To Prune Or Not To Prune

That is a great question, actually. Pruning is a cornerstone of the commercial arborist’s world. However, not all pruning is good pruning!

Dead branches can be pruned off the tree any time of year with no penalty to the tree. This doesn’t really affect the tree’s health much but makes it look better and reduces some level of risk. It’s a little different when we’re pruning live wood, however.

Pruning live wood removes leaves. Leaves feed the tree, so we have reduced the tree’s ability to make energy from sunlight by some amount. The pruning cut is a wound that the tree must try to seal to prevent the wood from being colonized by decay fungi, whose spores are everywhere all the time. Sealing the wound takes energy, and we have removed some of the closest sources of energy. So – only prune as much as is needed! 

Pruning can improve or harm a tree’s form. The most useful pruning is structural pruning done while the tree is young and growing. Done well, this approach works with the individual tree’s own form to create the strongest version of that form as the tree grows.

We also prune for clearance, to reduce the risk of failure of long, horizontal limbs, and to remove broken branches that may be hazardous or may lead to decay fungi entering the tree. Let Legacy assess your tree – we will only recommend pruning if it’s actually beneficial for the tree!

Contact us to find out more about our Albuquerque tree removal services.