Beautiful, healthy trees

While most people realize that tree removal and stump grinding are activities that are best left to the professionals, many people mistakenly assume that tree trimming and pruning are something that you can easily do yourself at home. While it is technically something you can do, it is not necessarily easy; trimming and pruning trees is much more than just snipping a few branches! For proper trimming and pruning, you mus know the proper procedures, as well as the proper safety precautions. There are a great number of tree trimming and pruning techniques that are fantastic if you would like to keep your trees healthy looking and in fantastic shape. Here at Westland Tree Removal, we utilize the right knowledge, equipment, and safety precautions, so that we can efficiently prune your trees to maintain their appearance and health and erase all sorts of different common issues. You may be wondering what reasons there are to pruning a tree, aside from just maintaing a nice look. Well let us tell you.

There are several reasons why one would want to prune or trim a tree. One being the aesthetics of it. Pruning and trimming trees help maintain the tree's shape and appearance. However, you shouldn't try to impose an unnatural look to the trees because that can cause the tree to be unhealthy and damaged. Which leads us to the next reason you would want to trim or prune a tree: to keep it healthy. You can sometimes save an infected tree by pruning away the affected branches. If you thin the crown of the tree, it will help improve airflow and can really make a big difference. Trimming branches that are crossing or rubbing together, then you should trim them so they don't fall and cause damage, which leads to the final reason you would want to trim or prune a tree: safety. Unhealthy limbs and branches can fall at any given time, and that can cause a whole great number of safety issues. Sometimes the tree limbs can grow too close to utility lines. In this case, don't try to handle this yourself and instead call a professional or the utility company directly.

There are a few good tips to remember when you are trimming a tree. You should almost always trim or prune a tree during the season that its dormant. This way, you're not cutting off too much airflow and damaging the health of the tree too much. Always be conscientious about the size and thickness of the branch that you plan on trimming down. If it is more than five centimeters in diameters, then you might not want to do it because it would both be too much work for you, and also it could damage the health of the tree. Remember to only trim the branches that have weak, V-Shaped angles, and keep the ones that have U-shaped angles. And remember not to trim the branch too close to the base of the tree. Before making the cut, remember to look for the branch collar, which is the part of the stem tissue that is at the bottom base of the branch. Remember to always cut outside the branch bark ridge and be sure to angle your cut down and away from the stem.

Pruning a tree has just as many intricacies to remember. Remember to prune a branch when it's really young to avoid causing excessive damage to the tree's health. If you need to crown a tree, then remember to keep the lateral branches spaces as evenly as possible, so you can promote airflow and nice growth without branches crossing unnecessarily. If they do cross, then make sure to prune those branches away. Remember to never remove more than one-fourth of a living crown at one time. If you need to remove that much, then you have to spread the work out over a couple of years. Yes, sometimes you have to be really patient with the pruning of trees. If you wish to raise the crown then remember to maintain live branches on at least two-thirds of the tree's height, if you remove too many near the bottom half then you run the risk of the stem being too weak.

As you can likely tell from above, trimming and pruning are tasks you are likely physically able to do, but the intricacy of the tasks can be overwhelming or confusing, which typically makes it a job for the pros who can ensure that your tree will be healthy and beautiful at the end of the day.