tree TLC. One of the most common ways people protect their tender trees during these cold months is by wrapping the trunks. Given the amount of confusion over this practice, however, we thought we should jump in and offer a little more info regarding the pros and cons of tree wrapping for winter.

Wrapping Benefits

There are a number of benefits offered by wrapping your trees. For one thing, winter reduces food sources for game, such as deer and rabbits, which may turn to bark. Stripping bark in winter can be dangerous or deadly to trees, so wrapping prevents this. Insects may also present a danger, which wrapping similarly defuses.

Sunscald is also an issue in the colder months. Thin-barked species are especially susceptible, and scalds can cause dried, dead bark that harms the tree. Wrapping the tree prevents the temperature fluctuations that cause this.

Lastly, wrapping can help prevent trees from getting splashed with salt from driveways and walkways. De-icing salt can burn foliage, harm bark and lead to tree damage or death. Especially good trees to wrap include crabapple, maple or honey locust trees.

Drawbacks of Wrapping

However, there are several drawbacks to wrapping trees, but most of them occur when you leave the wrappings on too long. For instance, when trees are still growing in fall or start growing again in spring, a tight wrap can inhibit growth and damage bark. Rubbing from wraps in the wind can also damage bark or break off spring buds.

Putting wraps on too early in fall or leaving them on too late in spring can also lead to insect damage because it provides a warm, moist habitat between the wrapping and the bark. This is another argument for waiting until cold months and taking off as soon as the weather breaks in spring.

Call the Experts

Premier Tree Solutions is a growing tree removal business based in Atlanta, Georgia. We would love to help you keep your trees as healthy as possible. We specialize in tree trimming and pruning, tree removal, storm cleanup and damage control, branch clearing and stump grinding, and Bobcat work.

Whatever your tree-related needs, we can help! If you have any questions, give us a call at 404-252-6448 or contact us here.