Everything You Need to Know About Pruning Trees in Summer

You can opt for many different front yard landscaping ideas for your home, but there’s no denying that simply pruning trees can have a significant impact on your exterior aesthetic. Even after years of carefully trimming your perennials and shrubs, you may still worry that you might overcut and accidentally damage the healthy trees in your backyard. Incorrectly pruning trees can limit one's bloom potential for the year, so there’s a lot of pressure to do it right.

Worry no more! This post is here to provide a few tips for pruning trees during summer. This guide is fantastic for homeowners who want to maintain their trees’ good health and gorgeous aesthetic!

What Is Tree Pruning?

In pruning, you selectively remove certain portions of trees or shrubs, which are dying or dead due to diseases, pests, or lack of sunlight. Pruning is also a means of preventative maintenance, not just for young trees but also for established plants.

What Are the Benefits of Pruning?

Through pruning, you remove unwanted tree parts such as branches, buds, or roots, and improve the structure of trees. But in particular, here are some benefits of pruning:

1) Maintain Plants and Landscapes

Fruits and flower production for trees and shrubs become more robust after pruning. More so, this method will also develop hedge aesthetics and proportion evergreens, which can even minimize your landscaping cost.

2) Promote Plant Health

When you prune your plants, you get rid of the dead and dying branches, giving your plants the ability to breathe more easily. Pruning allows room for growth and deters pest and animal infestation. It keeps plants healthy while promoting their natural shape.

3) Protect Your Family and Property

If you regularly prune trees, you reduce the risk of damage due to broken branches. Hence, you protect your family, as well as your property, from any falling tree parts. This will help control vermin, pests, and snakes because there won’t be any place for them to hide.

Is it Okay to Prune Trees in the Summer?

Generally, winter is the best time to prune, but doing it in the summer has its fair share of benefits, especially for fruit trees and damaged trees. It does wonders for tree shaping, too. While trees and shrubs do most of their growing in the springtime, it is only when summer is in full swing that you notice misshapen branches that may be hanging too low or cutting it close to the roof of your home. This makes it ideal to perform tree pruning in the warmer months, so you can correct these issues before they become major problems.

How Can I Safely Prune Trees in the Summer?

Summer pruning can sometimes be unavoidable, but keep in mind that heavy pruning should only be done if the tree poses a risk to you or your property’s safety. If you find that a tree has broken or has low hanging or weak branches, it’s best to spring into action right away. Just be careful not to over prune your tree or remove too many branches, as doing so may result in long-term problems.

The last thing you want to do is eliminate an excessive amount of foliage, as it hinders the trees from producing enough food. It also causes them to look unhealthy. When a tree is overpruned, they’re also susceptible to sunscald or sunburn, and exposure to direct sunlight may result in cracks, decay, or permanent damage to the branches.

What Trees Are Better to Prune in the Summer?

Trees that you can prune in the summertime are fruit trees, evergreen trees, and trees with deadwood. You can also opt to prune maple, walnut, and birch trees since they typically ooze sap when pruned in winter.

What Trees Should Not Get Pruned or Trimmed in the Summer?

Oak trees have a condition that makes it crucial to avoid making cuts on them from April through October. Oak wilt, which is deadly to oak trees, is spread by pests that are attracted to fresh cuts found in the wood. It’s best to wait until later in the winter to early spring to work on oak pruning. However, this doesn’t apply to deadwood considering how pests are attracted to the live wood of the tree. There shouldn’t be any problem pruning deadwood out of an oak tree when needed.

Conclusion

Pruning is an activity that you should include in your home maintenance plan. Adding it to your routine will help protect your garden, your family, and your home from pests and other damage done by falling tree branches. If you don’t have the tools or knowledge for pruning, you can get service providers to handle everything for you!

For Edmonton landscaping design and maintenance, HML Construction and our team of landscapers, horticulturists, and experts can do it all for you. Request a quote and learn more about our services today!