Straight, proud and grandiose, trees play a crucial role in maintaining our ecosystem. But even though their amplitude gives them certain nobility, these green giants still require regular maintenance.
As we all know, trees in urban areas can pose a risk to many objects, such as power lines, buildings, cars, etc. To reduce accidents and protect the health of your trees, there are several types of cuts, including pruning, tree reduction and thinning. But what is the difference between these processes? This question deserves an informed and thorough answer.
But what is pruning?
As specified by the Société internationale d’arboriculture Québec inc., pruning is defined as a technique that consists of trimming, reducing or cutting out branches, twigs, shoots and roots in order to improve the tree’s structure and protect surrounding structures.
Pruning a tree promotes better vegetation and fruit production for fruit trees while improving the aesthetics and overall health of the tree. But even though pruning brings many benefits, you still have to respect a golden rule that goes like this: “if there is not enough reason for pruning, don’t do it”.
Pruning: a professional practice?
At first glance, pruning a tree may seem simple and easy. But make no mistake! This technique requires the know-how of technicians with proven skills, for many reasons.
As a first step, a professional pruner will always carefully examine your tree to determine what kind of pruning is required to ensure its optimal growth. Although this step may seem superfluous, it is important to know that making bad cuts will greatly alter the vitality of your tree. Finally, a professional arboriculturist has all the necessary equipment to work safely at heights.
Types of pruning
Did you know that there are many types of pruning? Well, yes! Whether for safety, aesthetics or to reinforce the structure of your tree, pruning is used in many situations. It can be used for complete tree restoration- that is, we remove up to 20% of a tree’s biomass in order to increase its resistance – as well as to ensure the safety of people or buildings.
You wish to have more light in your kitchen or on your terrace? Thinning cuts in pruning is a common practice that consists of removing some of the dead, diseased or broken branches in order to promote better light penetration. Your tree displays a structure worthy of Dali’s greatest masterpieces? No problem!
To solve this problem and restore a straight and strong structure to your tree, branch restructuring is the proper technique! Don’t prune yourself as this may damage your trees. Entrust them to a certified arborist who will offer you solutions adapted to your needs.
Tree topping or thinning: a different type of pruning
Too often confused with pruning, crown or size reduction is in fact a technique that complements pruning. This technique is mainly used to lower a tree, shrink the sides in proportion to the required height, cut off dead and/or broken branches and clear the infrastructure. If many people want their trees to be topped, it is important to know that the lower the tree’s crown is reduced, the more it is damaged.
Normally, pruning should only be used to cut branches and new shoots. You should know that topping your tree will have the effect of stimulating regrowth, which will require pruning in the future and considerably shorten its life expectancy. For this reason, crown reduction should only be carried out in specific cases.
So, whether it’s for a pruning or tree topping, do business with specialists in the field such as Émondage SBP. That way, you’ll be sure to have quality work that will promote the growth of your trees.
