ADVERTISING: Advertorial: Dormant Season Pruning

While the rest of the country is getting hit with significant snow and cold temperatures, many of us here in the west are being left high and dry thus far. Last week I took a photo of Crocus pushing up through the soil in a planter bed at our office! I have never seen them emerging this early. It is fun to see but a bit concerning also. My worry is that some trees and shrubs may break dormancy prematurely and then be damaged if more winter-like temperatures return in February or March.

Having mopped up most of our windstorm work, we are moving into our dormant season pruning. While most people think of fruit trees only, this is an excellent time of year for any deciduous tree. Without leaves, you can see branch structure with ease. Pruning out those rubbing, crossing and crowded limbs is much more straight forward this time of year and less stressful on the trees. 

Keep in mind, this is also a great time to prune those new trees only a few years old. Many people assume small and recently planted trees may not need any pruning attention but remember, pruning out small structural problems now pays big dividends. Those small structural problems ignored for several years can grow into much larger issues down the road. I know I must sound preachy as I hit this topic frequently but I see regrettable situations daily that would have been easily remedied by addressing them a few short year prior. 

As an example, last week I meet with some clients that have a beautiful maple centered just off their back patio. A co-dominate stem in the middle of the tree that was weakly attached tore out this last year and is now compromising the entire top and center of the tree. It will now require some repair/reduction pruning as well as a cable and two braces to save the trees upper crown. I estimated the cost of the service to be around $350. Had we been invited to prune the tree a few years prior, we could have prevented the damage with a few pruning cuts at a fraction of that cost.

Stay tuned as we discourse further into dormant season pruning of various tree types. As always, thank you for following us and if you have further questions, need a quote or consultation, give us a call today