5 Reasons to Prune your Trees & Shrubs

5 reasons to prune trees and hedges infographic

In the forest, trees and shrubs grow naturally and wildly. Some grow into majestic trees, or an occasional beautiful shrub, though many will succumb to nature and only the fittest will survive. There is a time and a place for natural plantings, left to grow on their own. But as much as we love the beauty of nature, when it comes to the limited space in our urban landscape, we cannot let trees become structurally unsound, a fire hazard, or grow over the roof of our house. Most homeowners usually want to enjoy flowers and fruit to their maximum benefit while maintaining an orderly, cleaner, safe landscape.

We can have safer, healthier, and more aesthetically pleasing landscape by pruning properly. Understanding why we prune and the goal is the first step in proper pruning. The most important concept to understand is that the plant has a certain amount of energy it extrudes for growth… If you cut a plant in one place, it will direct its energy to grow another place. Keeping this in mind and understanding the 5 basics of why we prune which are highlighted in the drawing will help direct you on your way to minimize time invested in pruning and a more aesthetically pleasing landscape.