8 Essential Facts Property Managers Need to Know About Dormant Pruning

~2 mins

Tags: Landscape Maintenance, Tree & Shrub Care

Pruning isn’t just for plants. It’s for property managers, too.

No, our crews won’t stop over to give your hair a trim. But the pruning they do this time of year — called dormant pruning — has benefits for your business, as well as for the trees.

Pruning keeps your trees and shrubs healthy. And a healthy landscape saves you money, time and hassle.

Let’s sharpen the shears and take a closer look at several dormant pruning benefits.

First, Why Prune Now?

If you take a close look at your trees and shrubs right now, you won’t see much happening.

That’s exactly why winter is a great time to prune.

Your trees and shrubs are dormant. So when we head out with the pruning shears to shape and thin, we won’t do as much damage as we would by pruning in their prime growing months.

Dormant Pruning Deters Disease

Prune in the warm spring and summer months, and those fresh cuts attract insects, which can spread disease.

The fresh pruning cuts we make now, during dormancy, will heal faster. That means less time for them to attract insects. And this time of year, there are fewer insects around.

So your trees are more likely to stay disease free and healthy. That means you won’t have to spend money to treat or replace them.

No Leaves Means Easier Work

The thing about trees and shrubs during the warm months is they’re jam packed with leaves. That’s a good thing — unless you’re trying to prune.

Now, when they’re dormant, those pesky leaves

are out of the way. Crews can easily peer into the branch structure and see their way around.

That makes for quicker work and less time spent on your property.

Snipping For Safety

One of the main reasons we prune is to snip out any diseased or broken branches so they don’t hurtle to the ground later, harming people on your grounds or damaging cars or property.

The weight of winter ice and snow can cause vulnerable branches to snap. Pruning now reduces your liability.

Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Preventing Other Hazards

Trees and shrubs that get too overgrown and gangly can pose lots of other hazards on your property.

Wayward branches can snag pedestrians, obscure your signage and block your lighting.

Prune them now, before they grow into a safety concern.

Prune Now For Health Later

Pruning is a great preventive measure to ensure the long-term health of your tree or shrub.

Prune it as it grows, and you direct that growth in a healthy way, while also controlling its size.

Start pruning when a tree is young and you help it develop a sturdy, healthy structure and form.

It will also need less corrective pruning as it ages.

That means less cost later.

healthy tree

Snipping For Strength

While it might seem like we’re weakening your tree or shrub with those sharp cuts, don’t worry. Dormant pruning benefits your plants by actually making them stronger.

Strong is good. Storms? No problem. High wind? Ice? Snow? A strong tree can say No Big Deal.

Prune Now, Save Money Later

Yes, dormant pruning is a cost now, but it’s a lot cheaper than replacing dead trees and shrubs in the spring.

Level Green Landscaping: Your Pruning Experts

Does pruning leave you puzzled?

That’s why we’re here. Our experts know all about dormant pruning benefits and how it can boost the health and appearance of your property’s trees and shrubs.

If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers.

Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.

We’d love to hear from you.

Ready to get started?

Tell us more about your commercial property and how we can help you.

Douglass Delano

Doug Delano (and Bill Hardy) opened Level Green Landscaping LLC in 2002 to offer Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia reliable commercial landscape maintenance services.