We hope that 2015 is off to a fabulous start. Our team here at Greenwood is happy to be back at it after a relaxing holiday with our families.
January is the perfect month to start focusing on your landscape needs. For many this is a slow time of the year, the work you do now will pay big dividends come spring.

There are many reasons why winter pruning — also know as dormant landscape pruning — can be an effective and cost-efficient method of ensuring the future health and sustained growth of your valuable trees and shrubs.

During the winter months, because of the harder, frozen ground, heavy equipment can be moved closer to the trees without damaging the roots or soil. This results in cost savings for you because it takes our crew less time and effort to complete the job.

Pruning during winter months does not interrupt the nutrient and growth cycle but rather reduces the number of buds that need to share the food resources in the roots, so the remaining buds grow more vigorously the next spring.

Pruning during the spring and summer months can often result in damage to the surrounding plants and flowers. It is also very hard to clean the small branches that fall into flowerbeds. Protecting the landscape below the tree completely during pruning is time consuming and can add to the cost of the job.

Pruning during winter can reduce the spread of disease that enter the trees from pruning cuts. This is because these diseases are more active during the growing months than in dormant months. Many of the insects that carry the diseases from one tree to another are also not present during the winter season.

Winter pruning has many benefits for your trees and shrubs and it can also save you money. However, it is not recommended for every situation.

Please talk to your Greenwood arborist about your particular landscape so we can help you find the best solution.