February 14, 2012 @ 2:53 PM

If you take the time to have your shade trees pruned while they are young, they will grow into magnificent specimens in the years to come.

Pruning at Planting.

If the shade tree has just been planted, the service should have taken care of removing any broken branches at the time of installation. If not, do remove broken branches yourself, and remove any branch that is competing with the lead branch. Prune it to the trunk. Most newly planted trees are small enough where this can be done without hiring a service.

Pruning at 3-4 years from planting.

By now the root growth should be well on its way.  A reliable tree pruning service will cut off root suckers at the base of the tree, and cut off sprouts from the crown that are obviously not going to be good branches in the future. Tree trimming cost will be minimal.

Pruning at  5-7 years after planting.

This is the age where pruning makes the dramatic transformation for the tree, and it is worthwhile to hire a reliable tree pruning service to make sure it is done right.  The tree is now old enough – and tall enough – that the lower limbs are ready to be pruned to make clearance for people to be able to walk underneath. Be aware of an important fact: at this stage branches no longer move upward as a tree grows taller. If a branch grows from the trunk 6 feet from the ground, it will remain at that height from the ground forevermore.   So if you want your shade tree to accommodate a six-foot person underneath, so have the tree pruning service prune away branches up to that height. Also, feel free to  have the tree trimmer prune back branches higher up if they are protruding awkwardly and mar the aesthetic shape of the tree. With this professionally done, in a few more years this tree will be magnificent. Here again, cost will be low, and likely the tree pruning Houston service will provide a tree trimming cost quote that will cover multiple trees on the property, if there is more than one tree needing to be trimmed. Depending on what you need, tree trimming cost can be as low as $100.

Pruning 15 years after planting.

If you have had your tree pruned properly up to this point, there is not much you will have to do now. Any pruning you do at this point is to remove dead and damaged limbs, keeping it thinned to allow for effective air and light to the interior branches, and to have the preferred shape.

Most importantly, make sure that you havce your trees trimmed by a certified arborist. There are many tree trimmer outfits around that will quote low prices, but are by no means educated on proper tree care, and they are likely to destroy your tree for the cheap price they quote. So at the end of the day, the tree trimming cost should play second to making sure you use a good tree trimming service.