Tree Care New Braunfels TX is the application of arboricultural methods in built environments like road verges and city parks. It’s a dangerous job that requires trained professionals to perform properly and safely.

Be wary of any professional that advertises “topping” as a service; this practice harms trees and makes them more susceptible to failure in storms.

Pruning is the practice of trimming a tree or shrub. It can have many benefits, including increasing airflow and removing dead or diseased branches. It can also help prevent damage to property or people caused by limbs that fall during storms. Pruning can also help maintain the shape and form of a tree or shrub and give it a polished look.

Proper pruning can help keep a tree healthy by reducing the number of limbs that are too close to power lines, buildings or structures, and it can reduce the likelihood of damage to the tree from excessive weight from hanging limbs or poorly-formed roots. It can also help the tree ward off diseases by allowing sunlight to reach lower branches and the ground beneath it, which will promote growth and health.

It can improve the appearance of a landscape by removing unsightly or unhealthy limbs and enhancing the view from sidewalks, streets or patios. It can also prevent limbs from interfering with traffic or pedestrians by creating headroom around them. Pruning can also ensure that people can easily read street signs by removing the limbs that cover them.

Different goals for your trees call for different methods of pruning. Thinning removes specific live limbs to reduce the density of a canopy, which increases sunlight penetration and air circulation, and it can help relieve stress on selected limbs from weight, gravity, wind or ice. Raising focuses on trimming low-hanging limbs to create space for pedestrians, cars and entryways. It’s also common to shape young trees by locating and retaining the straightest, strongest leader stems and removing lateral branches that can compete with them. Topping is a drastic reduction of the volume of a tree, usually done to train it to grow in certain ways.

For ornamental trees and shrubs, prune during winter or early spring before they start growing new buds. This will eliminate the risk of them bleeding sap when pruned too hard, and it allows flowers and fruit to develop on wood that was produced that year. Some trees and shrubs—such as azalea, rhododendron, flowering plum, magnolia, forsythia, lilac, and rose-of-Sharon—should be pruned immediately after they finish blooming to remove spent blossoms and encourage repeat blooming.

Trimming

Whether trees add value to your property as beautiful additions or protect the structures and people in your yard from storm damage, their health is crucial to the surrounding environment. Proper trimming can keep your trees healthy and prevent damage to buildings, people and the trees themselves. Tree trimming is a form of maintenance that removes dead or diseased branches and thins out crowded or overgrown areas so new growth can occur. It also promotes plant health, encourages fruiting and flowering and shapes the plant for specific uses.

Trimming is different from pruning, and the two procedures are performed for a variety of reasons. While many think that pruning and trimming are the same thing, each serves a very distinct purpose.

While pruning is done primarily for plant health and safety, trimming can be used to enhance the appearance of a plant or give it a shape that will fit with your landscaping plans. Pruning and trimming can be performed on most types of plants, but it is more common for deciduous trees and shrubs than evergreens.

A good pruning plan will include both crown thinning and raising, which involves cutting back leaders and branch terminals to reduce the size of a tree’s canopy. It will also include heading cuts, which are the removal of growth buds at the ends of branches. Heading cuts are most effective when made on young trees and help to avoid the formation of water sprouts, which can weaken wood and steal nutrients from other branches.

Other important functions of pruning include removing diseased or insect-infested limbs, reducing the number of competing leaders, establishing one dominant leader and removing suckers and water sprouts. It will also help to open the canopy of a tree for sunlight penetration and air circulation, which helps improve the overall health and aesthetics of the property.

It is best to perform pruning and trimming in the late fall or winter, when the trees are dormant. This will help to minimize stress on the tree and will ensure that the wounds from pruning heal properly. Pruning should be completed by a trained and certified arborist to avoid any damage to the plants or the surrounding property.

Removal

When a tree has become so damaged that its health is compromised or it is posing a threat to property, people, or power lines, the best course of action may be to have it removed. This is usually a last resort and is performed by professional arborists using advanced techniques and equipment.

While it is not uncommon to see people try to remove trees themselves, it is always a risky endeavor and should be left to professionals who have the proper insurance to cover any damages or injuries that may occur. The safety of both the person performing the work and anyone who may be nearby is of the utmost importance and should never be sacrificed for a small savings in cost.

Some common services provided by professional tree service companies include crown thinning, which involves removing smaller branches from the top of the canopy to reduce the weight of the foliage and allow for more light and air to pass through. Dead pruning is another common service that removes dead twigs, branches and growth from a tree to promote its overall health and appearance. If a tree is located in a tight space and cannot be moved, the service will use specialized machinery to safely and effectively fell the tree and remove it from its location.

In addition to the actual removal of a tree, professionals can also offer other important services that can help maintain a healthy landscape. Stump grinding is the process of shaving or cutting down a stump to ground level and can be done either manually with hand tools or with a machine that uses spinning blades to chew up the stump until it is completely below soil level. Many of these machines can also be used to grind up larger roots and ground stumps to prevent their regrowth or to prepare land for new landscaping projects.

Before hiring a tree removal service, it is important to make sure that there is plenty of space available for them to park their trucks and wood chipping machines. This will help to ensure that they can get to your tree quickly and efficiently and minimize any potential damage or cleanup required on your property.

Storm Damage

Storm damage can wreak havoc on even the most well-maintained landscape. Trees are particularly vulnerable to severe weather because of their size and natural imperfections. For example, trees with weakened roots are more likely to uproot or split from wind-driven forces, and branches that have been cut or damaged may fail when the next strong gust hits.

After a major storm, landowners often rush to get their properties cleared of downed branches and leaves. However, it is important to assess the extent of damage before paying for immediate cleanup and service. Getting too caught up in making repairs after the fact can actually make the situation worse.

For example, pruning a damaged tree before it has completely healed can expose the interior to moisture and insects and cause further damage when the next big storm rolls through. It is also a common mistake to cut too many stubs when removing broken limbs from trees, especially if they are close to the ground. A properly trained and certified arborist will remove stubs in ways that will help the tree recover and prevent future breakage from winds.

Some species of trees are naturally more prone to damage from storms, such as Chinese elm, silver maple, boxelder, and Bradford pear. This makes them a poor choice for planting near buildings or utility lines. It is still possible to reduce the risk of these species by planting in suitable locations and proper structural pruning, bracing, or cabling.

Once a property has been cleaned up from the effects of a storm, it’s time to look at the bigger picture. A good rule of thumb is that a healthy, mature tree that was not impacted by the storm will be able to recover from most minor damage such as broken limbs and trunk damage.

However, if a tree has extensive damage and is at high risk of failure, it should be removed as soon as possible. This includes a tree with a crotch-rotted trunk, cracks or splits in the trunk or major limbs, mushroom growth on the bark, a hollow inner core, and structural weakness from improper branching patterns.