Tree Pruning for Urban Forests

While focused on the San Luis Obispo, California area, many of the concepts here are universal to urban forests in all parts of the country.  Let’s start by defining what an urban forest is.  Simply stated, an urban forest is a collection of trees in parks, private properties, commercial properties, open spaces, green belts and all locations within a city.  These trees make up an important part of our overall ecosystem and provide many benefits that most people may take for granted.

While it initially might seem that “More is better,” let’s start with reasons to prune our trees. While it may seem troublesome or expensive to have a tree pruned, it is important to keep trees from interfering with travel on roads, making sidewalks usable, keeping parking spaces usable and keeping power transmission safe along power lines.

There are generally two types of pruning methods and mind-sets. The first is pruning for “vegetation control” which is typically performed by untrained workers with not much thought or care to how it is performed and how it will affect the future of the tree. This way costs more money in the long run and can significantly shorten the lifespan of trees. This is like putting a bandage on an infected wound.  You are treating a visible symptom but are ignoring the underlying cause of the issue.

The second school of thought is to prune or maintain using a specific plan, leveraging the knowledge and experience of a Certified Arborist or similarly credentialed expert.  One of the critical and most important differences is what is left on the tree. Simply hacking away to make a tree’s footprint smaller may cause irregular or poorly-planned future growth.  It can also cause balance issues which could even cause a tree to fall over in due time. The other big difference is how many years the tree will survive in the landscape. The tree that receives regular maintenance utilizing the best principles and practices applied will typically last much longer, and have a chance to multiply the environmental benefits it gives many times over.

Here are some of the main objectives of tree pruning in our urban forests in the San Luis Obispo, California area, which includes Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Nipomo, Avila Beach, Shell Beach, and Los Osos – the area that we refer to as San Luis Obispo’s “South County.”

• Removing low branches to allow vehicle traffic of the type that will use that road or driveway. Trash truck pickups require a 14-foot height clearance vs. package van, delivery, and common vehicle traffic which feature very different height clearances.
• Removing low branches to allow turf-mowing equipment to mow underneath.
• Removing higher tree parts to allow safe power transmission through power lines.
• Removing parts of trees to reduce the risk of sudden limb drop or other type of tree failure.
• Removing part of trees to reduce the risk of property or personal damage as a result of similar failures.
• Removing entire trees because of roots found in pipes, a tree growing larger or because of a tree owner’s previous fears or experiences.

In conclusion, while a non-certified trimming company may cut back your trees, they could be doing more harm than good.  Talk to a Certified Arborist that is willing to leverage their years of experience into providing a plan that is geared towards extending the life and enhancing the beauty of your aesthetics and investments!