Pruning
Pruning can be good and pruning can be bad. It depends on a number of factors. Proper pruning should start early in the trees life and should be done sparingly. It does say in Proverbs 22:6 that you should train up a tree in the way it should grow and it will not depart from it when it is old (unless a big ice storm comes along). I may be paraphrasing, but I remember it saying something like that.
Pruning to develop a good structure is a great thing to do. The tree will have that same basic structure for the rest of its life, which may be well beyond yours.
Improper pruning often lasts the life of the tree also, especially if severe. Topping a tree is a practice that will probably never go away, but neither does the effects. Over thinning may in many cases be just as deleterious, but may not take as many years to overcome.
Pruning is a large part of the work that Tree Loving Care does and it is most often done because of people reasons. Raising the canopy for clearance on roofs, drives walks and more light, side pruning and heading back to clear utilities and other objects are all valid reasons to prune.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed several standards for maintenance of trees that cover everything from transplanting to pruning to fertilization to safety. Tree Loving Care adheres to these standards.
Tree work is dangerous when everything is done right. Tree work from ladders, without proper knowledge and proper safety equipment can be downright scary. Our climbers regularly receive safety training and some compete in or judge the Texas Tree Climbing Championship.
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Tue Feb/12/2008