What Is Tree Pruning? Benefits, Techniques, and Tips
Trees have always been part of Vancouver’s idyllic charm. However, some may not realize the maintenance required to keep our urban forest in good shape. Like you and me, trees need regular tender, loving care to maintain their health and beauty.
This is where tree pruning comes in.
Pruning is a common maintenance procedure involving selective cutting of a tree’s branches.
But as simple as that may sound, proper pruning requires tree health expertise and an eye for aesthetics.
This guide to tree pruning in Vancouver, BC, explains why pruning is essential and how it’s done by professionals.
What is Tree Pruning?
Tree pruning is the selective removal of branches to maintain your tree’s health, aesthetic appeal, and safety.
It’s often used collectively to describe both pruning and trimming, but if we’re being technical, there’s a difference between them.
A tree trimming service usually focuses on the tree canopy’s beauty, practicality, and safety.
Meanwhile, the main benefit of pruning is keeping the tree healthy and solid in its structural integrity.
Benefits of Tree Pruning
Pruning trees regularly can go a long way for tree owners.
Even if you’re satisfied with your tree’s current condition, this maintenance process can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Tree Health Benefits
Pruning maintains your tree’s ideal canopy shape, keeping its stable and robust structure.
Removing select branches also improves light penetration, air circulation, and nutrient and water distribution, which positively impacts the tree’s overall health.
This can also result in better yields from fruit trees.
If your tree is sick, snipping its dead or diseased branches can also mitigate the pests and diseases, making a home out of the dead wood.
Aesthetic Benefits
Since foliage makes up most of a tree’s form, knowing which branches to cut can transform a typical tree into a showpiece.
It’s not all for show, though—a pretty tree on your property also raises curb appeal, which can add to property value.
A higher tree appraisal can also be beneficial when used for insurance claims, legal disputes, and tax deductions.
Safety & Practical Benefits
If neglected, an unkempt tree can be an inconvenience or worse, a danger to those around it.
Overgrown tree branches can tug at power lines and utility cables, weak branches may fall on people or property, and foliage can obstruct road signs and construction.
Hot Tip!
If any part of a tree is within 10 feet of primary overhead powerlines, a Certified Utility Arborist, or CUA, is required to do the work.
They are certified to work around powerlines and manage vegetation. Knowing this before contacting a tree service will help narrow your search and save time.
Pruning or trimming can solve these concerns. Tree care can also give more space for activities under shade trees.
Pruning Techniques
Professional arborists will implement different types of pruning to suit your goals for your trees.
Crown Cleaning is a common technique for removing weak, diseased, and dead branches to improve tree health and safety. Cutting tools are used, not a mop and bucket!
Thinning gives the canopy more room to breathe and allows more sunlight to reach your tree.
Thinning in Vancouver can be particularly effective in dealing with fungal issues.
However, limiting thinning to 10% of live foliage is essential so as not to disturb the internal temperature of the canopy.
Thinning too much has many aversive effects, including excessive sprouting, limiting the tree’s ability to deal with forces such as wind, becoming less attractive as a habitat for birds and other arboreal animals, and potentially sunscald.
Crown Raising involves removing the lower branches from the tree’s crown to open more space under the tree.
Hot Tip!
The lower the crown, the more structurally stable it is and able to handle forces applied, such as snow, wind, etc., through mass dampening of foliage.
We recommend raising your tree’s canopy as little as possible, with a maximum of ⅓ of the tree’s height.
Crown Reduction is the reduction of an outlying branch, leaving a lateral branch to take its place.
This reduces the end weight of a limb, giving your tree better resistance to strong winds.
Clearance Pruning means cutting back branches obstructing power and utility lines, sidewalks, and buildings.
It also removes branches that are swaying dangerously towards your home or blocking the sunlight penetration on your roof, causing moss growth.
Fruit Tree Pruning is the deliberate cutting of fruit tree branches to manage the age and position of the fruiting branches, resulting in better yield.
Tree Pruning Tips in Vancouver
The Best Time for Tree Pruning in Vancouver
The timing of tree pruning in Vancouver is important to achieve your intended results.
The best time to prune trees is during the late winter and early spring seasons.
The wounds heal faster with the onset of new growth, and the cold helps prevent the spread of tree diseases.
Young trees are usually pruned every one to three years, while mature trees need pruning every three to five years.
These timelines are not set in stone, though, and can depend on the type of tree and its surroundings.
We subscribe to Dr. Ed Gilman’s Structural Pruning Principles and have found them to be very effective in managing trees both young and old.
Early intervention with young tree structural pruning can save you money in the long run.
Dr. Greg Moore famously saved a municipality in Australia millions in their tree care budget by implementing a structural pruning program, lessening storm damage costs by optimizing trees early.
Continued pruning intervals into a tree’s maturity provide peace of mind, add curb appeal and lengthen the lifespan of your trees.
Pitfalls of Improper Tree Pruning
Proper pruning requires expert care and knowledge; otherwise, your tree will suffer in the long run.
Wrong pruning cuts on your trees, especially the young ones, can compromise tree structure as they grow.
The damages may then take years to become apparent and even more time to correct if they are repairable.
Another issue is pruning in the wrong season.
The open wounds could make your tree more vulnerable to tree diseases and pests.
Hire an Expert Tree Pruner
Pruning and other maintenance procedures are worth investing in because of the many benefits of an appealing and healthy tree.
Pruning is both science and art, so it’s best to seek a tree company with expertise, experience, and the right tools under their belt.
Reputable companies will also provide you with fully insured services.
You can trust the arborists certified by the International Society of Arboriculture to prune your trees for the better— health, beauty, or safety.
