Spring is a great time to carry out some maintenance on your trees to optimise their health. Pruning is a critical part of keeping trees healthy, but there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to prune! Here are some top Spring tree pruning tips to ensure your success.
What Is Pruning & Why Should You Prune?
Pruning is the practice of removing dead, diseased or overgrown stems and branches to allow for healthy growth. Almost all trees and plants benefit from pruning when done correctly. However, when done incorrectly, pruning can be detrimental to tree health and can weaken and deform a tree, so it’s important you get it right or it’s best left to the professionals.
It’s often asked when the best time to prune is, however that depends largely on your specific type of tree, as different trees will react differently in different seasons. It’s always a good idea however, to prune dead or dying branches so that they don’t pose a risk to your home and family.
Some of the many reasons to prune your trees are:
- To remove deadwood
- To remove diseased or dying branches
- To maintain or change the shape of a tree
- To encourage new growth – flowers, foliage and fruit
- To thin out a canopy and gain more light
- To improve the structural integrity of a tree
Tree Pruning Tips
If you are considering pruning your trees yourself, here are our top tips:
Find Out If Your Tree Is Protected
Trees can be protected under the NALL or Natural Assets Local Law. If you have a protected tree on your property, it is illegal for you to touch it. Doing so can result in heavy fines, so before carrying out any work, check with your local council or ask an Arborist to find out for you.
Know Your Tree
Different trees will respond differently to pruning. Know what type of tree you have and what season is best to prune it for the best results. If you have no idea what sort of tree it is – leave it to the professionals or you risk damaging the tree.
Do You Have The Skills, Knowledge And Experience?
Pruning trees correctly isn’t as easy as you might think. If you get it wrong you can seriously damage your tree, weaken it structurally, make it look terrible and expose it to pest and disease. And that’s not the worst outcome. Tree pruning can be highly dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, aren’t physically fit and don’t have the right tools. Don’t become a statistic. Hire an Arborist to take care of your pruning needs, especially on any larger trees that can cause major damage to you and your property.
Have A Plan
If you’ve decided to go ahead and prune your tree yourself, it’s critical that you first assess the tree and determine which branches you will cut first. Once you’ve decided which limbs you want to remove, try and predict where the branches might fall once cut – are they going to fall on your roof? Your garage? Your fence? Don’t just go in all guns blazing Edward Scissorhands style! Make cuts in order – first, start with any dead, broken or diseased limbs by cutting them back to a strong lateral branch or at the point of origin. You may find that once you’ve done this, no further cuts are necessary. Then reassess again and decide if any more cuts are required. Always go back to what you’re trying to achieve and remember that generally less is more!
Have The Right Tools For The Job And Be Safe
Make sure you’ve got a good quality hand saw to cleanly remove branches, larger limbs will require a chainsaw (and you’ll need experience to safely use one), smaller branches can be pruned with a sharp pair of secateurs. Gloves are highly recommended as well as safety glasses, long sleeves and pants. If you’re going to be handling a chainsaw, it is highly recommended that you wear chainsaw pants.
For all your Brisbane tree pruning needs, call Aussie Tree Solutions on (07) 3351 1722 for a free, no-obligation quote. Fully insured, qualified and experienced, we’ll take the hassle out of taking care of your trees.