Choosing Tree Trimming & Pruning Services
Tree Trimming & Pruning Services for Your Trees and Shrubs
Your trees and shrubs are the long-lasting garden architecture that the rest of your landscaping depends on, but too often it is easy to neglect their care. Tree trimming and pruning services are essential for many trees and shrubs. What are the differences between them, and how can you be sure that you’re giving your trees and shrubs the care that they need?
Differnce Between Pruning and Trimming
The terms pruning and trimming are often used interchangeably, especially by people who aren’t very involved in tree care. However, these are actually two very different aspects of caring for your trees.
- Pruning. Removing unwanted, loose, infected, or dead branches or stems, generally at the base of the branch. Pruning stimulates the growth of the tree and keeps it healthy, as well as shaping the form of the tree.
- Trimming. Trimming is generally considered a lighter approach to branch removal. Overgrown branches are cut in order to maintain the size or shape that is desired.
Pruning Trees
HOw to Prune Trees
Pruning may seem pretty straightforward. In fact, pruning trees properly can be a serious challenge. When done incorrectly, you could negatively impact the tree or shrub’s growth for life. Pruning changes the way a tree grows and encourages different growth patterns. A poorly made pruning wound can scar a tree for many years and can result in disease spread. Therefore, every cut should be made with care and deliberation with the following goals in mind.
- Remove dead, injured, and sick branches. Part of your goal in pruning is to make the tree healthier. One superb way to do that is by removing any branches that are diseased or weak. Regular pruning will keep trees healthier and less likely to become infected
- Remove competing branches. Branches that rub together or grow on more or less the same trajectory compete with one another. They make it more difficult for both of them to grow robustly. Therefore, one should be removed at its base.
- Shape trees. If a branch is developing in a direction that you’d rather it not go, prune it as soon as possible so that you won’t need to remove more growth or leave a larger wound later. Remove branches growing from the base of the tree, the roots, or shooting upwards from branches
When to Prune
If a tree has broken or dead branches or is growing into a space that makes it a safety hazard, it is always appropriate to prune as needed. Most trees and shrubs should be trimmed in winter, when the plant is dormant. This way, the plant will lose fewer resources that it has invested into growing than if it was cut in the spring or summer. Furthermore, some diseases, like Oak Wilt, are spread much more easily when the tree isn’t dormant.
If there is major pruning to do on most of the trees in your yard, winter is usually the best time to do it. Maple should also be pruned only when it is dormant, since it bleeds heavily when it is active. Flowering shrubs like forsythia and lilac should only be pruned up to two weeks after flowering, since pruning at any other time can hurt the flower display the following year. Some conifers tolerate being pruned in spring and early summer.
No tree or shrub should be trimmed late in summer since pruning often causes a growth spurt and new growth can be damaged in the cold.
Trimming Trees
When trees and shrubs are kept regularly pruned throughout their lifetime, they look great with light trimming between prunes. The goal of trimming is to stimulate growth and keep the tree shapely.
Most trees and shrubs tend to grow unevenly, with some branches shooting out before others. Trimming regularly keeps these branches from misshaping and destabilizing the tree. If you have very precise topiaries, consistent trimming is essential to keep their shape.
When to Trim
Many shrubs and topiaries should be trimmed regularly in order to maintain the desired shape. How often varies by the plant, the climate, and the season. In general, plants should be trimmed before they’ve developed significant new growth.
Plants need to be trimmed more often in warmer climates and weather. Plants also experience a growth spurt and may need more trimming after they’ve been fertilized.
What Trees Do You Have That Need Tree Trimming and Pruning Services?
How much pruning and trimming do your trees need to stay healthy? Illinois is rich in beautiful and diverse trees and shrubs. Here are a few of the most common and what trimming and pruning they need.
Burr Oak
These huge, majestic trees should only be pruned in the winter and fall when they are dormant, since fungal or insect infestations can spread if the bark is cut in the growing season. These huge trees are generally not trimmed.
Eastern Cottonwood
These trees grow rapidly, making them popular for some landscape features, but they are not particularly long lived. They tend to deteriorate and drop branches, so it is especially essential to maintain pruning.
Sugar Maple
Known for their sweet sap, sugar maples are also remarkable for their beauty. Becuase of the tendency of these trees to bleed in the spring, they should only be pruned in late spring when the tree has leafed out.
White Oak
White Oak is the state tree of Illinois, so it should come as no surprise that it is a common tree in backyards throughout the area. These trees can grow huge, but since so many were cut down to build during colonization, most specimens today are quite a bit smaller.
It is important that your smaller White Oak is carefully shaped with pruning if it is going to become majestic someday.
Boxwood
Boxwood is a popular hedge plant throughout Illinois. This plant can tolerate hard pruning, but rarely needs it, since it is usually shaped as a hedge or topiary plant through trimming.
Boxwood can be trimmed at any time of year, although it is important not to do any hard prunes in the late fall since it will make the plant vulnerable to frost.
Why Pruning and Trimming is Important
Pruning and trimming your trees and shrubs is an essential aspect of caring for your garden, but it is too often overlooked. Trees, especially, have a tendency to fall into the background and escape our thoughts when we are looking for ways to care for our gardens.
However, maintaining pruning and trimming is essential.
- Aesthetics. Trees and shrubs that are regularly and thoughtfully pruned and trimmed according to their species needs look much fuller and shaplier, making your garden look deliberate instead of raggedy.
- Health of your plants. When they aren’t pruned, branches may compete with one another and block out light, making the tree less healthy and offering less light for plants below. Furthermore, without pruning, trees are more likely to spread disease
- Safety of your family and property. Without regular pruning, branches may become weak and drop, potentially damaging your property or family. Pruning identifies and removes branches that may become problematic before they fall.
When Do You Need Tree Trimming and Pruning Services?
You may be looking out at your trees and shrubs and thinking, wait, do I need tree trimming services? If your trees and shrubs have not been regularly pruned or trimmed, the chances are that they would benefit from pruning or trimming services.
If you can see branches growing erratically or if trees and shrubs are growing into spaces where you don’t want them, timely tree trimming and pruning services are even more important. Trees that are weak or sickly can sometimes be recovered with careful pruning, so if you have any sickly trees, pruning may be a good idea.
Is Choosing Professional Residential Pruning Services Necessary?
If you’re an avid gardener, you may wonder whether it is important to to pay for professional pruning or trimming services. Gardeners who don’t mind grabbing the hedge clippers every month or so may be able to maintain their own hedge and shrub trimming.
However, you might want to think twice before pruning your own trees. The price of professional pruning isn’t so high as to exclude most homeowners. However, the reasons that there are meaningful costs associated with pruning isn’t just because of the labor involved. Professional tree trimming and pruning services have many years of expertise and significant hours of training to teach them how to make important decisions about your trees.
Remember, just a few bad pruning cuts can negatively impact the development of a tree throughout its life. Professional tree trimming services know just how to make the right prunes for the health and beauty of each of your trees and shrubs.
How to Choose Great Tree Trimming Services Near Me
You want tree trimming and pruning services that have extensive experience in your area, working with the trees that are common in Illinois. Kinnucan Tree Experts & Landscape Company has been crafting beautiful garden spades throughout the North Shore since 1970. They have extensive experience pruning and trimming the trees that fill your outdoor spaces. You can trust Kinnucan to develop a plan that will make each and every one of your trees and shrubs look their best at a price that is reasonable.