If you’ve ever seen a freshly pruned tree and wondered if someone took things a little too far you aren’t alone. Heavy pruning, whether to remove dead branches or overgrowth, can leave your landscaping looking quite bare. Proper pruning is about more than cutting trees for visual appeal. It involves using the correct tools accurately at the right time. Read more about pruning trees and bushes in Brevard County, Florida.
The Practice of Pruning
Proper pruning can offer trees several benefits. It can help plants increase flowering or fruit production. Pruning can also promote healthier growth by increasing sunlight and air circulation, and maintaining the desired shape and/ or size.
Not all plants require the same amount of pruning. You will want to trim back trees that are too big, grow too close together, or block your view from windows. If plants are damaged by insects, diseases, or freezing injury, they usually benefit from corrective pruning to improve their appearance. Source: hgic.clemson.edu
Why Should You Prune?
A well-maintain tree or shrub is both healthier and looks better additionally, proper pruning helps property owners:
Keep safety first. If you see any low-hanging branches or other hazards such as a larger branch that is not securely attached to your tree, you need to remove them. You may also need to remove split or broken branches before their chance to fall on people, cars, or buildings.
It is the responsibility of a property owner to prune landscaping in such a way as to protect people and property. This is best accomplished by staying attentive to the growth on your property. It’s always important to have hazardous trees taken down as soon as possible. Especially as hurricane season looms closer.
With proper pruning, most trees and bushes won’t need to be removed. A professional will know which branches to save and which to cut off. A narrow-angled branch that hangs over your homes or parking areas, sidewalks, or any place where they might fall and cause injury or damage should be inspected regularly for weakness.
Altering or rejuvenating growth: If mature trees are neglected, or shrubs become overgrown they may turn into small multi-trunked trees if you cut off their lower branches. This pruning technique may be preferable to digging them up and replacing them with another one. You will need to use the right pruning tools to shape tree branches properly.
Direct Growth: Another reason to prune is that it influences the direction in which a plant grows: Each time you make a cut, you stop growth in one direction and encourage it in another. This principle is important to keep in mind when you train young trees to develop a strong branching structure. It’s also why understanding proper pruning cuts is vital.
Remove Unwanted Growth: Pruning is a great way to remove undesirable growth. For example, cut out wayward limbs, prune away weak growth, remove suckers and water sprouts.
Promote plant health: Remove any diseased or dead branches, pest-ridden, or rubbing against each other.
Create particular shapes: You can prune lines of closely planted trees or bushes as a unit to create hedges. If you're a gardener who practices topiary, then you can prune trees or shrubs into fanciful forms.
Produce More Flowers or Fruits: Some plants and trees are pruned, so they produce more flowers and fruit. For example, you'll need to remove spent flowers from rose bushes throughout their bloom period. For some fruits, you'll make many small incisions each year. While this sort of pruning may be a tedious chore, remember it will pay off in lush blooms and bountiful harvests later on.
When Should You Prune?
Pruning too early will not damage plants, but it may cause them to lose their flowers or fruit. It’s best to prune most spring-flowering shrubs or trees right after they've finished blooming. Prune summer-flowering trees and shrubs in late fall or early spring, when they're dormant.
On the one hand, pruning too early in spring may result in poor plant health and reduced flowering. Pruning too late in spring may result in poor plant health and reduced flower production. Proper pruning involves using the correct tools accurately at the right time.
Common mistakes are easy to make with pruning. However, in Brevard County, it’s vital for landscaping to have a strong structure in order for it to survive bad weather conditions. If you encounter trees with heavy branches or weak branches it’s important to explore tree pruning.
Whether you have major pruning a small spring pruning project to tackle the pros at Neon Tree Services are available to ensure your landscaping remains in top shape. Contact us to learn about our range of services on Florida’s Space Coast.