A Message from the Owner
As I debated with myself about my first blog post, I was torn between many styles. I don’t want to preach nor do I wish to be vague. I decided to try to help as I do when I am on site and with a new or an existing customer.
Your trees are valuable. They provide cooling shade and beauty in your environment. They also add greatly to the value of your property. But these same trees can be very expensive if not properly maintained. It is imperative that your trees and shrubs be correctly pruned, and proper maintenance such as fertilizing and pest treatment are recommended.
Our goal at Affordable Tree Care is to help each potential client with the conditions that are present in their yards. Sometimes this is bad news, oftentimes it is helpful information. Our goal is to evaluate the health of the trees and then make recommendations. But foremost, we wish to teach the benefits of proper pruning techniques and the effects of poor practices.
Topping trees is a very bad practice. Yes, orchards do this every year. The reason is to be able to pick the fruit. But it is every year and the trees have a planned life cycle. In your yard, that is not the case. Topping opens your trees to insects and disease. The new growth is basically sucker growth, with weak attachments that will eventually become brittle and dangerous.
Another tree trimming practice that we are seeing much more often in the valley is called lion-tailing. Many people are asking for their trees to look like the one down the street, the one where you can see the truck and branch structure two thirds of the way up. No matter what time of year this is done, it is bad for the tree. In the fall, it removes the leaves that are providing the sugars to the roots to allow the tree to become dormant thru the winter and grow strong in the spring. In the spring and summer, it weakens the tree, allowing the top to catch all the wind, whipping the limbs and causing more breakage.
If you give us a chance, we would truly appreciate the chance to help evaluate your property and provide advice on proper maintenance.
Tom Hoffmann
