Pruning is integral to keeping your trees healthy and beautiful; just don’t overdo it. Deciding to over-prune your trees for the sake of time, effort, or money spent on frequent pruning is a terrible idea. Why not just cut everything right down and skip a pruning session or two next year?
This post delves into the adverse effects of excessive pruning, as advised by Albany’s reliable tree trimming and pruning professionals from Green Acres Tree Service & Land Clearing.
What Happens When You Over-Prune Trees and Shrubs?
Various tree species thrive with minimal pruning. The trees need the foliage to manufacture their food. If you remove too much of it, you’re exposing the tree to nutritional deficiencies and more.
Pruning too much might also end up with branches that aren’t strong enough to withstand wind or resist diseases and insect infestations. A tree’s foliage also helps protect it against intense sun exposure, so it needs enough leaf cover for shade protection, too.
If you remove too much of it, the tree will also sprout excessively to promote food production and safeguard itself against sunscald. This may sound like a good thing. However, it often compromises your tree’s visual appeal, results in growth reduction at the tips, and produces sprouts on the interior where there shouldn’t be any.
Plus, sprouts require regular pruning to keep them in good shape, causing a vicious cycle.
The Dangers of Topping
Topping entails removing your tree’s entire top part to shorten it. However, topping brings all the negative effects of excessive pruning, including the following:
- Tree sunburn
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Disease infestations
As if that’s not enough, topping can also permanently disfigure your tree or kill it.
Tips To Avoid Over-Pruning
- Growth. How large will your plants become? Give them sufficient room to grow. If you grow a 7-foot tall and wide tree, plant it at least seven feet apart from other trees so it won’t block your view.
- Space. Why not reduce the number of shrubs in your landscape? If you have too many plants on your property, you might need to prune them frequently to avoid overcrowding. Selectively remove plants to allow others to grow healthily without the need to prune.
- Shrubs. Only prune flowering shrubs once yearly. Provided your shrubs have adequate space to grow, proper pruning will focus on improving plant health, such as by removing old, woody growth.
Contact These Local Tree Experts for Assistance Today!
A certified arborist knows just what works when it comes to pruning trees and shrubs. If you need a reliable local arborist in Albany, GA, you can turn to Green Acres Tree Service & Land Clearing for a wide range of services, such as:
- Tree removal
- Tree trimming or pruning
- Land clearing
Since we uphold the industry’s best practices, we’ll always prune and care for your trees in a manner that reduces tree stress and promotes longevity.
Do you want to avoid excessive pruning or learn about what to put on tree limbs after cutting to promote wound healing? Why not contact Green Acres Tree Service & Land Clearing? Call (229) 881-2538 today to request a free estimate.
