Tree pruning for now and for the future

Professional tree pruning for the present …

Did you ever wonder how you can live in better harmony with your trees? Perhaps you’d like your trees pruned to give you more light, more space, improved safety, not quite so many leaves falling on the lawn, a neater look, a better view.

… and for the years to come

Every tree is different, even within the same species. There is an art in working with your particular tree to achieve your goals while leaving it in a natural shape that should require little to no maintenance for several years. This is achieved by following two rules of thumb which are applicable to the majority of species.

At least one third diameter …

First, when shortening or ‘reducing’ a branch it should be pruned back to a side branch whose diameter is at least one third the diameter of the branch being pruned. This helps ensure that the pruned branches are left with enough photosynthesising capacity to support themselves, so that they should neither react by producing lots of weakly attached, fast growing shoots, nor by dying.

… up to one third volume

Secondly, for any given pruning session no more that about a third of the branching, leaf-bearing portion of the tree (the crown)  should be removed at any one time. This helps avoid killing the tree or shocking it into producing unsightly regrowth.

Following these two rules, together with applying the correct method for and choosing the correct placement of the pruning cuts themselves, should leave you with a healthy, natural looking tree.

There are several types of pruning that can be applied to the tree’s crown, as described on our Tree pruning page. And please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to discuss the possibilities. Meanwhile, here are before and after shots of a previously pollarded lime tree that we worked on for a day: