The Delicate Balance of Tree Pruning: Common Pruning Mistakes To Avoid
Pruning is an important and necessary step in caring for your trees. When you prune correctly, you’ll keep the yard looking polished, protect your property from falling dead branches, and keep your tree healthy for years to come.
That being said, pruning should be done carefully and thoughtfully! In many cases a professional touch is needed. Not many homeowners realize that it is possible to prune too much or incorrectly.
Keep reading to learn more about common pruning mistakes you should be aware of and avoid.
Common Pruning Mistakes
- Open wounds on trees are easy targets of disease and pests. Unprofessional, rushed, or uneven cuts on a tree can leave open marks that invite disease and pests in.
- Similarly, if a limb is not removed properly it can cause damage to other limbs or even the trunk of the tree as it’s coming down. This increases the risk of tree or property damage, or even worse, personal injury.
- Poorly pruned trees are also more likely to get damaged from storms or winds. You want to be sure that your trees are made stronger by pruning, not weaker.
- Cutting the wrong branches or limbs can actually shorten the lifetime of a tree. If too many healthy branches are removed, this can impact a tree’s access to sunlight and water, making it impossible for the tree to create energy or food. Additionally, over-pruning can trigger a tree’s stress response.
- Injuring a tree’s bark in the process of pruning is also a common mistake we see. While this isn’t always a big issue, larger wounds to the tree’s bark can kill them.
Have any questions about what pruning your tree wrong can do to them? Feel free to reach out to us by clicking here or by giving us a call at 404-252-6448.
