After the spring bloom, summer shade, and fall colours have come and gone, trees blend into the winter snow, and we pay them a little less mind. But we shouldn’t ignore them!
When we think of trees least is when they need our attention most. According to Ian Laidlaw , a certified arborist and the district manager of Davey Tree Expert Company in Ottawa, winter is the ideal time to inspect and prune branches. This is because trees are in their dormant phase in the colder months, so they’re metabolizing nutrients slower and pausing growth—it conserves energy to help them brave the conditions.
“The biggest benefit to winter trimming is that trees are not stressed out,” says Laidlaw. “They’re not craving water, and there’s no heat. Without that stress, trees are able to heal from pruning a bit quicker.”
Not to mention, while it might seem counterintuitive, pruning in the winter is just easier. Buds and cracks are more visible without foliage, says Laidlaw, and trees set near a garden or rocky ground are accessible without having to trample the landscape below.
So, does it require pulling ourselves out of our own dormant phase to get it done? It seems so. But will doing it the right way protect you, your trees and your property from avoidable damage? You can bet on it.
Make a game plan
First things first: be realistic.
Tree maintenance—especially when you’re dealing with high-set branches or trees that overhang your cottage—can be dangerous. If you find yourself thinking, “It’ll probably be fine,” it’s actually probably time to call in the professionals. If you can tackle the job safely yourself, don’t skip the protective glasses, gloves, and clothing, and a stable ladder.
You’ll start by removing ice and snow from the branches, then inspecting the tree for dead limbs. Live branches will have buds; dead ones will not. Also keep an eye out for cracks, which can lead to branches breaking off.
Keep things balanced
Once you’ve determined which branches are a risk, you can decide which limbs need to be pruned. Unfortunately, it may be more than just the dead ones.
“Homeowners often think, I’ll just take off that one limb that’s poking out, and it’ll be fine. The better option is going around the tree and cutting other limbs back so that it stays balanced,” says Laidlaw. To prevent branches from breaking under uneven weight, he also recommends trimming limbs when they’ve grown too far horizontally and making sure the foliage is not concentrated at the tips.
Make your cuts (yes, plural!)
Just as the limbs you prune should not be one-and-done, you should not be making one cut at the neck of a large branch and letting the whole thing drop to the ground. Starting outside and moving inward, make cuts periodically so that the sections coming off are movable later.
When you reach the final cut closest to the trunk, precision is the name of the game.
“One of the biggest tree pruning mistakes I see is the ‘collar cut,’” says Laidlaw. “You want to cut close to the trunk, but without cutting into the tree. If you don’t leave one extra inch, or a collar, it takes years longer to heal and is more susceptible to rotting.”
Let it be
Trimming is done, and so is your work. For now.
Leaving pruned trees to heal on their own is the best way to help them stay healthy. Oxygen is the best medicine. Come spring, take another look for dead limbs as they start to bud (or not). If you find another branch that needs to go, resort to step one: be realistic.
“It’s always worth calling an arborist for advice,” says Laidlaw. “If it’s manageable enough, we’ll tell you that you can handle it yourself. Otherwise, get us to help out once, and you’ll be able to maintain it from there.”
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