Need a Tree Trimming Service in Fairview, TX? BKR Pros Can Help. Learn More Below:
Before picking a tree trimming service in the Fairview, TX area, it's important that you speak the language. This article will give you a basic overview of how tree trimming and pruning works so you know what to look for when finding a professional service in North DFW.
What is pruning?
Pruning is the removal of any portion of a plant. Removing large amounts of healthy growth affects a tree in two seemingly opposite ways. The most obvious response is invigoration. The harder to determine effect is dwarfing. Since Fairview is home to some of the largest and most sprawling trees in DFW, consider this before calling in a company to do any work.
Removing leafy shoots and buds (a common request from homeowners in Fairview, TX and north DFW in general) that would become leaves allows the roots (which are not immediately affected) to supply the remaining parts of the tree with relatively more water and nutrients than before. Shoots are stimulated into growing more rapidly and later into the season. Leaves become larger and darker green., just as if the tree has been fertilized.
Even though leaves will be larger and shoots longer, the total amount of leaf area and new growth will be less on a pruned tree. Because there will be fewer leaves working for a shorter time, less total growth will be made and less food will be stored. The amount of both invigoration and dwarfing depends on the severity of pruning. Trimming of dead, weak, and heavily shaded branches has little influence on growth, while trimming off healthy branches that are well exposed to light can have a significant effect.
"Severe pruning can have different effects not only on two different trees, but also on various parts of the same tree. If you wish to subdue a branch within a tree, prune it more severely to reduce its total growth relative to the other branches you wish to encourage. Conversely, to encourage a branch to grow more, prune it lightly or not at all. At the same time, prune other branches more severely, particularly those that might shade or compete with the branch you are trying to encourage. This is the principal way to influence trees to grow the way they want them to grow." says Randall, the owner of Little Elm Tree Trimming Service, which is located near Fairview, TX.
For every generalization, there are always one or more exceptions. For this one there are two: Mature plants that are expected to set a heavy flower and fruit load may not be dwarfed by pruning. In this case, pruning stimulates the remaining shoots, while the number of flowers and fruit on them remain the same.
The other exception is the response to pruning by a stagnated young plant. For some unexplained reason, some young trees that are doing poorly but show no symptoms other than lack of vigor will respond with renewed vitality to extremely severe pruning. This usually is a kill-or-cure procedure, however.
The type of pruning determines the tree’s response
“Heading” or “heading back” means cutting back to a stub, a lateral bud, or a small lateral branch. New growth comes from one or more buds near the cut; the lower buds don’t ordinarily grow. The new shoots are usually vigorous and upright. The new branches and foliage may form a canopy so thick that lower leaves and plants growing under the tree are shaded out.
When large branches of mature trees are headed, it’s called “stubbing.”
“Thinning” or “thinning out” means removing a branch at its origin or cutting back to another lateral branch. The new growth follows the tree’s natural branching pattern and tends to be more evenly distributed throughout the crown. As the term suggests, “thinning” leaves the canopy less dense and more open. Because more light penetrates through the leaves, interior foliage and plants under the tree will grow better. A thinned tree also will be less subject to wind damage.
Conifers do not need to be trimmed as much as broad-leaved trees. They are pruned primarily to remove dead wood, to control size and shape, or to reduce wind resistance. Most conifers do not have latent buds on wood without foliage; if this wood is cut back to a stub, no new growth will follow. Exceptions are yew, arborvitae, hemlock, sequoia, some junipers, and some pines.
"Conifers typically have a central leader with branches radiating either at random or in vertical whorls around the trunk. Random-branching conifers-- arborvitae, sequoia, and yew, for example-- can be sheared or tip-pinched to control size and shape. Whorl-branching species-- fir, pine, and spruce, for example-- will form closer whorls if new growth is headed back to a bud." says Luke, the owner of Kaufman Tree Service in Terrell Texas.
When conifers get within a foot of the size you want, cut the new growth back to 1 inch; the tree will hold to size but will become more dense.
To train columnar conifers, cut upright branches back to short, spreading laterals; or, in large specimens, head widely spreading branches just inside the desired foliage line of the column.
Lost leaders on conifers can be replaced.
The pruning process
Before you pick up your pruning shears, take a moment to get a mental image of what the pruned tree should look like. Then start pruning in this order:
- First, prune away any dead, diseased, or criss-crossed branches.
- Then go for form. Make the smallest cuts first, and the largest ones last.
- Use pruning shears for cutting small limbs (up to an inch or so in diameter). Shears come in a variety of sizes and styles.
Small stems and shoots
With pruning shears, cut away the unwanted growth, cutting just above a healthy lateral bud. Cut ¼ inch above the bud from which you want a branch to grow-- more will leave a dead stub, less may damage the bud. It’s easier to make a close cut if you place the shears so that the blade cuts upward. Slant the cut upward toward the top of the bud, with the angle in the direction you want the new branches to grow.
Small branches
Tree branches up to 1 ¼ inches should be pruned with lopping shears. Again, cut upward. Not only does this make the cutting process easier, it also reduces the danger of bark tearing as the limb falls. Small limbs, including suckers and water sprouts, should be cut as closely to the trunk or branch as possible. This diminishes the chance of new ones sprouting from latent buds left at the base. (Suckers are vigorous sprouts that grow from below the graft union or the ground; water sprouts are similar, but they arise higher on the trunk.) Both grow quite vertically. Now that you, the Fairview, TX homeowner, has a better understanding of tree trimming, you may speak confidently with the tree service listed above to learn more!
