Reasons To Trim Your Trees During Winter
Properly maintained trees in your yard enhance the beauty of your landscape. Therefore, routine care will keep your trees attractive and healthy for a long time. You can enlist the help of a certified arborist who will care for your trees and ensure they maintain their appeal.
Trimming your trees at the right time leads to rapid growth and can increase the yield of your trees. Generally, tree trimming experts recommend that you trim your trees during winter for the following reasons.
Trees are Dormant
During winter, trees become dormant to use as little energy as possible during the cold season. Since trees lack access to sunlight needed for growth in winter, they remain inactive until spring.
Trimming involves cutting branches — a process that often leaves behind deep cut marks on the tree structure. So when you trim a tree during winter, its only response is to grow and close the "wound".
The tree's dormant state allows it to focus only on healing the cuts until the spring season when a new branch can grow from the trimmed section. Therefore, trimming is less stressful for the tree during winter since there's less pressure to sprout.
Easier Visibility of the Tree Structure
As winter sets in, the leaves from deciduous trees fall off, leaving the tree bare. As a result, the branches become exposed and make it easier for your arborist to quickly assess the tree's condition before they start trimming it. They can quickly identify overgrown branches and trim them to the desired shape or size.
Additionally, your arborist can quickly spot damaged and diseased branches before they remove them. This way, only healthy branches will sprout when foliage grows back. The tree will also adopt a shape to fit the trim, which further improves its aesthetic appeal.
Reduced Spread of Pests and Disease
Trees acquire diseases from pests, bacteria, and fungi. These organisms can transmit infections and diseases to trees through cuts that appear after trimming. For instance, sap from fresh cuts on trees attracts beetles that may have Dutch elm disease spores, which eventually spread to the trees.
However, such disease-carrying pests hibernate or die during winter due to the extreme cold. The trees will also have a chance to close up the wound before spring when most pests, bacteria, and fungi are active. Therefore, trimming your trees when these organisms are inactive protects your trees from disease and infections.
Arborists recommend winter tree trimming for most trees, but not all. For example, trees that flower in early spring will probably bud before winter. Trimming them means that your trees will not bloom during spring. Consult a certified arborist to help you know when and how to trim your trees without causing any damage.
For more information, contact a tree trimming company like Git-R-Down Tree Service LLC.