Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on WHAV.
Stop – don’t top that tree. Instead, make sure it is properly pruned for years of health, beauty, and enjoyment in your landscape.
Many gardeners top trees to drastically reduce their size. They worry that trees are too big for their property, are a hazard, or just too big to support themselves. Topping, indiscriminately removes large branches and as much as 50 to 100% of the leaves, making it the most harmful tree pruning practice. Instead of fixing the problem it actually creates hazardous, ugly trees and increases your tree care costs.
A certified arborist can help you reduce large trees and eliminate hazards when needed. They’ll remove diseased, damaged and dead branches to reduce hazards. Then they can reduce the tree size by removing larger branches to an adjoining shorter branch.
This improves the tree’s health and preserves its natural form and structure.
A bit more information: Hazardous trees and those that have greatly outgrown their location may need to be removed. Be sure to replace it with a tree suited to the available space and growing conditions. For more information on tree care and to find a certified arborist visit Trees are Good.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com.