During winter, your trees enter a dormant state awaiting the warmer weather to come in the Spring. When it’s winter, many homeowners don’t prune their trees because it is a common viewpoint that this is unsafe. However, this is untrue. The answer to can I prune my trees in the winter is yes. In fact, doing so has many advantages. Here is a brief overview of why winter pruning is a good idea.
Reasons To Prune Your Trees In The Winter
What happens if you prune in winter? Often the end result is more beautiful and heather trees.
- The Job Is Easier: In the winter, your trees are free of leaves which makes checking their structure and overall health far easier. A trained arborist can easily detect dangerous or dead branches that need pruning in the winter. This keeps the trees on your property healthier and looking better.
- It Pays Off in the Spring: Another advantage of winter pruning is that it prepares your trees and shrubs for the coming Spring. With all the needed pruning done in advance, your trees will quickly recover come the Spring growth season. This also improves your property’s appearance, as you don’t have to wait for your trees to grow back after pruning.
- Winter Pruning Can Prevent the Spreading of Disease: When pruning during the warmer parts of the year, you risk spreading common ailments such as oak wilt, fire blight, and Dutch elm disease among your trees. During winter, the causes of these many tree ailments are either dormant or dead, making the odds of accidental disease transference due to pruning far lower.
- Less Stress for Your Trees: Due to trees being dormant in the winter, any pruning does not stimulate new growth. Because of this, your trees have more time to recover from the cutting and be better prepared for new growth and protection from incests and pathogens once the weather becomes warmer.
- It Can Be More Efficient: An added bonus of the colder weather is that the ground is harder. This makes moving and transporting the heavy equipment used in tree pruning far less difficult. It also prevents damage to your landscaping, as the frozen ground is much harder to penetrate.
As the above shows, there are many advantages to having your trees pruned in the winter. Due to the colder weather, your trees are easier to prune and also have the added benefit of being able to recover during a part of the year when natural hazards are less abundant.