How To Trim A Tree – Large or Small
If you’re Googling “How To Trim A Large Tree“, “How To Trim A Small Tree” or “Tree Trimming Tips“, this article should help!
When you know the basics of tree pruning and trimming, then you can handle most of the work yourself. There is a variety of tips for pruning and trimming techniques that can help to keep your tree looking great. The right type of knowledge and equipment will allow you to prune your tree when needed to maintain the appearance and health as well as to remove dead branches and common issues that could be dangerous.
There are a lot of tree trimming techniques, but if you are wanting to do this on your own, then you need to learn the basics to keep things in order. You could also hire a professional and not think about it. Keep reading our guide below for more information.
Reasons to prune or trim your tree
Trees will normally get trimmed for one of 3 reasons: health, safety, or aesthetics. For instance:
- Health – It can sometimes be possible to save infected trees by pruning the affected limbs and branches. Thinning the tree’s crown improves airflow, which is beneficial. If the branches are rubbing together or crossing, then need to be trimmed so that they don’t fall unexpectedly.
- Safety – Broken or dead limbs and branches can fall at any time, which is a big safety issue. If the branches of a tree obstruct your vision when you are driving, they need to be trimmed. If the branches and limbs grow to close to utility lines, contact your utility company to take care of it.
- Aesthetics – Pruning your tree helps to maintain the appearance and shape. You should never impose an unnatural shape or size on a tree. The amount of pruning and trimming that is needed could damage it.
General Tree Trimming Tips For Large & Small Trees
- Only trim branches that have narrow, weak, V-shaped angles. Keep the branches that have strong U-shaped angles.
- It is best to prune or trim a tree during the dormant season. Although, you can prune at anytime, it is better when it is dormant. The only exception is when there is a hazard
- Be conscientious about the branch size that you are removing. If it is less than 5 cm in diameter, then it is okay to remove. If it is between 5 to 10 cm, you may not want to remove it. If it is more than 10 cm in diameter, you should only remove it if you have a really good reason.
Lateral branches need to be between three-quarters and one-half the diameter of the stem at the attachment point. Otherwise, they should be removed.
- Do not trim branches that are too long or too close. You should not remove the branch collar or leave a large stub.
- When you are finished pruning, the ration for the crown to tree height needs to be two-thirds.
- Try to prune young branches. They are easier to manage and there is a lower chance of leaving nasty scars.
Pruning Tips for Trees
The tips below will help to guide you if you have been planning on pruning your trees or if you want to learn more about the care and maintenance techniques for tree trimming.
Crown Thinning
If you are needing to trim the crown of your tree, keep the following techniques and tips in mind:
- Prune branches that are crossing or rubbing each other.
- Keep lateral branches evenly spaced as much as possible, especially on a young tree.
- Do not remove more than a fourth of the crown at once. If you have to remove more than that, spread it over years.
Crown raising
- In order to make clearance for pedestrians or other reasons, you can raise the crown by pruning your tree carefully. Maintaining the live branches on most of the tree’s height. If you remove too many branches toward the bottom, then your tree may not develop a strong stem.
Crown Reduction
Only reduce the crown if it is needed. Prune the lateral branches that are a third in diameter of the stem that will need to be removed.
- If you have to remove more than half of the foliage from the branches, just remove the whole branch.
Techniques for Tree Trimming
Below are some techniques for trimming to keep in mind:
- Before you make a cut, look for the collar of the branch, which grows from stem tissue at the base of the branch. Look for the ridge, which is on the upper surface and runs parallel to the angle at the stem of the branch.
- Use the same techniques to prune living and dead branches.
- Always cut the outside of the bark ridge and angle the cut down and away from the stem. Be sure that you don’t damage the collar of the branch.
- If the stem is too long, then use a three cut technique. Create a notch on the side of the stem that faces away from the branch being kept. Make a second cut inside of the branch and above the ridge. Make a third cut which will remove the stub by cutting through the stem which is parallel to the bark ridge.
Keeping these techniques and tips from this guide before you take on trimming and pruning your trees.
How much does trimming a tree cost?
If you are wanting to keep your landscape looking great, then you need to consider having your trees pruned and trimmed. Pruning and trimming helps to remove broken or dead limbs as well as helps to keep your tree healthy. The cost of trimming your tree will depend on various factors, but it really depends on whether you can do it yourself or if you need to hire a professional. Learn more about palm tree trimming costs here.
Tree Trimming Services In Tempe, Arizona
If you would rather have an expert trim your trees and live or do business in the Tempe, Arizona area, Arbor Care can help! For professional tree trimming in Tempe, give Arbor Care a call today at 480-797-5566.
I didn’t know you could save a tree by pruning infected limbs. I don’t have a lot of time to do that myself though between work and kids. I should look for a tree servicing company to do so for me instead.
We have had the trees in our yard for a while now, and we have been wondering if we need to get the trimmed or not. I am glad you elaborated that this might be a good idea for us to help keep up the appearance and the shapes of the trees. It might be smart for us to talk to an expert about this to see if it is for sure time, or if we should wait for a moment.
