Tree Trimming And Pruning In Cabbagetown, Toronto

What Is The Difference Between Trimming And Pruning?

Trimming is usually about shape and clearance, cutting back growth that has reached a roofline, a wire or a walkway. Pruning is more selective, removing specific branches for the health of the tree, such as ones that are dead, crossing or growing back toward the trunk.

Most visits involve some of both, and we walk you through the reasoning behind each cut before the saw comes out.

How Much Of A Tree Can Be Removed At Once?

A healthy tree can generally lose up to about a quarter of its live canopy in one visit without added stress. Taking more than that in a single session can shock the tree, so a badly overgrown tree is often better handled over two visits a year or two apart.

Why Do Cabbagetown's Older Trees Need Careful Pruning?

Many of the maples on these streets have been growing since the neighbourhood's Victorian rowhouses went up, and a century of growth means old wounds, included bark and weak unions that a younger tree simply does not have. Cutting the wrong branch on a tree like this can open a decay pocket that was otherwise contained.

We look for those signs before we climb, not after.

Does A Narrow Lot Change How Pruning Gets Done?

It changes where the debris goes more than how the tree is cut. On a narrow Cabbagetown lot we lower branches with rope rather than dropping them, and we carry brush out through the property or the laneway instead of piling it on a lawn that has nowhere to spread it.