Safety When Pruning Your Trees
Pruning is necessary work, but it can be dangerous work.
Here are some safety precautions to ensure you stay safe and can still enjoy
your trees.
The main reasons for pruning your trees are:
- Health
- Safety
- Esthetics
Pruning can encourage your trees to develop strong structure
and it will reduce the likelihood of your trees being damaged during storms and
severe weather. Pruning for safety ensures the removal of branches that can
fall and cause someone to become injured or property to become damaged. It is
important to trim branches that interfere with lines of sight on the street or
driveway, and remove branches that grow into the utility lines.
When you prune your trees for health involves removing
diseased or insect infested wood. It also includes thinning the crown to
increase the airflow, which will reduce some pest problems and it involves the
removal of crossing and rubbing branches.
Pruning for esthetics involves enhancing the natural form
and the character of the trees and/or it stimulates flower production.
Safe Pruning of Young Trees
Pruning young trees saves money. The removal of small
branches is pretty easy compared with waiting until the limbs are big, because
then pruning can be expensive and it creates a bigger risk for the tree. Proper
pruning of a tree when it is young helps it develop into a strong,
well-balanced crown. You need to prune to have:
- Have branches that are well attached to the trunk.
- Have one central leader. Trees with a central leader will be the strongest.
- Have good spacing between the branches. Vertical spacing between the branches should eventually be 12” for fruit or small stature trees and 18” for medium or large stature trees.
- Have enough clearance between the ground and the first branch.
- Have good crown height.