With 11 months of warm weather and plenty of sunshine to stimulate growth, residents in Palm Harbor, Florida, have an abundance of trees to trim at any time of the year. Unfortunately, many homeowners either don’t trim their trees at all or do so at the wrong time of the year. Here are possible reasons you might trim your trees, whether it’s a palm or a crepe myrtle, and other tips for tree care.

Possible Reasons for Tree Trimming

When deciding whether you should trim your crepe myrtle or other yard trees, make sure that the reason for doing so falls into one of the following three categories. Otherwise, you may be needlessly trimming your trees and harming them.

• Safety. Branches that are either dead or broken can fall at any time, posing a safety risk to anyone in your backyard. Any trees growing near utility lines should also be trimmed.
• Health. Trimming your trees is healthy, whether you’re trying to save an infected tree or improving the airflow in another. With proper technique, your tree trimming can make a major difference.
• Aesthetics. Trimming your trees carefully helps them maintain their shape and appearance. Remember though, trimming too much can inhibit natural growth and cause serious damage.

Tips for Tree Trimming and Tree Care

When trimming a tree, make sure to do so in its dormant season – unless it poses a risk to your immediate safety. For example, when pruning a crepe myrtle, you’ll want to do so in late winter or early spring before new growth starts since it blooms on new wood. When trimming a crepe myrtle or any other tree in your backyard, follow these tips.

• Only trim weak branches that have V-shaped and narrow angles.
• Remove lateral branches that aren’t between one-half and three-quarters of the diameter at the point of attachment.
• Always angle your cut down outside the branch bark ridge and away from the stem
• For long branches and stems, use the three-cut technique.
• Remember that the ratio of a living crown to tree height should be about two-thirds.
• Clip aged flowers to promote a healthier bloom during grow season

Special tip for trimming crepe myrtles: Never cut your crepe myrtles down to look like stubs in the spring. If you do this, you’ll ruin the tree’s natural form and promote the growth of weak, leggy branches. Instead, use hand pruners to shorten the branches at the top by just a few feet.

For more information about trimming your trees and maintaining your backyard through the ‘winter’ time, check out our services page or contact us at (727) 478-2864.