Tips For Raising The Crown Of A Tree

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Do you have a tree where there are branches hanging low and getting in the way? You may be hitting your head as you walk under it, or have your car brush against the branches in your driveway. You'll want to know how to trim a tree to remove these low-hanging branches, and these tips will help you do it. Read more below about how you can trim your tree.

Determine The Ideal Height Of The Branches

The first thing you'll want to do is determine how much clearance you need underneath the tree. You don't want to end up in a situation where you over-prune your tree and end up removing too many branches. Look at where the low-hanging branches end up hanging down and look at which ones you need to remove to maintain enough clearance underneath them. This may be around 12 to 15 feet's worth of clearance in most situations. 

One thing to keep in mind is that you are going to be pruning the green portions of the tree and not the large branches. There are ways to prune a tree so that you are not losing an entire large branch just to give yourself some extra clearance.

Remove Branches at The Unions

Once you've identified what branches need to be removed, the next step is to start removing branches. The key to doing this is to remove branches at the unions of the branch. Use a wood saw and start cutting from underneath the branch. Then finish the cut by going through the top of the branch. If you go completely through the branch from the top, the weight of the branch is going to come down and rip the branch off the tree. This can take off more bark than what you would like to remove, which will cause the tree to become damaged. That initial cut will give the branch a part to break off from easily when the weight starts coming down to break off the branch. 

Monitor Your Progress As You Go

It's important to take a step back and look at the tree as you go. While you can't put back branches that you've already removed, you don't have to keep removing branches at the same height if you've removed too much. Is the tree looking good, or does the crown look a bit too high? If it's too high, remove more branches at a lower height so that the tree looks good.

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13 October 2021

Improving The Look Of Our Trees

After we moved into our house, we knew that something had to be done about our trees. The branches looked off-kilter, and we could tell that someone had pruned them incorrectly at one time or another. Unfortunately, we weren't really sure how to repair the damage. A family friend talked with us about hiring a professional tree trimmer, and so we called them the next day. The difference that they made was astounding. They removed dead branches, trimmed up the shape, and let more sunlight through. My blog is all about improving the look of your trees by hiring a professional.