Aside from flowering plants and greenery shrubs, most garden owners wish to have trees in their outdoors. Trees can add privacy, security, and value to one’s property. Also, tall and mature trees can provide shade and fresh air, particularly essential during the hottest months.
Just like how you take care of other plants, your trees require proper maintenance to keep them strong and healthy, especially during extreme weather conditions. Aside from nutrient-rich soil, water, sunlight, and fertilisers, they need proper trimming to avoid pest infestations and diseases.
However, the trimming process involves a lot of considerations. And since some trees even grow up to 60m tall, they can become a liability. Maintaining massive and lofty trees requires complicated trimming techniques and treatments.
So, are you wondering how to trim those really big trees? Here is Trees Down Under’s detailed guide:
Planning
Trimming is not only limited to reducing the thickness of the trees’ foliage, but it also involves removing unwanted, dead, and diseased branches. These tasks need a professional’s touch, and some even require necessary permits from the local council.
Moreover, working with massive branches and towering trees are dangerous. Without careful planning, dangers, such as falling branches, can damage your property or cost someone’s life. Thus, connecting to expert arborists is the best course of action to take.
Prepare Appropriate Tools
Using the appropriate tools is essential to prevent causing damages to your lawn trees. In fact, incompatible and defective apparatus can cause tree wounds that may soon invite pests and diseases into the trees’ systems. Furthermore, people who need to work with falling branches require personal protective equipment (PPE).
Here are some of the tools and PPEs used to trim leaves and branches:
- Pruning shears – to cut small twigs with a maximum diameter of 2.5cm.
- Lopper – has longer handle and sturdier blade to cut branches with a maximum diameter of 5cm.
- Pole pruner – extends up to 45m to reach and cut branches with a maximum diameter of 5cm.
- Saw – attached to pruners to cut branches with a much larger diameter.
- Ladder – to reach high trees.
- Helmet – to protect the head from falling objects.
- Gloves – to allow better grip on tools and avoid hand cuts.
- Eye gear – to prevent tree debris from entering the eyes.
Note that depending on how complicated the task is, you need to get help from professionals to avoid mishaps caused by these tools.
Clipping Leaves
Through time, leaves will grow thick, especially evergreens which never lose their foliage during the winter season. Bulky and packed leaves are unattractive for your garden. So if it happens, you need to consider clipping them right away.
Here are the things to consider and do in clipping those leaves:
- Depending on your preference, decide if the thickness of the foliage is right.
- Check for discoloured leaves and pests. If present, remove garden pests or cut the leaves when they fully turn yellow or brown.
- Cut as close to the stem as possible. Use the right shears depending on the required reach and diameter.
- Avoid cutting more than a quarter of the overall foliage.
- Trim trees during early spring since they can get more sunlight and are actively growing.
On the other hand, some garden owners want their trees to turn into a topiary, which forms the foliage to a desired geometrical shape. You can only achieve this with the professional techniques of tree service providers like Trees Down Under.
Trimming Large Tree Branches
Again, trimming large tree branches is a falling hazard. Depending on how large the project is, you need to hire professional arborists to finish the tasks without faults and accidents. Also, based on local council regulations, they are the only ones capable of conducting tree works.
Dealing with large branches needs extra care and effort. Once the bark gets damaged, it can interfere with the tree’s natural healing response. And as some experienced individuals would say, doing it right is more difficult than doing it wrong.
Here are some of the techniques arborists do to trim those unwanted, infested, or diseased branches, safely:
- Cut # 1: Notch Cut
From about 60-90cm of the trunk, cut a small notch approximately a quarter of the diameter. The notch cut will prevent the bark from splitting after making the next cut.
- Cut # 2: Relief Cut
About 30cm from the branch collar, make a relief cut all the way through. It will remove the weight and prevent the branch from splitting and falling during the final cut.
- Cut # 3: Final Cut
Locate the swollen bump that transitions the smooth branch bark and the branch collar. Then use a saw to follow the slant of the branch collar. If the tool cannot penetrate the crotch at the right angle, cut it from the bottom up.
Best Team of Arborists in Sydney
Maintaining the health and well-being of trees requires more effort than flowering plants and shrubs. As they grow taller and produce thicker foliage, trimming them is not as easy as it sounds.
Trimming really big trees need professional arborists. Luckily, Trees Down Under is available to bring the best tree services in Sydney. Our team of arborists will undoubtedly come to your aid wherever you are in Sydney.
For years, we have trained and studied to provide unrivalled and efficient tree services. Moreover, we have the right equipments and gears to prevent accidents.
For excellent, fast, and affordable tree services in Sydney, don’t hesitate to call us at 0475 463 597.
