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Green Acres Landscaping Resource Center

The Basics of Pruning Shade Trees

Gardeners throughout Northern Virginia, in areas like Annandale, VA, Burke, VA and McLean, VA often struggle and dread the idea of pruning their trees, simply because it can be overwhelming. One snip too many and your tree may not produce the shade as normal, and one snip too few and you could have just skipped the hassle altogether. Use these guidelines for pruning your shade trees and you can say goodbye to some of the worry and struggle.

Pruning shade trees does not have to be a difficult task, and is essential in preventing your trees from becoming too large, weak and injured to flourish. The process of pruning shade trees also serves as a way to train young shade trees, while assisting in the development of strong, healthy trees in the future. Make the pruning and training process easier by choosing trees with a straight trunk and balanced branches from the nursery.

Examine the young shade trees on your Mount Vernon, VA property and assess the condition of the branches. Identify those that are weak, dead, dying, or rubbing each other and start your shade tree pruning with those. Branches should grow at approximately a 45-degree angle to produce the strongest trunk and branch as they grow and get larger.

Now turn your focus to the older shade trees on your Vienna, VA property and look for those that have dead, diseased or dying branches. These will be the next focus of your shade tree pruning adventures. Shape the shade tree and remove branches that are crowded or rubbing together to prevent your shade tree from becoming lopsided or damaging other branches in the tree.

Always pay attention to the electrical lines near your trees, and when in doubt, do not prune those yourself. The added expense of calling in a professional tree trimmer to remove branches near power lines is well worth it — the danger is too great to risk yourself if you are untrained.

For more information on pruning shade trees on your Northern Virginia property, contact the landscaping professionals at Green Acres Landscaping and Masonry today.

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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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