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All Signs Point to a Great Growing Season this Year.

Keep your Landscape Lush and Vibrant with These 5 Pruning Tips

That fickle Mother Nature and her inclement weather has been wreaking havoc on spring’s entrance into our dull and grey skies these past long, cold and rainy months. Yet, though we always bemoan late the arrival of our precious warm summers, we can mollify the loss of our pools and barbeques with the fact that the dark winter days are entirely beneficial to the health and beauty of our communities’ spring trees. A long winter allows for trees to stay dormant longer, and our Canadian trees prefer it this way. Why? Because the longer they sleep, the more time the frost, sleet, rain and cold has to kill off those pesky insects that cause harm and damage. Once the decree of the warming sun permits the snow and ice to melt, our trees come out of their dormant state vibrant, healthy and ready to bloom.

If you’re the type to stop and smell the roses, take a second to look up towards the tree canopies lining your neighborhood block and you’ll notice that you can already see the branches are thicker and lusher than they have been in the past several years. All of our recent rainy days in the GTA are a good indication that this year should be a great growing season. So as it seems that Mother Nature may not exactly be on our side with all her chilly days and downpours, she is actually doing her part to help our trees grow strong and green. We can all do our parts to keep our landscapes flourishing, and pruning is a very effective method. Here are a few pruning tips to keep in mind when tending to your trees and shrubs that have gotten too thick:

  1. Prune young trees as little as possible. Any pruning ultimately slows growth.
  2. Cut away water sprouts and root sprouts.   Water sprouts first originate in the branches and root sprouts at the base of the tree; these shoots soak up the plant’s energy, look unattractive, and bear few or no flowers or fruits.
  3. For bushes and shrubs, tailor how much you prune any bush to its growth habit, and remove some older stems every year to make way for new ones.
  4. Wait to prune spring flowering bushes until right after their blossoms fade or else you will be removing some of the flower buds soon to unfold.
  5. Whether it is a tree, bush or shrub, cut all dead and diseased stems back to healthy wood. Also prune back broken stems.

One of the biggest tips to remember is to always use a qualified arborist for big pruning jobs and other tree and shrub related maintenance work. If you’re looking for tree services or tree removal services in the GTA, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free inspection and quote!