Why You Should Consult an Arborist for Tree Pruning

As trees start to regain their color throughout the spring season, spotting dead trees gets easier. Often times, when a homeowner sees a tree with no leaves in their yard this time of year, they’ll try to salvage the tree with a DIY pruning job. Upfront, this might seem like a money-saving effort to save a tree; however, attempting to prune a tree could be costly for anyone who is inexperienced and untrained to do so. Today, let’s explore the dangers of DIY tree pruning and why it should be left to the professionals.

A Seemingly Simple and Safe Job: Tree Pruning

Being a homeowner means you need to be somewhat handy. Installing a ceiling fan, applying touchup paint and cleaning out the gutters are just a few maintenance and upkeep chores that are involved in owning a home. The one task on the honey-do list we at Northside Tree Professionals do not advise you attempt is tree pruning.

Why is Tree Pruning Necessary?

There are two main reasons to get your tree pruned:

1. Dead or Diseased Branches

Tree pruning is a necessary task because it could remove potentially hazardous branches that, when dead, could fall and damage property – either yours or your neighbor’s.

2. Overcrowding

When branches grow closely together, this could reduce the tree’s air circulation. Crossing and rubbing branches should be removed.

Equipment and Experience Required for Tree Pruning

An arborist will arrive at a tree pruning job with the proper equipment that won’t damage the tree in any way. In addition to the correct tools that arborists use to professionally prune trees, experts use safe accessibility tools to reach higher areas of a tree. All of this is to reduce the risk of injury and improve the health of your tree.

Through training and experience, arborists know which tool to use when and for what purpose. Using the wrong equipment could damage the tree further. An arborist’s training and experience will allow them to identify which branch needs to be pruned and what should stay. Guessing could be damaging to the tree, which would make the entire process counterintuitive.

Using the wrong access equipment, especially for a non-professional, can make the job more difficult and much more dangerous. Also, if not using the correct access equipment, the job could be done poorly, which could end up damaging the tree further.

What Could Go Wrong?

When dealing with trees, something is bound to come up to make the job more dangerous or difficult for a DIYer. Below are just a few examples of the dangers of what could go wrong if a non-professional attempts to prune a tree.

1. Wildlife

As it’s the nature of the business, arborists sometimes encounter critters and insects when performing tree pruning jobs. Jobs that involve wildlife need to be handled by a trained arborist to properly approach and execute the task when critters or insects are present. Also, an untrained DIYer could react in a way that could result in falling when at such heights.

2. Property Damage

Pruning a tree near your or a neighbor’s property can be damaging. Removing branches with no training will cause branches to land out of your control – potentially onto someone’s property. To keep your property safe, DIY tree pruning is never advised.

3. Traffic

Sometimes, a tree is near or over a road. Pruning a tree in these areas should be attempted only by professionals because this could directly put drivers and pedestrians in danger. Nothing is worth risking someone’s life, especially a few branches. This is another reason why only an arborist should attempt tree trimming jobs.

4. Other Dangers

As they normally don’t spend time at that height, non-professionals might not know what other dangers come with tree trimming. Sometimes, tree pruning is necessary to keep branches from becoming public hazards. This could be because the branches are touching wires or interfering with a home’s gutters. An untrained person will put themselves in danger when dealing with the unsafe situations tree pruning can pose at that height.

Call Northside Tree Professionals, Your Local Tree Pruning Experts

At Northside Tree Professionals, we are dedicated to helping you with your tree pruning needs. We are the trusted tree service in the Metro Atlanta, and our team of trained and experienced arborist is ready to lend a hand. Contact Northside Tree Professionals today for Atlanta’s top tree services company or call us at (770) 394-0905.