Your yard is the first part of the property visitors see and often the most prominent view from your windows, so keep it safe, comfortable, and presentable. Pruning your trees and shrubs—the practice of selectively removing branches—is one effective method for achieving this goal. But why is pruning necessary, and how is it done? The following will help you understand your landscapers’ techniques.

Why Do Trees & Shrubs Need Pruning?

If a section of a tree or shrub is looking weak, removing it allows healthier growth to take its place. Similarly, if an area looks dead, it’s only taking up space and resources that should be spent on healthier growth. By removing weak or dead limbs, your landscaper takes stress off the plant. If a disease killed the branches, trimming also prevents the blight from spreading.

Pruning also removes potentially dangerous branches and maintains the aesthetic appeal. Dead branches break off easily in windy conditions and might harm you, a loved one, or your home.

Also, an overgrown tree or shrub not only looks untidy—potentially disrupting the shape or design you had in mind—but might also block the view. Landscapers prune plants to ideal shapes and sizes to ensure visibility and safety.

How Are They Pruned?

Landscapers use varying sizes of shears, loppers, pruners, and saws—as well as different pruning methods—to achieve specific results for diverse plants.

For example, for trees that have outgrown their spaces, landscapers might use the crown reduction method: pruning branches in the crown to shrink its size and boost its growth. Alternatively, crown thinning can increase circulation and light penetration in the top of the tree without noticeably changing its shape. Other tree pruning methods include pollarding—extreme cutting to reduce size—and crown lifting, which removes lower branches.

For shrubs that you want to maintain at certain heights and widths, landscapers may employ the thinning method: cutting branches and twigs at their stems. Alternatively, to rejuvenate an overgrown and droopy shrub before new growth sets in, landscapers might remove about one-third of the older branches from ground level.

The optimal time for most pruning is during the late dormant season—between late winter and early spring.

 

Transform your yard into a verdant oasis with the experienced landscapers at Lawn Innovations in Dayton, OH. For over a decade, they’ve provided quality landscape design and property management services to both commercial and residential customers throughout Montgomery County. Their knowledgeable team is up to date on the latest landscape design and prioritizes customer satisfaction on every project. In addition to shrub and tree maintenance, they offer mulching, fertilizing, mowing, and more. To learn more about their landscaping services, call (937) 626-0406. For an overview of their services, visit them online.