When’s the Best Time of Year for Tree Crown Maintenance?

Atlanta tree requiring crown maintenance

Easing as we are into late winter, now marks an excellent time to pursue crown maintenance for many types of trees. The good news? In the Excel Tree Care team, you’ve got top Atlanta tree professionals ready to tackle the job with skill, expertise, and leave-no-trace workmanship!

Tree Crown Maintenance in Late Winter & Early Spring

This dormant period ahead of the flush of new growth in the spring is ideal for pruning and thinning many tree species and cultivars. For one thing, the injury to the tree involved in this kind of maintenance is lessened given the tree’s dormancy and winter-hardiness. There’s less chance of follow-up infestation or disease at the cutting sites.

Furthermore, when it comes to deciduous trees, arborists can get a better sense of the overall crown structure when they’re in naked leaflessness, resulting in a more precise and nuanced job. For the same reason, damaged or infected wood that ought to be removed is more visible this time of year. (Some of that damage may result from the rigors of winter weather, such as ice storms and high winds – another reason this is an advantageous time of year to pursue tree crown maintenance.) And pruning and thinning now can boost the vitality of the tree’s spring flush.

Late winter or early spring tree-crown maintenance is often not recommended for certain ornamental trees that bloom in early or mid-spring, such as flowering cherry and crabapple. Such trees are better pruned after they flower. But this time frame is ideal for pruning ornamental flowering trees that bloom after May – and for many other trees planted for general beauty, shade, habitat, or other purposes.

The Importance of Tree Crown Maintenance

tree expert in cherry picker performing tree crown maintenance

It’s essential to maintain tree crowns for the good of the tree and your property. A well-maintained canopy enhances your curb appeal and better confers the significant aesthetic benefits we glean, consciously or not, from trees.

An overgrown crown can subject a tree to more physiological stress and expose it to disease or infestation. Pruning a tree crown may also facilitate better clearance for people, vehicles, and power lines. It also removes damaged, diseased, or dead branches or subsidiary trunks that pose a real hazard to life and property (not least with spring thunderstorms and their strong gust fronts and outflow winds in the offing).

Excel Tree Care: Tree Crown Reduction, Thinning, Cleaning, and Sculpting in Atlanta

Tree crown maintenance is best left to the professionals: It can be dangerous work, first and foremost, and, when done improperly, can seriously injure a tree or permanently degrade its growth form.

Here at Excel Tree Care, we offer a comprehensive suite of tree crown maintenance services, including tree crown reduction, thinning, cleaning, and raising (when lower branches are removed to elevate the canopy). Based in Alpharetta, we serve customers all over Atlanta’s North Metro area—including with 24/7 emergency tree-care assistance.

Get in touch with us at (404) 964-6508 or contact us online today!