Four Tree Trimming Tips To Promote Growth
A healthy tree puts on new growth each year. If you would like to encourage plenty of growth on your landscape tree, the right tree trimming techniques can help.
1. Prune Before the Growth Flush
If you want a lot of new growth, pruning in the right season is key. For most trees, this time is in late winter right as the buds begin to swell but before they break, and leaf or flower. Trimming at this time means that the trees will quickly put on new growth as soon as spring arrives. Since weak and damaged branches have been trimmed out, this spring growth spurt will go into producing healthy new growth instead of sustaining the old weak growth.
2. Cut Near the Bud
Where the cuts are made are just as important. If you make pruning cuts in the wrong place, then you end up with bare branch tips poking out and scrubby growth further back. On some trees, like conifers, cutting back too far can lead to completely bare branches that won't produce any new needles. Make cuts just forward of an existing leaf or leaf bud. This way there won't be a bare tip and the bud just behind the cut can produce new growth on the branch tip.
3. Open Up the Canopy
It may seem counter-intuitive, but thinning out overgrowth is necessary if you want to encourage healthy growth. An overgrown canopy is too dense to allow air circulation within, and it also blocks sunlight from reaching all the branches. This creates a canopy that is more prone to disease and leaf death, so the tree may end up with few leaves and a lot of bare branches. Thin out up to a third of the branches each year. Most importantly, remove those branches that overlap and rub together, as these are most likely to become damaged and diseased.
4. Remove Scrubby Growth
Scrubby growth takes nutrients and water away from the tree, which weakens healthy growth. Suckers, which are weak stems that grow around the base of a tree, are one type of scrubby growth you need to trim away. Another example of scrubby growth is the weak branches that try to grow along the trunk and beneath the main canopy. Suckers should be cut off at their base, preferably just beneath the soil. As for weak branches, trim those close to the trunk so that there are no protruding bits left.
Contact a tree removal service to learn more about promoting growth in your healthy trees.
