FAQs About Tree Pruning And Their Answers

In life, it is said that everything with a beginning has an end. But sometimes even at the end, it is not uncommon to hear of second chances. Sometimes, there are things that get another lease on life. A perfect illustration of this is the 75-year-old Dania Beach Grill. This old-time beach bar is being reborn as Lucky Fish. The old establishment will be demolished and a new one constructed where the former stood.

This process is similar to the old agricultural habit of pruning trees. With pruning, you kill or demolish a branch to give space to a new one from within the tree. Here’s more about this process:

What is pruning?

Pruning is the perfect combination of art and technical agricultural knowledge. What does that mean? You see, pruning is like giving your plants a haircut to bring out better growth. But the fun part is that you are not limited to how you do these cuts; you can still do them to improve the aesthetic appeal of your tree.

Pruning is simply cutting off parts of a plant. Responsible pruning is always done for a specific reason, like keeping a plant the optimal size for the landscape rather than allowing it to overgrow its space. Another reason to prune a tree or shrub is to cut off undesirable growth, branches that are weak or overcrowded or head the wrong way.

Pruning a shrub or tree should always include removing dead, damaged or broken branches. This is done to prevent branches from falling and removing sections of trunk bark, as well as for the safety of any structures and people nearby. Removing older, unproductive branches is a good way to refresh or rejuvenate a plant that hasn’t been trimmed in years.  Read more from Gardening Know How…

So, you can take a long-term approach to this by pruning part of the tree every year. More of how you can have a three-year tree growth project later in the post.

Pruning palm trees.

In Dania Beach, there are a lot of palm trees and you might be wondering if pruning the ones in your compound will bring any magic to them. This is for you. Palm tree pruning will not only help improve your tree’s appearance but will also help enhance its growth. You can also use pruning to remove the dead fronds which might be loosely attached to your palm tree and might be a safety hazard.

Most pruning of palms is done to remove dead or dying fronds, inflorescences (flowering), and/or fruiting clusters, particularly those that may be a potential risk to the public, such as coconuts.

Pruning is usually conducted at least biannually. Coconuts may be pruned as often as every 3–4 months to minimize the risk of injury or damage from the heavy fruit. Great care should be taken to avoid any damage to the terminal bud. Over-pruned palms may have slower growth and may attract pests.

Generally, remove old, dead, lower fronds only, unless otherwise required for clearance. Occasionally, live green fronds, where the frond shaft has descended below a horizontal plane, can be removed. Removing live fronds where the shaft is greater than 45 degrees above horizontal is not known to reduce future pruning requirements. Read more from Trees Are Good…

But as you prune your palm trees you should avoid using spikes to climb the trees as they very well injure the tree to its destruction.

How much should you take off a tree with each prune?

Never make the mistake of pruning your whole tree leaving the trunk alone. Tree pruning should be done systematically and especially in a way that will improve the tree’s life rather than killing the tree. Never remove more than 25% of the tree’s canopy and for deciduous trees, you should make sure you have left two-thirds of the tree’s branches intact.

How much you want to take off with each trimming depends on how tall or wide you want your tree to grow.

So there is no hard and fast rule on how much to trim. But as a rule of thumb, there are certain percentages you can trim off if you do regular pruning.

Here’s how much trees can withstand safely-

Young trees: You should trim no more than 25% of the growth for young trees. If the tree has fertile soil and other necessary resources, it has the strength to withstand such canopy pruning.

Middle-aged trees: You can trim off 20% of the canopy in the case of middle-aged trees.

Mature trees: Mature trees need as much green surface as possible to photosynthesize and stay healthy. For this reason, it is not advisable to take off more than 10% to 15% of the foliage for older trees. Read more from Go Tree Quotes…

The questions above seek to help you obtain the most from your trees without having to pay the price of a painful experience. You can also reach out to EPS Landscaping and Tree Services. We have tree pruning experts who are always ready to serve. Call us today and we will be at your doorstep to give you our excellent services.