Trimming & Pruning

Pruning is surgery, not landscaping

A pruning cut is a wound. Done right, it heals over and the tree compartmentalizes the damage. Done wrong — at the wrong time of year, on the wrong species, in the wrong location on the limb — it becomes an entry point for decay that lasts decades. The trees in Greene County that struggle most aren't the unpruned ones. They're the ones that were "topped" or hacked back by crews who didn't know which species they were working on.

We prune for structure and health. That's the whole job.

Species we work on (and how we treat them differently)

The dominant landscape trees across Springfield and the surrounding communities each have their own pruning calendar and technique. A few of the ones we see most:

• Oaks (post, white, northern red, scarlet, Shumard, black). We do not prune oaks between April and July. Fresh cuts during that window attract the sap-feeding beetles that spread oak wilt. Dormant-season pruning is the safe default.
• Maples (red, sugar, silver). Maples "bleed" sap heavily if cut in late winter as sap rises. We prune them either fully dormant (mid-winter) or after they've leafed out and the sap has settled.
• River birch — common in SW Missouri yards. Prune in summer after leaves are fully out. They bleed worse than maples if cut at the wrong time.
• Flowering dogwood — prune after flowering, never before. Susceptible to anthracnose, so we minimize wounds during humid wet springs.
• Eastern redcedar, junipers, arborvitae — these are the bagworm-favored species. Pruning out infested terminals in summer is part of pest management.
• Shagbark hickory, pignut hickory — heavy, dense wood. Structural pruning rare; mostly deadwood removal.

If your tree isn't on this list, we still know how to handle it. Ask.

What we do

• Structural pruning for young trees. This is the highest-ROI work in arboriculture. A young tree pruned for good branch angles and a single dominant leader at five years old needs almost no remedial work at thirty. Most tree problems in mature canopies trace back to an unpruned youth.
• Deadwood removal. Removing dead branches that are 1.5" or larger reduces falling-debris risk and prevents decay fungi from working into living wood.
• Crown raising and clearance pruning. Pruning lower limbs to clear sightlines, vehicles, roofs, or pedestrian zones — done without over-thinning the lower canopy and stressing the tree.
• Crown reduction. Reducing the overall canopy size on a tree that has outgrown its location, with proper reduction cuts back to lateral branches rather than topping.
• Corrective pruning. Reducing co-dominant stems with included bark, removing crossing branches, and addressing structural weakness before it becomes a failure.
• Cabling and bracing. When mechanical support is the right call rather than removal — typically for mature trees with structural defects you want to keep.

What we don't do: topping. Topping is the practice of cutting major scaffold limbs back to stubs to reduce a tree's height. It stresses the tree, triggers weak epicormic regrowth, invites decay, and shortens the tree's life. Trees that were topped after the 2007 Greene County ice storm are the same trees we're now removing for structural failure seventeen years later.

What to expect

1. Site visit. Jordan walks the tree and lays out the work. Species, age, current structural state, what we're targeting.
2. Written quote. Itemized so you know what each cut is for.
3. Scheduled work. Most pruning jobs are 2–6 hours of crew time on site.
4. Cleanup. Brush chipped, larger wood cut to firewood length or hauled.

Signs your tree needs pruning

• Dead branches 1.5 inches or larger in the canopy.
• Crossing or rubbing branches.
• Co-dominant stems with bark pinched between them (high failure risk).
• A young tree with multiple competing leaders.
• Lower branches blocking sightlines or scraping the roof.
• Storm-broken hangers still attached.
• A canopy that looks heavier on one side after years of one-sided clearance.

Common questions

How often should my tree be pruned? Young trees benefit from a light structural cycle every 2–3 years for the first decade. Mature trees: every 5–10 years for deadwood and corrective work, depending on species and growth rate.

When is the best time to prune? For most species, late dormant season — late winter into very early spring before bud break. Oaks are the exception (no April-July pruning to avoid oak wilt). Ornamentals like dogwood and redbud are pruned after flowering.

Will pruning hurt the tree? A proper pruning cut at the branch collar heals naturally. The trees that get "hurt" are the ones cut in the wrong place — flush against the trunk, leaving a stub, or making heading cuts mid-branch.

Do you top trees? No. Ever. Topping is universally rejected by every arboriculture standard. If a tree is too tall for its location, the right answer is either a properly executed crown reduction or — sometimes — removal and replacement with a more appropriately sized species.

What's the difference between trimming and pruning? Industry usage is loose. "Trimming" often means cosmetic shaping; "pruning" means structural and health-driven work. We just call all of it pruning — every cut should serve the tree.

If the trees on your property haven't been touched in a decade or more, get them looked at. The right cuts now save the wrong cuts later.