Trees, Wind and Pruning 

Around here, March seems to come in like a hurricane and leave like a gale – nothing lamblike about it. Wind is one of those facts of life that trees just have to deal with. Unlike us, they can’t go inside and shut the windows when the wind is up. Fortunately, trees evolved with wind and have ways to cope.

The wood in the trunk, branches and twigs is built of two kinds of carbohydrates – lignin and cellulose. Think of concrete and steel cables – one strong when compressed, one flexible and strong when pulled. Together, these tissues create a flexible, strong material, able to bend and sway without breaking.

When a tree has dense foliage throughout the canopy, wind tends to mostly go around the tree. It self-buffers, each branch dissipating some of the force. A shared burden is easier. When the canopy has gaps, the wind goes through and does a lot more damage. How does pruning affect a tree’s wind-worthiness?

Pruning the outer part of the canopy while leaving the interior intact makes it easier for wind to go around, and this decreases damage to the tree. Pruning to open up the interior “to allow the wind to go through” does just that. The force becomes more concentrated and the likelihood of the branch breaking goes up.

Many trees don’t actually need pruning for wind issues. We can assess your trees and come up with an approach to reasonably reduce the risk of failure, without overly impacting the tree. 

Contact us to find out why we are considered the best tree service in Albuquerque.