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With Spring In The Air, Now’s The Time To Get Pruning!

Winter’s dominion over the Edmonton region is slowly coming to an end. With another spring on the horizon, you may want to commit to a number of household updates and chores — spring-cleaning lets you sweep out all the stale air and make a fresh new start, just in time for the warm weather. But for this March and April, don’t limit yourself to work around the house! Remember that part of your annual spring-clean can extend to your property and yard, and the trees that make it beautiful.

In fact, now that we’re right at the cusp of a new spring, it’s actually the best time out of the entire year to schedule our professional tree pruning service. This is called the “late dormant” season for trees. Having them pruned at this time of the year helps fight against specific ailments — Blacknot fungus in ornamental cherries, Bronze Leaf Disease in Aspen, Bronze Birch Borer in Birch trees, and bacteria-borne fire blight in apple trees, to name a few. Pruning in the late dormant season means it will take less time for their wounds to seal, and you’ll have an easier time ascertaining the true shape of a tree (and where it needs pruning) without a full canopy of leaves.

Pruning is a great way to encourage growth and keep your trees healthy. It’s also a way to guide and shape your trees, for aesthetic reasons (to correct lopsided or unappealing growths) or for more practical and safety-related reasons, such as to avoid branches growing over structures or obstructing power lines. Stubs, damaged, broken, sick, and outright dead stems and branches should be removed for the overall health of the tree (much like removing a rotten apple from a bushel helps stop the spread of rot to other fruit).

Spring-blooming trees often produce flowers that bloom from last year’s growth. Wait until late spring to prune them to retain their full bloom — these trees include lilac, spirea, cherry, forsythia, apricot, azalea, plum, and so forth. But for summer-blooming trees, early spring is the perfect time since you can trim them well before their new growth. Trees will ‘bleed’ sap, but this isn’t actually harmful. If you’re still worried about creating too much oozing, staining sap, wait to prune trees like maples, birches, walnuts, and so forth until late spring or early summer.

When you hand over this sometimes-tricky task to our professional tree pruners, you won’t ever have to worry about cutting too much, too little, or jeopardizing your safety. We’re trained in the art of assessing, scaling, and pruning all types of trees, and have access to the best equipment for dealing with even the thickest, most stubborn branches. If you’re not an arborist, you’re probably not used to climbing and securing yourself to a tree with a pole saw or chainsaw in hand. Take all the danger and uncertainty out of the equation, and give us a call! Our dedicated and certified staff can spruce up your land and restore your investments to their former glory. With spring on the horizon, it’s a great way to look forward to the beautiful weather and ensure your property looks great all through the summer.