You’ve trimmed your trees, and though they look lovely, there’s a lot of debris left. It’s not only snipped-off branches but perhaps leaves as well if you’ve waited until the tree leafed out to trim it. Some trees and shrubs are best pruned after they flower, so there might be spent flowers or fruit that didn’t quite ripen. What is a safe way to get rid of all of this?

Bring in a Professional

If you’re really in a quandary about what to do with tree debris, call in a professional arborist. They’ll not only help you remove the debris, but next time, they can trim your trees in ways that are safe and aesthetically pleasing.

Take Debris to a Recycling Center

If you live near a recycling center, another safe way to dispose of the pruning debris is to take it there. Some of these places have wood chippers that turn branches and limbs into mulch. They are also places where you can collect mulch to spread over the walkways on your property. However, unless you know the mulch is disease free, don’t put it around your plants.

Use It for Firewood

If you have a fireplace or an old-fashioned, wood-burning stove, you can use the tree limbs left over from pruning as kindling. You will need to dry them out to make a good fire. However, some types of wood are better for burning than others. Pine and other conifers have too much resin, but pieces from hardwoods like apple are just the thing when they’re completely dry. You can tell if a piece of wood is dry if its ends are split or checked and two pieces knocked together make a bright sound.

Since you will need to store the wood until it’s dry enough to burn, it’s best to place it in a pile some distance from your house. That’s because vermin like to live in woodpiles. You need to keep the wood off the ground, and it’s also a good idea to protect it from the weather by covering just the top with a tarp or sheet.

Use It as Compost

You can also use tree debris as compost. The leaves, green stems, dead flowers and fruit break down quickly. Limbs take longer, especially if you don’t run them through a wood chipper before you put them in the compost pile.

Call Us to Learn More About Safely Disposing of Tree Debris

There are a variety of ways to safely dispose of the debris that results from pruning or trimming your tree. If you need to learn more about trimming and pruning, call our professional arborists at The Tree Doctor of Springfield, MO.