Tree trimming involves the removal of branches or limbs that have outgrown their proper place on a tree. This is often necessary for safety reasons when limbs grow too close to power lines, or a tree’s shape becomes unbalanced. It is also done to promote health and reduce damage caused by winds, ice or snow.

What month is it best to trim tree branches?

The main reason to prune a tree is to remove diseased, damaged or dead branches. This not only helps to improve the appearance of a tree, but it also prevents the spread of disease or insects to other parts of the tree or to surrounding plants.

Other reasons for pruning include removing crossing or rubbing branches, eliminating suckers (as discussed in our article on Tree suckers) and reducing stress on selected limbs by thinning the canopy. Thinning is the most common type of pruning performed on mature trees. It increases sunlight penetration to the ground, improves air circulation and reduces wind resistance.

Pruning is not a simple task, and it can be dangerous if done incorrectly. It is essential that a trained and certified arborist perform all pruning work. This is especially important when pruning large or heavy limbs that are above ground level. Using improper techniques can lead to the devastating pruning error known as topping. This is a practice that drastically reduces the height of a tree by cutting branches and even the trunk back to stubs. Topping is not only hard on the tree, but it can result in severe health and structural problems.