When considering pruning, it’s not just about making a tree look better aesthetically. Pruning trees and shrubs are undertaken for many reasons.
Pruning is done to promote plant and flower growth, for overall tree health and wellbeing and in the case of fruit trees, it is also done to maintain the fruits and maximise the fruit yield.
Taking some of these reasons for pruning into account, we should never just grab our secateurs and start cutting branches of a tree, all in the name of ‘pruning’. There is a method to the madness and if you are new to pruning, doing a little old fashioned research will go a long way in helping you prune successfully and not injure your trees.
In this article, we will discuss some common pruning mistakes and how you can implement some basic pruning around your yard.
If ever in doubt, it’s always recommended to engage in the services of a qualified and certified arborist to advise and assist you with tree trimming services.
Common Pruning Mistakes
So what are some of the common, everyday pruning mistakes?
If you embark on your pruning expedition with hast, you could cause irreversible damage to a tree. So it’s a good idea to keep the following pruning mistakes in mind:
1. Don’t Use Unsharpened Tools
If you’ve ever tried cutting paper with scissors that aren’t sharp then you’ll understand this concept. Trees, plants and shrubs are living organisms and when undertaking pruning - yanking, ripping or pulling a tree branch could hurt it and stunt further growth. Be sure to have sharp gardens tools to ensure a clean cut when trimming and pruning your trees.
2. Cutting Off The Top Of A Tree
Although it can be important to keep a tree at a specific height, topping the top of the tree doesn’t guarantee a tree will stay at the height you trim it to. In fact, topping the top of a tree can cause the tree to grow many smaller branches out of the cut ones that can even surpass the height of the initial branch you cut! Unfortunately, topping a tree also causes unbalance, compromise to the structural integrity of the tree and distress for the tree.
Engaging an arborist like Northern Beaches Arborist for your tree pruning and cutting services is always advisable when considering the height or potential growth of a tree and how to manage this.
3. Pruning Only For Aesthetic Shape
It’s important to remember that it’s not a bad thing to prune larger branches when and if required. In fact, correct pruning of larger branches promotes more tree growth, causing a double and triple effect with branch multiplication, assisting with a more ‘full’ tree branch look.
Continually snipping away the tip of branches to keep the shape in check can cause the same cycle of many more much smaller branches to continue to grow only at the tip of the tree, which isn’t going to help you address the aesthetic plant shape as a whole.
4. Not Pruning At All
Sometimes the thought of pruning or cutting your trees becomes overwhelming and you could be unsure what to do and end up doing nothing at all. Too much pruning could cause damage or even result in a tree’s death, and no pruning whatsoever can result in dull branches, fewer flowers or fruit and wild-looking foliage.
Considering some pruning around your yard but not quite sure where to start?
If you need advice or a quote for tree trimming services, tree pruning or tree cutting in the Northern Beaches, contact our tree management specialists on 0423 914 950.
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