Tree maintenance made easier

By Fred Anderson Trees can serve many purposes in your landscape – sometimes several at the same time: background height and color, foreground ornamental accent, natural air conditioning, fresh fruit source, site of children’s tree house adventures. Regardless of the specific roles that trees play in your landscape, they all require some attention from time to time if you want to keep them in good health and looking their best. With our do-it-yourself expertise and equipment inventory, we can help you complete any tree-maintenance job successfully and safely. Pruning your tree. You may need to prune a tree to improve its shape, to remove branches that pose a potential danger to property or to remove dead, damaged or diseased branches. Whatever the reason, the tree likely will end up healthier for your efforts. Think of the tree as an intricate “plumbing” system that carries water and nutrients up from the roots through the trunk to each limb, branch, twig and leaf. When you make a cut, you stop the flow of nutrients to that point, redirecting it to where you want more growth. Where that growth will occur is determined by the tree’s buds. Each branch carries two kinds of buds – lateral buds and a terminal bud. The terminal bud grows at the tip of the stem, leading the branch’s growth up or out from the trunk. Cut it off, and the branch will grow in the direction of the nearest lateral bud. Similarly, prune off lateral buds and you’ll promote growth at the terminal bud. The best time of year to prune most species is late winter while the tree is still dormant. Without foliage, you can see every flaw that needs attention, and with spring imminent, the tree will soon begin to heal the cuts. Check with your university extension service to verify the right time to prune your tree. Of course, you can prune anytime in an emergency – after storm damage, for example. We have a full inventory of the equipment you’ll need, all sharp and ready to cut: Chain saws to cut large limbs; pole saws, long-handled chain saws and reciprocating blades to reach moderately high branches; and, in case you don’t have them, hand pruners and loppers for the close work. Whenever you’re pruning, use the opportunity to solve whatever structural problems might exist. Prune dead or dying limbs back to healthy branches. If branches cross, rub together or grow too close to each other, trim selectively so the undamaged ones that are left grow outward. That lets more light and air into the tree’s interior. Snip off water sprouts, those little stems that grow vertically off branches or “volunteer” next to the trunk. To prune away any branch that’s larger in diameter than your wrist without damaging the bark that’s left, make the cut in three stages: 1. Undercut halfway through the branch about a foot from the bark ridge; 2. Remove the branch, top-cutting the branch a few inches beyond the undercut; 3. Cut away the remaining stub, just beyond the bark ridge on top and the branch collar below. Don’t bother with pruning paints or sealers – a proper cut will heal just fine without them. Cleaning up what you’ve pruned. Once you’ve removed all those troubling branches, we can help you make short work of the resulting debris. Turn large diameter branches into firewood for next winter with a chain saw and a log splitter. Use the chain saw to quickly slice the branches into lengths that will fit your fireplace or stove. With the hydraulically powered log splitter, you can easily split them into firewood that will dry faster, light easier and burn cleaner. You can convert smaller branches and all the brush and leaves into beneficial mulch for your planting beds with a chipper-shredder. A chipper-shredder uses sharp whirling blades or cutting disks to chop woody materials into small pieces. Simply feed materials into the hopper, and ground-up material is discharged through a chute that can be directed wherever you want it. If you have to fell a tree, rent a stump grinder to remove the remaining stump to below ground level. Stump grinders come in many sizes – some small enough to roll through a gate. They use sharp teeth on a rotating cutting head to slice the stump into chips. Add these chips to your mulch. Cover the remaining stump with soil, which will speed decomposition of the remaining roots. Run a chipper vacuum over the work area to pluck tiny bits of debris out of your lawn. Regardless of which jobs you tackle and which equipment you rent to help you, discuss specifics of your work with our rental experts. When we know the size and shape of your job, we can rent you the exact equipment to make your work easier, faster, more efficient and safer. While we’re on that subject, see us for proper hearing and eye protection and other safety gear.