Tree Trimming & Pruning in Marietta, GA

Tree trimming and pruning in Marietta is mostly about three things: getting dead and broken limbs out of big oaks and pines before a storm brings them down, lifting branches off roofs, gutters and driveways, and giving young trees a strong structure while they are still small enough to shape. Good pruning removes specific branches for a reason. Bad pruning, such as topping a tree or stripping a pine down to a tuft at the top, leaves a tree weaker and more dangerous than it was before.

How pruning is supposed to be done

The industry standard for tree pruning in the United States is ANSI A300, and the International Society of Arboriculture publishes consumer guidance built on it. The basics: cut just outside the branch collar instead of flush with the trunk, reduce long limbs back to a side branch big enough to take over, and avoid removing too much live canopy at once, since leaves are what feed the tree. ISA advises against topping, which means cutting main stems back to stubs. Topped trees send out dense clusters of weakly attached sprouts and often decay where the large cuts were made.

Oaks and hardwoods over the house

White oaks, red oaks, hickories and tulip poplars are the big shade trees of Cobb County, and many were left standing when subdivisions were built around them. Over time they spread over roofs. The most useful work on these trees is usually a combination of removing deadwood, reducing the longest limbs that reach over the house, and clearing branches several feet off the roof so they do not scrape shingles or drop debris into gutters. On trees with two main trunks joined in a tight V, we look at whether reducing one side or adding a cable makes sense.

Pines

Loblolly pines shed their lower limbs naturally and carry most of their weight at the top. The main pruning jobs on pines are removing dead branches, which are common after drought years like 2007, and taking off limbs that hang over a roof. Over-thinning a pine or lion-tailing it (stripping the inner branches so only the ends remain) can make it catch more wind, not less. Fresh wounds on pines can also attract bark beetles, which the Georgia Forestry Commission says are drawn to trees with mechanical injury, so we keep cuts clean and limited.

Crape myrtles and ornamentals

Crape myrtles line Marietta driveways, and many are cut back hard to the same knuckles every winter. They will survive it, but they bloom just as well, and look better, when pruning is limited to suckers, crossing branches and seed heads. We also prune dogwoods, Japanese maples, redbuds and hollies for shape and clearance.

When to prune

The dormant season, from late fall through winter, works well for most deciduous trees: the branch structure is easy to see and the cuts have the spring growth flush to start closing. Prune spring bloomers after they flower. Dead, cracked or hanging limbs should come out whenever you see them, especially ahead of summer, when afternoon thunderstorms are common in the Atlanta area.