The structural foundation of your landscape is your trees. Making arbor care and tree pruning should be a top priority to keeping your entire landscape looking amazing. The time is now to set up the foundation for your landscape goals.

Reasons Tree Pruning Matters: There are three general reasons that make tree pruning tops on the list of tasks for the savvy landscaper including aesthetics, safety and tree care.

• Aesthetics – Pruning a tree effectively helps to maintain its shape and appearance supporting a tidy and structured look for your garden.
• Safety – Dead or broken branches and limbs can create a multitude of dangers in your garden. They can fall unexpectedly, obstruct your vision while driving or impact power lines if they get too close. (Of course, in South Florida, we will be especially impacted by our un-trimmed trees during Hurricane Season.)
• Tree health – Your tree’s overall health can be positively impacted by strategically pruning away infected branches and limbs. Also, proper structure builds stronger branch attachments!

Trimming vs. Pruning: Tree pruning and tree trimming are not interchangeable terms. Here’s what you need to know: Pruning is performed to provide a specific outcome for health and growth depending on the individual need while trimming is done to provide a uniform look to a grouping of trees or shrubs for appearance reasons.

Three common tree pruning mistakes to avoid: Tree pruning mishaps are common. These three tree trimming mistakes are most common:

• Cutting the branches too close to the trunk. Branches have natural defense zones and your tree might not be able to heal if you cut the branches too hard.
• Topping/Heading cuts. If branch stubs are left, it may create a decay point or new sprouts with poor attachment to the branch. This could lead to a future hazard.

• Not making relief cuts in the tree. A relief cut must be made in the branch as you remove the weight of the limb to prevent having the branch split off and damage the bark.

Benefits of pruning trees: Pruning the trees in your landscape can protect your property and help your trees thrive by removing dead, dying, diseased, crowded or weak limbs.

Getting your tree pruning timing right: Tree pruning timing can be essential to the health of your trees. For example, trees that have just leafed out in spring could be weakened by pruning too early. A better bet is to prune now (dormant season) in January or during late summer to reduce the natural damage response.

When trimming for structure and form, wait until fall when the leaves are gone, and branches can be seen and accessed easily. It’s almost always best to prune a tree during its dormant season. Specific types of trees, bushes, and shrubs may have special trimming requirements, and your expert landscaping service provider will be able to advise you on timing to fit your unique needs.

As you enter into a new year, it’s always a good idea to set goals and set your personal and business life for success. The same can be said for your landscaping plans which starts with arbor care.

Nanak’s Landscaping has been the go-to landscaping service provider for all of South Florida since 1976. For your arbor care and landscape service needs, you can count on the expertise of Nanak’s Landscaping to keep the foundation of your landscape thriving throughout 2019 and for years to come.

SOUTH FLORIDA LANDSCAPE FACT: Did you know the next time to prune is in January and February?

ABOUT NANAK’S | Nanak’s Landscaping is one of South Florida’s largest independently-owned, full-service grounds maintenance and large-scale landscape installation companies. With a complete range of services, the company caters to the needs of residential developments, office and industrial parks, shopping centers, hotels and resorts as well as apartment complexes in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.