When should you trim your trees?

Here is another update from your friendly Vacaville Tree Service Company. Right about now most if not all the leaves from your trees have fallen to the ground. You are left with a tree and branches. Not the prettiest of sights but once spring returns that all changes of course. Is it now time to trim your trees?
Well, first we should talk about why you should trim your trees. There are many benefits to trimming your trees during the winter and they are as follows:

• By making cuts in the right place you can play an instrumental part in shaping the tree for the future. Where do you want the branches to grow? How tall do you want the tree? These are all factors you control.
• Stop the spread of diseases. Normally during the winter, disease causing pathogens are dormant. The winter is a great time to trim the tree to avoid spreading disease.
• Trimming in the winter causes less stress to a dormant tree
• Improved safety for those living around the tree. Dead branches can be a problem during the winter. If a big storm flies through, the potential for a dead branch to come crashing down is quite high. We have all see what the high winds did to our trees in the early fall.

Now that we have established that pruning is more beneficial in the winter, let’s discuss a little more as to why. Pruning during the winter allows the tree to heal faster. When you clip a branch, the instinct is for the tree to heal and grow around that area that was cut. During the winter, the tree is dormant and does not attempt to grow, which give the tree time to heal properly. Also, during the winter most disease-causing pathogens are dormant, which means less of a chance for your tree to get a disease. There is also far less sap flowing from a cut on a tree. We all know sap brings in pests so with less sap, less pests. And probably the most apparent reason to trim and prune during the winter is because it is easier to see what you are trimming when the tree does not have any leaves.
This is not to say that you cannot trim or prune your trees at any other time during the year. You can prune anytime you want but of course with the caveats mentioned above. General guidelines to follow when you are trimming in the spring, summer, or fall, are to only trim back small branches, small enough that they can be cut with handheld shears. Shaping can also be performed but be sure to stay superficial with your cuts. And of course, remove dead or diseased branches. The sooner you see a dead or dying branch, and the sooner you remove said branch, the better.
Vacaville Tree Service provides tree trimming, tree removal, and anything tree related services to the city of Vacaville. We hope that you have found some of this information useful. If you ever need more information, give us a call. We provide free consultations. You can also visit us at http://treeservicevacaville.com. Happy Holidays from Vacaville Tree Service. We look forward to serving you for all your tree service needs.