Trees are a wonderful addition to any garden. They provide shade in the sunniest part of the day, a beautiful blossom in the spring and they look fantastic. Of course, the fact that they are good for the environment is an excellent bonus!
But, unfortunately, trees sometimes need maintaining. Whether you’re looking at pruning mature trees or simply calling a Milwaukee tree pruning service provider, you need to consider the following points:
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Safety
Most trees are not short. This means that you’ll be a considerable distance above the ground, armed with a chainsaw or other cutting equipment.
The first step in any pruning job is to ensure you have the right gear to get up the tree and to protect yourself if an accident happens.
The safest way of pruning is to have a rope and shackles, these will wrap around the tree and prevent you from falling if there is an issue. You should also have a friend present to ensure that help is on hand if needed.
It is okay to climb a ladder into the tree, before fastening your shackle. However, you should also remember to cut above the height of the ladder, this will ensure you don’t cut your own support away!
The rope can also be used around a large limb and then around the tree, this will prevent the limb from falling and allow you to control its descent.
Pruning Time
The summer is a lovely time to prune because the weather is fantastic. However, this is also when your tree is most likely to be active. Pruning at this stage is likely to damage the growth of the tree and even its overall health.
This is why you should always prune a tree in the off-season, once it has finished flowering and fruiting.
Why Prune
The initial intent of pruning is to improve the shape of the tree and ensure it moves in the directions you want. However, pruning can also help to improve the health of the tree. Too many limbs or limbs that are deceased or dying are going to suck nutrients from the rest f the tree, effectively stunting it’s growth and damaging its health.
That’s why you need to prune your tree.
The Pruning Process
The simple part about pruning is using a saw to cut off the offending limbs and carefully lower them to the ground.
However, pruning can be a difficult process. That’s why sometimes, you may want to contact an Orange County arborist for assistance. You’ll want to keep the shape of the tree or prune it to correspond with a shape in your head. Ideally, you should remove branches growing close to the center of the tree.
You should also get rid of any that are crossing and make sure there aren’t too many low limbs that could interfere with your gardening techniques.
Don’t forget that to finish the pruning process, you need to apply a compound to the tree. This works in a similar way to a plaster on the human body, effectively sealing the wound and allowing the tree to heal and grow stronger.
