Saving money and time by pruning and trimming your trees yourself can be tempting.  It can also be extremely dangerous, especially if you lack the experience and expertise of a tree pruning specialist.  However, the primary concern is that inexperienced pruning and trimming can do more harm than good.

 

It can ruin your tree’s appearance and leave them susceptible to damage from storms, declining health, diseases, pest infestations, and ultimately death.  Here are 5 common DIY tree pruning and trimming mistakes that can be avoided by hiring an arborist or tree care specialist for the job:

 

Improper cutting – another common mistake that is attributed to inexperience is cutting branches flush with or too close to the main trunk of the tree.  Doing this removes the section of cell tissue responsible for healing the cut or the “branch collar” as it is referred to.  Furthermore, cutting off branches situated too close to the trunk creates an opening for diseases and pests.  You want have to worry about this by letting a tree pruning specialist in Palo Alto care for your trees

 

Over-pruning – you should never prune or trim more than 15% to 20% of the foliage off a mature tree at any given time.  In fact, removing 5% to 10% is usually sufficient.  When too much of the canopy is removed, it will hinder the tree’s ability to produce a sufficient amount of food and transfer nutrients throughout the tree.  Plus, it won’t be able to support itself structurally.

 

Poor timing – believe it or not, there is a right and a wrong time to prune and trim your trees.  Naturally, this depends on the condition of the tree and the species.  Pruning at the wrong time of the year could eventually lead to disease and tree stress.  For this reason, you should rely on an arborist or tree pruning expert in Palo Alto to do the job.

 

Removing too many of the larger, lower branches – while the intention is to raise the canopy of the tree so you can grow more grass around it, the end result is a very bare, tall tree trunk with only a small amount of foliage (canopy) remaining at the top.  The end result is a tree that looks like a stalk of broccoli.

 

Topping – this is one of the more common mistakes that DIY’ers make, not to mention how it can result in a  tree having an ugly appearance afterwards.  The misconception is that topping will make a tree produce more blooms.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  If you want to be left with an ugly, deformed tree, topping is the way to go.  If not, contact a tree pruning specialist in Palo Alto to prune and trim your tree properly. With many companies vying for your business, it will be easy to pick the best company to look after your trees.