Sandborn Tree Service, Inc.
Tree Pruning Services
Proper pruning plays a critical role in maintaining tree health and reducing the risk of branch or tree failure that could threaten your property or safety. When done correctly, pruning strengthens tree structure, removes weak or hazardous limbs, and promotes balanced, healthy growth. Improper pruning, however, can cause lasting damage, increase vulnerability to disease, and create structural weaknesses over time. Our experienced crew, led by certified arborists, uses proven, industry-approved techniques to ensure each cut benefits the tree’s long-term health. We help you make informed decisions for your landscape, protecting both your trees and your property for years to come.
How to know when to call us
When should I prune?
If you are unsure whether or not you need your trees pruned, ask yourself the following questions about them:
- Are there large dead brances, thinning or off color foliage in the tree?
- Have any branches fallen from the tree?
- Are there overgrown branches or bushes crossing over your neighbor’s property line?
- Do you notice extra thick foliage, watersprouts, excessively long or heavy limbs?
- Are there an abundance of small dead twigs in the tree?
- Does the tree have cavities or rotten wood along the tree trunk or in major branches?
- Are there mushrooms at the base of the tree?
- Has the trunk started to lean?
- Is the soil uplifted on the opposite side?
- Have the roots been broken or injured by sidewalk repair or trenching?
- Has the landscape been changed recently by construction or lawn installation?
- Have trees in adjacent wooded areas been removed?
Any of the above are good indicators that your trees may need your attention.
Following professional standards
How we perform our services
With the American National Standard for pruning, ANSI A300, specifications can be written in a virtual infinite number of combinations. The following information is designed to help you understand exactly what will be accomplished in a pruning operation.
- Branch Size: A minimum or maximum diameter size of branches to be removed should be specified in all pruning operations. This establishes how much pruning is to be done.
Pruning objectives should be established prior to beginning any pruning operation. A 300 provides to basic objectives.
- Hazard Reduction Pruning: Hazard reduction pruning (HRP) is recommended when the primary objective is to reduce the danger to a specific target caused by visibly defined hazards in a tree. For example HRP may be the primary objective if a tree has many dead limbs over a park bench.
- Maintenance Pruning: Maintenance pruning (MP) is recommended when the primary objective is to maintain or improve tree health and structure, and includes hazard reduction pruning. An example here might be to perform a MP operation in a front yard tree.
Hazard reduction pruning and maintenance pruning should consist of one or more of the pruning types noted below.
- Crown Cleaning: Crown cleaning shall consist of the selective removal of one or more of the following items: dead, dying, or diseased branches, weak branches, and watersprouts.
- Crown Thinning: Crown thinning shall consist of the selective removal of branches to increase light penetration, air movement, and reduce weight.
- Crown Raising: Crown raising shall consist of the of the removal of the lower branches of a tree to provide clearance.
- Crown Reduction, or Crown Shaping: Crown Reduction decreases the height and/or spread of a tree. Consideration should be given to the ability of a species to sustain this type of pruning.
- Vista Pruning: Vista Pruning is selective thinning of framework limbs or specific areas of the crown to allow a view of an object from a predetermined point.
- Crown Restoration: Crown Restoration pruning should improve the structure, form and appearance of trees which have been severely headed, vandalized, or storm damaged.
