How to Improve the Health of Your Trees by Pruning During The Winter

 

​​Most of us only think about pruning plants or trees in the warm months of spring. But, we actually recommend that you properly prune your trees during the winter. Pruning deciduous trees in the winter is important to their overall health and will benefit the look of your landscaping into the spring and summer months. 

Colorado Aspen

DECIDUOUS

[dih-sij-oo-uh s]

A Latin word meaning shedding 
​the leaves annually, 
​as certain trees and shrubs.

Winter is actually the ideal time of year to prune your trees because:

Trees are dormant and not using a lot of energy reserves.

• Trees become dormant (type of hibernation process) in order to survive the winter months. During the true-dormancy cycle in their lives, they lose their leaves, their growth is suspended above ground, and they conserve their energy by sleeping. It’s during this phase that pruning is best for the tree.

The full structure of the tree can be seen since its leaves are gone.

• When a tree’s leaves are gone, you can see the whole structure of the tree. It’s important to be able to see the branches and limbs of your tree for careful and correct pruning. You don’t want to prune structural limbs or branches out of the tree.

Dead, diseased, rubbing, crossing, and broken branches can be removed.

• Because you can see the whole structure of your tree, you can also see any damaged, diseased, or dead branches. Removal of any of these types of problem branches is important to maintain the health of your tree and to prevent death and decay.

Pruning improves the overall health and the structure of your tree. 

WARNING:

​If you are unsure of how to properly prune your trees, don't have the proper equipment, or your tree is large enough that you can't reach its limbs safely, we recommend that you call a reputable tree service, like ours, before you try this alone. Improper pruning can harm your trees as well as greatly reduce the aesthetics of your landscaping. Each cut you make has the potential to change the growth of your tree and in most cases, it is better to not prune your tree than to do it incorrectly. In addition, pruning a mature tree can be a very dangerous task without the proper equipment or expertise.

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We offer winter discounts for pruning. Contact us today to winter prune your trees:

719-237-0379

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