"Minimizing Your Footprint, Enhancing Your Performance"

 
Tree pruning is an important process to perform on trees for a variety of reasons. At its most basic level, pruning trees involves removing damaged, dead or structurally weak limbs, which improves a tree’s health and reduces the chance of damage to people and property caused by falling limbs. More advanced pruning methods aid in improving trees structure and long-term health.

Both healthy trees and trees with structural defects can benefit from various pruning techniques such as crown raising, thinning, cleaning and reduction. Crown cleaning is a type of selective pruning technique done to reduce the risk of falling branches as well as reduce the movement of decay, insects and diseases from dead or dying branches into the rest of the tree.

Thinning dense crowns helps reduce wind resistance and possible storm damage, while raising of crowns provides clearance for pedestrians and increases penetration of light to promote healthy understory growth. In some instances, reduction of branch length can improve tree form and compensate for structural weaknesses.

Tree pruning is important throughout a multitude of stages in a tree's lifecycle. Properly timed pruning can be useful in increasing a tree’s resistance to pests and diseases. Conversely, improper pruning methods can cause irreparable damage to trees and cause wounds that improperly heal. This increases susceptibility to infection from insects and diseases.

At EC Consulting we offer tree pruning training that is designed to help you evaluate the condition of trees and determine appropriate pruning techniques to manage plant health and safety. We demonstrate how to make proper, clean pruning cuts that prune branches at the right locations to minimize damage and allow the greatest potential for wound healing. We also detail various pruning methods that increase tree health, longevity, and aesthetics. After teaching about different pruning methods we will take you out into the field to practice tree pruning and get a feel for the various techniques. Our training provides instruction on the ANSI A300 Best Management Practices (BMP) for tree pruning as well as provides International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) CEU credits. Our tree pruning course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to make you a confident an informed tree pruner.