I always wanted to have a garden which would look like a Versailles park! Recently, my husband and I have moved into a new house, and I was surprised to find out that we have a huge garden there! The trees are not trimmed at all, but I will make sure to have them trimmed properly so that their appearance and shape will be maintained properly. As I have no idea how I can avoid imposing an unnatural shape or size on a tree, I will make sure to hire a professional to do this for me.
I really like that you mentioned that a utility company can trim tree branches if they grow too close to utility lines. My parents are in this exact situation right now, and I was planning on hiring a tree service to take care of it. I’ll be sure to let them know that their utility company can handle it for them instead!
Thank you for mentioning how you should only trim your trees when they are dormant. I understand that doing this can help them have enough time to recover and invest their nutrients somewhere else. We were thinking about running our trees so they are separate from our house, so I’m glad I found your post.
I didn’t know that It can sometimes be possible to save infected trees by pruning the affected limbs and branches. My dad loves the trees in our garden, however, some of the trees are infected. My mom suggested calling tree trimming services to have it trimmed and save the other trees. She also shared this article with him and it says that if we want to keep our landscape looking great, then we need to consider having our trees pruned and trimmed.
My wife has been worried about the trees in our yard causing a problem and while I’ve told her that they’re nothing to be worried about, I might need to get her some peace of mind. I liked that you had mentioned that having the trees trimmed can be good to protect their health and stop them from falling unexpectedly. We’ll have to start looking into getting a professional out here to handle that trimming so my wife can get a peace of mind again.
I was just thinking about trimming our backyard trees as I’m sure they’ll be a headache when the spring comes with their abundance of leaves coming back. Your tip on trimming only the branches with narrow V-shaped angles and not the U-shaped ones is very interesting to learn as I was just about to go willy-nilly and kill off our trees. I’ll probably just have professional tree services to do the job for me so that the trees can still be properly nurtured and kept without harm. Thanks!
I didn’t know that pruning your tree could help save it, if it was infected. I think one of my trees could be infected. I should have someone come take a look and see if we can save it by pruning some branches off. Thank you for the information!
I’m glad you talked about cutting the outside of the bark ridge and angle the cut-down and away from the stem to avoid damaging the collar of the branch. My mom wants to hire a tree lopping service to trim up some of her trees in her front yard and take down some dead ones in her backyard. I’ll be sure to talk to her about finding a company who really knows how to trim the tree without damaging.
I am a tree lover and have many trees in my yard, but some of them are infected. I was really worried that I would have to get those the infected ones removed. Your advice saved my trees. Its great to know that instead of cutting the whole tree I can just go for some trimming and pruning which can help in getting rid of tree infection.
There are a few trees in the yard of our new house that needs to be assessed by a tree service. It makes me curious as to how they may handle the situation since we haven’t picked a service yet. I had no idea that there is a three-cut technique they might employ.
This is some really good information about tree service. I liked that you pointed out . It does seem like a good thing to know that your tree service will actually take good care of your trees properly.
It was great how you pointed out that tree trimming and pruning are vital when it comes to ensuring that the trees last long and remain healthy. If that is the case, then I will make sure that I get someone to trim the trees for me as soon as I possibly can. Regardless of whether or not I can do it on my own, I still need a professional because I do not have the time. Thanks! At least, now I know how to keep mom’s favorite trees healthy.
Tree expulsion is tenacious work. It’s not something that ought to be overseen by characteristic individuals. It’s to an incredible degree an exquisite and consistent snippet of data.
It was really nice how you pointed out that removing dead branches or the ones that have overgrown is a good idea since leaving them as is will only be a safety issue as it can injure someone if they fall. I agree with that, especially because we have children living in the property with us. I will get someone to check the tree branches and see if they are up for trimming. I want to keep the property as safe as possible. Thank you.
I really liked what you said about getting a tree service that will be able to tell if you need a pruning or a trim. This is a great quality since it means that they are professionals with a lot of experience. My sister will like this advice as she looks into a service for her home.
I appreciated it when you said that trimming the trees is important simply because they can cause damage to property. It was nice of you to stay that dead limbs of trees can actually fall off at any given moment. That changed everything. It might be best if I call a professional to help me out now because the tree in the yard is too big. There is a fear that if it does not destroy the shed, it can hurt one of my kids.
If you want to eliminate a tree from a garden due the damaged of tress roots then you must use the services tree trimming company which help you in the timing of your tree easily by using automatic machinery especially self driving vehicles according to the rules and regulation of a country . otherwise you face problems due to inexperience labor during the process of tree trimming .
Thanks
Nice blog! Pruning is an important process to maintain tree health. Usually I take help from professionals burlington arborists as I don’t have proper knowledge how to trim trees. The information you provided is really useful for me to care for my trees thanks for such a great content.
This was a excellent informative post you have shared on this page about the trim fruit of trees but you also want to reduce the amount of branches that can produce fruit. Your goal is a supply of healthy fruit, not a ton of fruit that nobody really wants. A fruit producing tree can only produce a limited amount of high quality fruit. But the tree doesn’t really know that. The only thing the tree knows how to do is make a flower on every bud that it can produce, then later produce fruit for each flower that it makes.
Thanks.
Thanks for pointing out that trees can get trimmed for health, safety, or aesthetics. My husband and I are thinking about hiring a tree trimming service to help us with our trees. I think it would be nice to have professionals do it because I’d be too nervous I’d end up hurting the tree if I did it myself.