Can You Trim a Newly Planted Tree?
Posted on: 11 November 2022
Those trees you're planting now may seem a bit tousled after being transported from the nursery to your home, turned on their side and then upright, and then dropped in a hole in your yard. But unless there are branches that are actually broken, you actually want to wait to trim that newly planted tree. Focus trimming efforts on the other established trees in your yard, and remove only those branches and twigs from the new tree that are damaged or diseased.
Trimming Is Essentially a Wound
When you trim or prune a tree, you're essentially wounding it. The trimming and pruning are beneficial, of course, but you're cutting off parts of the tree, and the tree needs to heal from trimming and pruning. That healing takes energy and nutrition, which the tree is already using to get used to being in its new location. So, if you trim or prune now, when the tree is newly planted, you're going to stretch its resources very thin. It's perfectly fine to have a tree trimming service look over the tree to spot broken twigs that you might have missed, of course.
Trimming May Increase Transplant Shock
When you plant a tree, it can often suffer something called transplant shock. This is when the tree is, to put it very simply, so stressed out by its new situation that it becomes a little sick. This doesn't mean the new planting is in a bad spot; the tree is just really stressed. You can see leaves and fruit drop down, withering twigs, and even some branches starting to die. Trimming and pruning to spur new growth or shape the tree is only going to add to the shock. However, you can have a tree service trim away branches that have died.
Trimming Will Be More Effective When the Tree Is a Little Bigger
Trimming promotes new growth, and along with pruning, helps shape the tree. It's going to be a lot more effective when you trim and prune when the tree is bigger. You'll have a better idea of the natural shape it takes and what you need to remove for shaping. The new growth will also be more robust if you trim after the tree is over its transplant shock and has become established in the spot.
If you have new trees, call a tree service like Mikes Tree Service & Landscaping and have them look over the branches to identify any broken or dead ones. The tree service can also help you manage transplant shock so that the tree recovers nicely.
Share