• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Hunt County Master Gardeners
Hunt County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Articles
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Program Overview
    • FAQ
    • Contact
    • Master Gardener Emeritus
    • Heritage Garden
      • Animal Name Bed
      • Heritage Garden Plant Database
    • Junior Master Gardener Program
    • Outdoor Learning Center
  • Events
  • Links
    • Hunt County Extension Office
    • Texas AgriLife Extension Bookstore
    • Aggie Horticulture
    • Aggie Turf
    • Texas Master Gardener
    • Texas Master Gardener Association
    • Texas Master Gardener License Plates
  • Resources
    • Plants for East Texas
    • Vegetable Resources
    • Fruit & Nut Resources
    • Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab
    • Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab
    • Texas Superstar Plants
    • Earth-Kind Landscaping
    • Insects in the City
    • USDA Plant Hardiness Map
  • CEUs
    • Log My Hours
    • Texas Master Gardener Association Events
    • Master Gardener Advanced Training
    • Earthkind Online Classes
    • American Horticultural Society Events
    • Texas Botanical Gardens and Arboreta

Pruning Trees

February 19, 2015 by stephaniesuesansmith

Pruning Trees by Byron Chitwood

There are many reasons to trim or prune landscape trees.  Some of the reasons are as follows:

  • Promotion of plant health.  Some trees do not naturally prune themselves.  Limbs might die and need to be physically removed.  Also some damage might be as a result of storms.  High winds or icing can cause limbs to break.  Unfortunately, the breaks do not occur at places on the branch that are the most desirable.
  • Safety.  Some growth of certain trees can cause hazardous conditions such as those caused by aging and cracking in narrow “Vees” of adjoining branches.  This article does not give legal advice on the liabilities of a property owner regarding trees; however, it is the legal responsibility of the property owner to insure that hazards do not occur.  If some of your landscape trees encroach on a utility right-of-way, trimming might be required.  Rather than attempting to trim those trees, call the Utility Company.  They have a vested interest in protecting their power lines and will more than likely trim the trees and grind the trimmings and either haul them away or give them to the homeowner.
  • Trees may need to be pruned to maintain the intended purpose of the original landscape plan.  Most flowers and turf grasses require a certain percentage of sunlight during the day.  Branches can be removed to improve the sunlight hours on those plants.
  • Increase visibility.  Your landscape might have trees or shrubs that have grown up to block the view from a particular window.  Lower branches can be removed to improve visibility.

If you plan do it yourself and do your own pruning, there are some simple rules to follows: first, safety is the most important thing to consider.  The two most dangerous items in your toolbox are chain saws and ladders.  More people are injured by falling from a ladder.  I have also seen some rickety ladders being used.

Chainsaws can be very dangerous.  Even woodcutters with years of experience have been severely injured using one of these hand held mechanical sharks.  They can eat you up, belt buckle, bones and all. It might be better for you to use a good sharp pruning saw rather than standing on your tiptoes on top a rickety step ladder while trying to reach way over your head and sawing off that last branch.

There is a proper way and place to cut off a branch.  A branch growing from a larger limb will have a branch collar at its base.  Cut the offending limb at the base of the branch above the collar which will leave a stub. Then, cut the stub off avoiding cutting the collar.  Make the cuts so that they angle down and away from the main branch.

Personally, I might cut a branch here and there when they die or need to be removed but if some big time pruning needs to be done, I call in the professionals.  There are some really good ones in the community and they can usually do a very good job and safely remove those branches that need pruning.  Also, most of them leave the yard in immaculate condition.

***

Attachments area

Preview attachment feb20.15.doc

Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward

2.52 GB (16%) of 15 GB used

Manage

©2015 Google – Terms – Privacy

Last account activity: 1 hour ago

Details

12 more

Sylvia Gay

 

Filed Under: Trees Tagged With: Pruning Trees,

Find Us on Facebook logo

Articles by Topic:

  • Composting
  • Earth-Kind
  • Entomology
  • Events
  • Flowers
  • Fruits and Nuts
  • Gardening 101
  • Herbs
  • History
  • Keyhole Gardens
  • Ornamentals
  • Plant Diseases
  • Recipes
  • Roses
  • Seeds
  • Square Foot Gardening
  • Trees
  • Turf
  • Vegetables
  • Water Conservation
  • Wildlife
  • Winter

Article Key Words

African Violets Asparagus Bag Worms, Bees Birds, Bluebonnets, Brown Patch, Butterflies, Composting Dragonflies eGardening with the Master Gardeners, Fall Tomatoes, Fire Ants, Fruit Trees Garlic, Gifts, Grapes, Grasshoppers, Greenhouses, Keyhole Gardens Late Fall Vegetables, Late Spring Gardening, Leeks Notable Texas Gardens, Onions, Poison Ivy, Poisonous Plants, Potatoes Propagation Pruning Trees, Rainwater Harvesting, Raised Beds Rose Hips Spider Mites, Spring Vegetable Gardening Squash Bugs, Summer Trees & Shrubs, Turf Grass, Valentines, Vegetables Watering Water Wise Gardening, Wildflowers, Winter
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member
  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information