Trees are a valuable asset. Just like your turf, your plants, and even your home itself, trees are an investment in your Louisville property.
When cared for properly, trees can live for many decades and provide important benefits.
Of course, in order to keep your trees in their best health, they do require care over time. As they grow, trees can face various challenges and have various needs arise.
One of the best things that you can do to care for your trees is to have them periodically pruned. We know that people don’t always understand why to trim a tree.
In this article, we’ll explain some of the pruning benefits as well as how often you should have it done.
While it’s true that pruning can have some important aesthetic benefits, This valuable service also improves the health of the tree.
Tree pruning refers to the process of removing dead, diseased, or damaged branches in a way that will improve the overall health of the tree. There are also various types of tree pruning based on your goals. Tree pruning can be used to maintain the proper size and shape of a tree.
People sometimes underestimate how complicated pruning can be and might even try and do it themselves. But there’s a lot involved in this service (including quite a bit of risk).
Not only does it require serious equipment but there’s quite a bit of horticultural expertise required.
For instance, pruning incorrectly can leave your tree with unsightly stubs and tears, which can impact the health and structure of your tree.
Many of the pruning benefits come back to improving the tree’s overall health.
When dead, diseased, or dying limbs are strategically removed, the tree can stop wasting energy trying to “heal” those limbs and instead put that into the rest of the tree.
As a result, the tree can grow stronger and healthier. This is all part of what’s called “CODIT” (in industry “speak”). CODIT stands for the Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees and it means that trees respond to threats (cuts) by attempting to grow internally and externally to compartmentalize an injury or decay.
But pruning also has structural benefits for a tree. There are various pruning techniques that can be used depending on what you’re trying to achieve (and what’s going on with the tree).
For instance, crown cleaning involves removing hazardous deadwood while reduction pruning reduces the end-weight of the tree to prevent storm-related damage.
A skilled professional can determine which tree pruning services are right for your Louisville property.
A tree pruning schedule can sometimes depend on the tree species, what’s going on with it, and its maturity.
At Limbwalker, we do have a service called Four-Year Crown Clean & Clearance where we recommend coming every four years to get the dead wood out of trees, while also gaining your aesthetic clearances over your yard, driveway, and home.
During this time we also inspect trees for structural issues or anything else that could be going on. It’s always beneficial to have a tree care professional taking a periodic look at your trees. Sometimes there can be problems hiding that you don’t even know about.
This is particularly true of tall, mature trees. While a Certified Arborist is up in your tree, pruning it, you can be sure they’re also taking a close look at everything.
As far as pruning a younger tree, we might come out more often (every year or two) to help ensure it is growing in a healthy way.
Of course, every situation is different and there may be times when you need to schedule pruning outside of those guidelines. It’s always best to talk to a Certified Arborist who will know exactly what your tree needs and when you have questions.
One of the best things that you can do to ensure the long-term health of your trees is to partner with a professional.
At Limbwalker, we love trees and we also love helping people know how to properly take care of them.
In many cases, that provides peace of mind. With an asset as valuable as a mature tree, you want to make sure that you aren’t going to lose it. When a tree starts to decline, it can also become a hazard.
But problems can often be prevented with proper care.
When you take the wise step to work with a pro, you’re making a valuable investment in the health of your property’s trees.
If you’d like to learn more about tree services for your Louisville home, get in touch, get your quote, and get back to enjoying your yard.