Your landscape trees deserve proper maintenance, and a key part of this maintenance is annual trims. The following are just a few benefits of pruning your trees each year.

1. Better Growth Form

Trimming, especially with younger trees, helps encourage a more balanced growth form and better health overall. Trimming at this stage helps encourage a well-balanced crown with evenly spaced lateral branches. Growth training pruning can also help manage the size of the crown so it doesn't become overgrown. In mature trees, form pruning is done to remove branches that rub together and damage each other.

2. Fewer Diseases

Pruning opens up the crown to allow air circulation inside the canopy, which minimizes the chances of fungal disease. Annual trims also allow your tree service to find branches that are affected by disease pathogens so they can remove them before the problem spreads. Deadwood can attract pests, such as boring insects and those that feed on deadwood, and these pests can be a disease vector. Trimming out the deadwood helps manage these pests. Overall, trimming each year will help keep your tree disease-free.

3. Minimize Falling Branches

Falling branches can pose a major hazard to your home, parked cars, and your children and pets. Large branches are usually seen as the greatest threat to house and home, but even small branches can cause issues if they collect on the roof or clog your gutters. Annual tree trimming clears out dead and damaged wood, thus minimizing the chances that it will break off and fall. You should also monitor the tree throughout the year so you can have any dangerous branches removed as soon as you spot them.

4. Prevent Blow Downs

Blow downs are a concern for many homeowners, especially if you have large trees growing near your home. Typically, blow downs occur during high wind events, but even moderate winds can topple a tree if the soil is moist and the tree hasn't been properly maintained. Tree trimming allows you to reduce the size of the crown, if necessary, so it is small enough for the roots to support. Trims can also help balance the canopy so the weight of the tree is evenly distributed, which also helps prevent blow downs.

5. Improved Appearance

Well trimmed trees look nicer and improve the curb appeal of your home. Trimming removes brushy weak growth around the base and along the trunk of the tree, which looks much better. It can also be used to train a young tree to a single trunk and an attractive full canopy. Further, trimming properly encourages full leafing out and flowering in season, which definitely makes a tree look beautiful.

Contact a local tree trimming service for more help.