Pruning is so much more than the simple act of sawing/cutting off limbs and should be a regular part of all tree and shrub monthly maintenance programs. Trimming or Pruning is a gardening practice that is frequently misunderstood.
Insight from lawn care professionals.
Many times gardeners will wait until a plant or shrub has outgrown it’s intended space before they decide to trim it back. The main reasons Beachside Lawn Care feel pruning & trimming is necessary to maintain a well-manicured and healthy landscape. Proper pruning improves health, overall growth, and encourages higher quality fruit production, increases flowers, and removes damaged/dead limbs, all which give aesthetic appeal to a tree or plant.
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Here are a few key reasons to prune your trees:
- Reduce risk of failure from dead or weak branches
- Provide clearance
- Reduce shade and wind resistance
- Manage tree health
- Manage flower or fruit production
- Improve aesthetics
- Improve tree structure
- Save a storm-damaged tree
Overall Plant Health
First think about eliminating dying, dead, or diseased growth in your plants and trees. Be thorough with your trimming and cut into healthy wood ( just beyond the point of infection) this will help stop the disease from spreading. When you trim back the growth also know as “thinning” this can also be beneficial to allow much needed light and fresh air to travel completely through the plant or tree, allowing for even growth year round.
Manage Plant Flowering or Fruit Quality
Have you ever noticed the more flowers or fruit a plant produces, the smaller they become… Pruning back plants and trees reduces the overall size and diverts necessary energy to the production of larger & higher quality, flowers and/or fruits. In Florida we find that trimming before the growth season around February & March will help maintain a natural trim through the summer.
Plant Growth Restriction & Limitations
Your perfectly sized trees and shrubs will often grow to sizes that exceed the space you allotted for them. Many landscapers make the mistake of planting too close causing them to need to be removed or heavily trimmed back. Above all, with regular pruning of your plants and trees you will see a more uniform growth rate. When landscaping your property utilize low maintenance plants and trees, many forms of trees shed their branches when they die. This will cut down on the amount of trimming and pruning you will have to do.
Tree and Plant pruning should be viewed as a routine part of your landscaping maintenance. Rather than as a remedial correction of neglected problems from throughout the year. For more pruning tips, landscaping before and afters or a free consultation for tree trimming and monthly maintenance, call the professionals at Beachside Lawn Care.