Tree Pruning & Trimming
Tree pruning that keeps the tree
Deadwood out, weight off the roof, clearance from the house. Cut to the branch, never topped.
Most trees on a Northwest Florida lot do not need to come down. They need the dead wood cleared, the crowded limbs thinned, and the weight reduced on the side that hangs over the house, the driveway, or the power drop. That is pruning, and done right it makes a tree safer and longer-lived.
Every cut is made back to a healthy lateral branch or to the branch collar at the trunk, so the tree can close the wound. We do not top trees. Topping leaves stubs that decay and sprout weak, fast growth that fails in the next storm, and it is the one thing a tree company can do that makes a tree more dangerous, not less.
We also keep the amount we take in one visit sensible. Stripping a large share of a tree's live canopy at once stresses it, so on a big oak the work is planned around what the tree can lose now and what can wait.
What's included
- Dead, broken, and hanging limbs removed from the canopy
- Crown thinning where limbs cross, rub, or crowd each other
- Weight reduction on limbs over roofs, driveways, and structures
- Clearance from the house, the roofline, and the service drop
- Low limbs raised over lawns, walks, and driveways
- Every cut to a lateral branch or the branch collar, never a stub
- Limbs and brush hauled off the property
Questions about tree pruning & trimming
How much of the tree can you take off at once?
Less than people expect. Removing a large share of a tree's live canopy in one pruning stresses it and invites decay and weak regrowth, so on a mature tree the work is staged: what makes it safe now, and what can wait a season or two.
Why won't you top my tree? The last company did.
Because topping makes the tree worse. Cutting limbs to stubs leaves wounds the tree cannot close, the stubs rot, and the tree throws out a thicket of weakly attached shoots that grow back fast and break off easily. A tree that has already been topped can be worked back toward a sound structure over a few visits, and we will tell you honestly what is possible.
Can you prune a palm?
Yes, and the rule is to take only fronds that are dead or fully brown. The severe 'hurricane cut' that strips a palm to a few upright fronds weakens it and does not make it safer in a storm.
Do you haul the limbs away?
Yes. Pruning debris is chipped or loaded and hauled off as part of the job unless you ask us to leave it, for example if you want the chips for mulch.
Get a quote
Need tree pruning & trimming?
Call and describe the tree, or send the form with the service preselected. We work across Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.