PRUNING

Our knowledge of tree function and structure combined with extensive training in climbing, rigging, and use of aerial lifts makes Gallagher Tree Service LLC your best choice for the care of your valuable trees—young and old. All pruning is in accordance with ANSI A300 and ANSI Z133.1 standards. Improper pruning can substantially damage your tree, may reduce its lifespan or render it prematurely unsafe. Our certified arborists have taken an oath not to perform arborcultural work that is injurious to a tree. This means we will not top your tree, but if height is a concern, there are many other ways to control height or create views without setting your tree up for failure.

We prune all types and sizes of trees and shrubs. Whenever possible, we perform maintenance pruning when trees are in winter dormancy. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) groups all pruning types into the following categories:

Cleaning: Selective pruning to remove one or more of the following parts: dead, diseased, and/or broken branches.

Espalier: A combination of pruning, supporting, and training branches to orient a plant in one plane.

Pollarding: The maintenance of a tree by making internodal cuts to reduce the size of a young tree, followed by the annual removal of shoot growth at its point of origin.

Raising: Selective pruning to provide vertical clearance.

Reduction: Selective pruning to decrease height and/or spread.

Restoration: Selective pruning to improve the structure, form, and appearance of trees that have been severely damaged.

Thinning: Selective pruning to reduce density of live branches.

Topping: The reduction of a tree’s size using heading cuts that shorten limbs or branches back to a predetermined crown limit. Topping is not an acceptable pruning practice.

Vista pruning: Selective pruning to allow a specific view.

We do not prune to “put a lot of brush on the ground”, we prune to meet specific goals and objectives. We remove limbs and/or branches for reasons based on tree function and structure and its influence on the landscape.

Our intention is to enhance your tree/shrub in the landscape, so that you are struck by its health and beauty, not by the fact that it has recently been pruned. The only trace we leave behind is a healthy tree in the landscape of a satisfied client.