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RTEC Treecare

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Trim Your Trees Before Spring For Best Results

Resources: Seasonal Tree Care, Tree Trimming

When To Trim Bushes

Many homeowners are surprised to hear that winter is one of the best times to trim your trees. But it’s true, winter pruning brings a lot of benefits to you and your trees including disease and insect prevention, faster healing times, better spring flower production, and the ability to perform a better safety evaluation. Read on to learn exactly why our arborists recommend homeowners, who are due for a tree trimming, schedule their pruning before warmer spring weather comes along.

Benefits of Winter Tree Trimming:

1. Improved Spring Aesthetics

Trimming your tree during the winter also leads to better spring aesthetics and growth. Getting rid of dead, dying, and diseased branches ensures that energy will not be wasted on these branches but instead used to promote growth on healthy branches. By pruning in winter you are essentially invigorating your tree and promoting robust new growth.

Smoketree in bloom

Although the new growth and improved aesthetics can be seen on most trees pruned in winter you can especially see the effects on late spring/summer flowering trees. If you have trees that bloom in the spring/summer such as Rose of Sharon, Smoketree, and Chaste Tree, pruning them in the winter will cause an increase in the amount of blooms and their size.

Bonus Tip: Late winter/early spring, right after the last frost, is the best time to prune Crape Myrtles in order to stimulate blooms. Book your Crape Myrtle pruning with RTEC and we will watch the weather and schedule your pruning at just the right time. Learn more about Crape Myrtle Pruning.

2. Faster Recovery

Trees heal and recover faster from tree trimming when it’s performed in the winter. During the spring, summer, and fall the tree is busy using all its energy for other tasks like pushing out new growth, converting sunlight into energy, or getting ready for winter. When you trim your trees in winter there are no leaves or other tasks to use up energy, this allows your tree to put all of its energy directly into healing its bark.

3. Less Risk of Insect & Disease Complications

Asian Long-Horned Beetle A Common Secondary Invader

All tree trimming causes open wounds that need to heal and are at risk of becoming infected. Proper tree trimming techniques reduce the risk of infection and promote rapid healing by making sure the pruning cuts are clean and in the correct location. However, during the spring, summer, and fall, fresh pruning cuts are at a higher risk of becoming infected from disease or infested with insects. By pruning in the winter you get the added benefit of disease and insect prevention. Like trees, insects and diseases are dormant in the winter essentially lowering the risk of infection/infestation to zero.

4. Better Evaluation of Structural Risks

In the winter there are no leaves on the tree to obstruct visual inspections. This means branch defects and structural issues that may have been missed in spring or summer are plainly visible in winter with the absence of leaves. In the cold months, dead branches and structural issues in large shade trees can be easily identified and properly pruned.

Exceptions: Are There Any Species That Shouldn’t Be Pruned In Winter?

For flowering trees/shurbs that have early spring blooms that are on last year’s growth, like Magnolias, Cherries, Azaleas,Flowering Dogwoods, and Eastern Redbuds, pruning in the winter will remove their buds and cause a lack luster spring bloom. If you’re looking to boost flower production and the tree’s aethetics, it’s best to wait until their flowers fade in late spring to prune these types of trees.

Now that you know the benefits of trimming trees in winter, schedule an appointment to get your trees trimmed before the warmer spring weather comes along.

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Google Reviews

Grey Burkhart
Grey Burkhart
March 29, 2022.
Verified
Very professional review of our requirements and an accurate estimate. Showed up on time and were finished quickly. Cleaned up all of the debris and sawdust. Great job all around.
Dennis Bruns
Dennis Bruns
March 8, 2022.
Verified
We have used RTEC Treecare for several years. They do excellent work. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable and take great care in explaining the various options available for your particular situation. I highly recommend them.
Annette Iannucci
Annette Iannucci
February 23, 2022.
Verified
We have been using RTEC for years and were very pleased with the recent tree maintenance work they did for us. As always, we got good advice from their arborist Ben,. The crew that did the work is highly skilled, and they did a great job trimming our trees. They worked safely and efficiently, in addition to leaving the yard clean after they finished the work.
Susan Crawford
Susan Crawford
January 26, 2022.
Verified
RTEC was at my house today to removed a large Magnolia that was badly damaged by the recent snow. They did a fantastic job at a very reasonable price. They arrived right on time, worked efficiently and quickly and cleaned up so well it was hard to tell anything have been disturbed. Over the past several years, I have used RTEC for all the services I checked above, and have always been very pleased with their service and professionalism. I also appreciate that they are not eager to take down trees that don't need to come down. In this case, the damage was too extensive for the tree to recover.
Kenton Morgan
Kenton Morgan
January 20, 2022.
Verified
Once again, RTEC has done a great job. The team showed up right on time and performed all the work that we agreed to. They kept us informed as to progress, coordinated with us concerning our maple, and made recommendations concerning ongoing support for our trees. At the end of the day, they thoroughly cleaned up the debris and left our yard in pristine condition. WELL DONE.
Jean Kluttz
Jean Kluttz
January 3, 2022.
Verified
Not our first time but this time was tricky removal of a large dead tree leaning on a healthy tree. Quick response for estimate, good timing to removal, all clear and healthy tree still fine.
Jerry Haggin
Jerry Haggin
December 16, 2021.
Verified
Very good work while ensuring that I was aware of status of my work order and planned completion.
Mike Iger
Mike Iger
December 16, 2021.
Verified
David Roberts
David Roberts
December 15, 2021.
Verified
We’ve used RTEC for many years for tree maintenance and can’t say enough good things about their service. We use them for tree trimming and for regular treatments to maintain our trees’ health and deal with pests and prevent disease. Their arborist Ben has been especially helpful with advice. RTEC also been especially helpful in emergency situations, once coming to cable a massive, heritage oak in our yard right before a hurricane was about to hit. Highly recommend.
Travis Larson
Travis Larson
December 10, 2021.
Verified
RTEC did an excellent job onsite of removing dead branches from our 80+ year old trees, and trimming other growth too close to our home.
Google rating score: 4.8 of 5, based on 185 reviews.

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Falls Church, VA 22042

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