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Green Acres Landscaping Resource Center

Should I Prune My Trees?

One of the greatest beauty enhancers of any landscape is the addition of shrubs and trees. If you're fortunate to already have a nice compliment of trees on your property, it's important that you take proper care of them. There are a great many varieties of tress found in Arlington and Northern Virginia (NOVA) and tree pruning does provide benefits to trees. Some of those benefits include:

• Pruning can keep a tree from incurring a lot of damage if high fall winds found in and around area's near the Potomac River and the Washington DC area in general.
• Keeping a tree pruned keeps the tree looking nice.
• Pruning allows you to canopy and uniform the tree, which will make it look very nice.
• Pruning trees will also keep the trees from growing out in a not so uniform way.
• When you prune there will be pieces of the tree outgrowing the rest of the tree. A few touch-ups will take care of that problem.
• Often times a trees will have a tendency to grow too long on one side. When they do this, is necessary to prune in order to make the tree look odd.

When a tree grows more on one side than the other, it looks rather strange. In addition this should not be allowed to remain because the tree can become too heavy on one side. Being to heavy on one side causes the limbs of a tree to become too heavy and snap. Should this occur it could expose the tree to fungi and disease.

When to Prune Trees

• The best time to prune trees found in Arlington, VA, Great Falls Virginia and other areas in NOVA are during the dormant season, because it minimizes the sap and resin flow from cut branches.
• If your have hardwood trees and shrubs without showy flowers: prune in the dormant season to easily visualize the structure of the tree, to maximize wound closure in the growing season after pruning, to reduce the chance of transmitting disease, and to discourage excessive sap flow from wounds

• You should always keep in mind that a wound or cut into a tree will cause the tree to emit chemical scents and the scents that are emitted can actually attract insects that spread tree disease. For example at one time one of the most common trees to be found in Falls Church, VA and in particular Washington DC the American Elm is known to attract bark beetles that harbor spores of the Dutch elm disease fungus, and open wounds on oaks are known to attract beetles that spread the oak wilt fungus.
• Make certain that you prune these trees during the correct time of year. Usually, the best time is during the late fall and winter.

If your uncertain of when to prune your trees or don't have the time or necessary tools you should consider contacting a specialist. Schedule a time to speak to one of the landscape specialists at Green Acres.

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Green Acres Landscaping is a full service landscape design company, serving both residential and commercial clients in the Northern Virginia area since 1992. Our experienced team is ready to help you with any landscaping project, large or small.

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