WINTER TO-DO LIST:

PRUNE
YOUR
TREES

But seriously, it’s time to prune your trees…

When was the last time you did something nice for your spouse or significant other? Was it recent? That’s so sweet of you. What about your trees? They give you oxygen to breathe you know. The least you could do is treat them to something nice this Christmas, like a good tree pruning.

Pictured above, we have Brad Bateman on from our team. He has his ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification and is an ISA Certified Arborist.

What exactly is tree pruning? We’re glad you asked. Pruning a tree is a practice that involves the selective removal of certain parts, such as branches, buds, or roots. The way a tree is pruned influences the way the tree grows, the structural integrity of the tree, and promotes strong growth. Regular pruning keeps trees strong, creates a healthier structure, and reduces the need for future corrective pruning.

Here in our area, we happen to get a lot of high winds all year round. By removing dead, diseased, and infectious branches you’re helping avoid potential damage to your home, cars, and loved ones. You’re also looking out and saving a storm-damaged tree. You’d also be removing infected branches if any, which helps control pests on your trees by reducing their habitat options.

Having healthy trees can benefit you for a number of things including the overall appeal, the value of your property, and improving your aesthetics. By properly pruning, you’re thinning out branches and increasing the amount of light and air that gets through to the tree, and encouraging a beautiful bloom come springtime. Which doesn’t only benefit your trees but also improves the quality of your lawn and other lower growing plants. The trees take fewer nutrients allowing for the nearby plants to grow healthier.

So now that you’ve heard all the wonders on tree pruning, when should you get this done? The best time to treat your trees is when they’re resting in their dormant season. For most trees, winter is the best time because this allows trees the needed time to heal before they can grow and bloom again. Lucky for us, there’s a big window for pruning. You must always be careful when pruning trees and be knowledgeable in the kind of trees you have as over-pruning or neglect, can harm the tree’s health, stability, and appearance.

If you’re thinking of pruning your tree DIY style, let’s take a step back and see why you should opt for an ISA arborist instead.

The main 3 perks are:

CARE – Arborists must continue their education to maintain their certification, ensuring they’re up to date on the latest techniques in arboriculture and adhere to a Code of Ethics. They have been trained to properly take care of trees and are fully knowledgeable. Only an arborist should be trusted to perform these services as they have the necessary skills, qualifications, insurance, and experience to do so accurately and safely.

SAFETY – ISA requires knowledge of national industry standards on safe tree work practices. Tree work can be dangerous, this is why a highly trained team performing your tree work is crucial to ensure the safety of your trees, your property, and your community.

EFFICIENCY – Cities often require that projects involving protected trees be overseen or worked on by ISA Certified Arborists to ensure the accuracy of the work and wellbeing of your trees. This can save you the hassle of working with multiple contractors and trying to navigate permits on your own.

Here on the right, we have some trees that were poorly pruned.

Pruning helps shape the tree and helps them be healthier, it seems that overall these trees were cut just to be cut rather than for the benefit of the trees.

Properly pruned trees are meant to be more appealing to the eye and have a clean polished look, improving your landscape and adding value to the property.

At All Terrain, our most important asset is our team meaning we invest in the growth and development of our team members. This is how we’ve grown the number of ISA Certified Arborists on our team. Did you know that to be eligible to apply for the ISA Certified Arborist exam, every candidate is required to have a minimum of 3 years of full-time experience in arboriculture or a combination of education and practical arboriculture experience? Lucky for us, our team is dedicated, knowledgeable, and fully-trained that to them this was an easy box to mark off as they were becoming certified arborists.

As a part of the lengthy application process, documentation of work experience is required, letters of reference from current or previous employers are acceptable. There are many steps and work required to become an ISA Certified Arborist but even with everything that is required, it further shows how dedicated everyone is to their professional development and that we have the right people on our team.

Our knowledgeable and certified team knows how to correctly prune your trees, knows how to care for their wellbeing, and can get them looking their best. For expert pruning in the FM area reach out to All Terrain. Not sure if your tree needs to be pruned? Give us a call, or message us and we can help.

To Prune or not to Prune? Prune, it is!

WINTER TO-DO LIST:

If you’re thinking of pruning your tree DIY style, let’s take a step back and see why you should opt for an ISA arborist instead.

The main 3 perks are: