Proper and correct tree pruning has many benefits for your tree which includes helping it stay healthy, beautiful, and full. There are certain techniques that need to be used by a trained professional in order to produce the best results and not hurt your tree. Even though it seems easy, all professionals make it look that way. But if you don’t have the proper knowledge, experience, and training, you have the potential to not only hurt the tree, but yourself and any bystanders close by. Our team at Five Star Tree Services is going to go over the risks of DIY tree pruning and why you should leave it to the professionals.
Damage
Expert and consistent pruning is needed in order to help trees maintain their health. Incorrect pruning will result in weakened trees, thus making them a hazard. Weak branches can easily be brought down by a strong enough wind or the entire tree as a whole can come crashing down. Depending on where it is located on your property, could cause damage to your house, property, or family.
Danger
Depending on how big your tree is and how big the branches are that you might be attempting to prune, there is a risk of injury due to things like height and tools being used. This is a cocktail for disaster when an untrained person attempts to prune a tree, mixing sharp and potentially cumbersome tools with heights just spells disaster. Accidents can always happen, even for professionals, so when an untrained person attempts these feats, the potential for injury increases exponentially. Professionals need to have the proper training, skills, and tools necessary to complete this job as safely as possible. They have access to equipment like safety harnesses, bucket trucks, professional ladders, etc. These are things that the average person does not have accessible to them, further increasing their risk.
Mistakes
Before any arborist starts pruning, they assess the surroundings and come up with an action plan in order to prevent any accidents. For someone who is attempting to DIY tree prune, they lack the adequate training for tree cutting safety. Thus, resulting in many possible mistakes. Some are as follows:
Over Pruning
This is when too many branches are removed from a tree overall. Doing this can result in the tree dying. You should never be removing more than 25% of the tree’s leaves. If you have a mature tree, the percentage is even less. Think of it like how it takes an older person longer to heal post-surgery, this is the same for trees.
Over Lifting
This is when too many of the lower branches are being removed, leaving the top branches too exposed, which can result in the tree dying.
Using Dull Tools
These are not great to use on anything, let alone pruning. When you have old and overused tools that are dull, this does not produce a clean cut and can hurt the trees and make them take longer to heal. Not to mention how you need to put more effort into trying to cut something with a dull tool. In order to safely and easily cut branches, you need to make sure you sharpen your tools regularly. Or get new ones.
Flush Cutting
This is when you cut branches off the trunk and cut it right down so that there is no nub left. Although you might be trying to make your tree look more appealing, doing this can cause the bark to grow back unevenly. This can lead to disease, fungus, and pests.
Topping
This is typically done to the top half of a tree and can be done in order to alter the shape of the tree or remove certain limbs that are coming too close to your house. However, this can create unattractive growth patterns and weaken any growing branch structures. It also can make your tree susceptible to fungus and health problems, which can be hazardous to your home.
Using Unsanitized Tools
Just like with people, whenever a surgery happens, the tools are always sanitized before use. Trees are the same and you should not be chopping away at them with unsanitized tools. If you do not sanitize your tools this can result in soil-borne diseases spreading to all your plants you use the tool on.
How Five Star Tree Services Can Help
There is too much at risk for attempting DIY tree pruning. Something like this should always be left to the professionals and our team here at Five Star Tree Services would love to help! Give us a call at (416) 990-3355 if you need our tree pruning services in Toronto!
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