Ask the Arborist

Agri Tree Experts’s certified ISA arborists here in San Antonio help maintain healthy, vibrant trees and remove and recycle trees when necessary.

We are licensed, professional arborists near you.

Call us or send us a message below for information about our affordable and professional tree services. Call: (210)826-9868

Tree and Shrub Pruning FAQ

Agri Tree Experts arborists in San Antonio are helpful, knowledgeable, and provide all necessary trucks, tree cutting/pruning equipment, stump grinders, saws, and a work crew trained in tree cutting safety, as well as fruit tree, shrub, and exotic tree special needs. We will quickly visit your property to give you a free estimate.

“When should I prune my trees? How much is too much?”

In San Antonio, it’s especially important to keep woody trees and shrubs pruned to maintain their health and attractiveness, but it’s critical to know how much to prune.

San Antonio features a unique climate, with enough year-round sun for many fruit trees to produce, while cool enough for oaks and other deciduous trees. It’s important to know why you are pruning. Pruning fruit trees can grow more fruit and more branches to produce fruit in the future. Pruning rose bushes allow the plant to expand and grow more flowers without allowing the plant to become lopsided or misshapen. You may have the opposite effect in mind… if a tree is growing too close to your roof or your home, you’d like a way to slow down its growth without killing the tree. Deadwood can generally be removed at any time. Species differ, however—if pruning is too aggressive and you remove too many branches or do so at the wrong time of the year, the tree could become vulnerable to infestation or infection.

“How do I prune trees and bushes?”

1. Remember—safety first! Before pruning, tree branches can weigh hundreds of pounds and may have invisible rot within, weak areas that can crack and behave unpredictably. Always inspect the tree carefully and use proper equipment. Never stand under a branch while you are cutting it.
2. Your first objective is to remove dead/dying branches.
3. Prune away diseased tree branches. Cut well below the diseased areas, and never prune while any tree or shrub is wet (water can carry and spread diseases, fungus, etc.).
4. Look at your property, focus on walkways, driveways, and sidewalks. Do you see heaving tree branches growing over places where people walk or park? Cut these down so they don’t break off and hurt someone.
5. If you see two branches cross, prune off the smaller one.
6. To allow sunlight and air into the center of trees and shrubs, thin out the branches.

“What’s the difference between pruning in the winter or the summer? Are there pruning dos and don’ts to follow?”

Winter Pruning – Dormant Pruning
Pruning while trees and shrubs are dormant creates a burst of new growth in the spring. This winter pruning technique is used frequently on fruit trees, on trees with sparse areas of growth, on flowering trees and shrubs, etc. in order to help them fill out and grow more fruit or flowers. Pruning a dormant plant helps to create a stunning burst of growth and beauty.

Summer Pruning
Sometimes you want the opposite. Let’s say you have a tree growing towards your house, into a street or power lines, and you want to save the tree, but direct the growth of the offending branches away. You want to slow down the growth of certain branches to keep them away from a roof or a home. If growth retardation is the goal, pruning should be done right after warm weather growth has been completed. Another reason to prune in the summer is to correct defective branches or limbs that sag under the weight of leaves and water. San Antonio and the Hill Country area are susceptible to strong wind storm damage and flooding, so you always want to keep your home and walkways free of dangerous tree limbs that could collapse in high winds.

When pruning, don’t leave stubs—stubs provide a path for insects and disease to move in and attack a healthy tree.

Don’t scalp your trees. A flattop tree looks awful, and it will grow weak new twigs instead of healthy foliage. Always cut a tree into a natural shape and let it grow upwards.

When to Call a Professional Arborist in San Antonio

Some pruning is appropriate for home gardeners. But call a professional arborist about any cut you can’t make from the ground with garden pruners, if you see cracks or insect damage, or any work—whether you can reach it or not—in a tree near power lines, and any windstorm damage where heavy limbs are still attached or hung up in the crown of the tree.

Pruning oak trees and other hardwoods direct their branches’ growth in a beautiful direction, and away from power lines, homes, roads, or other hazards. Agri Tree Experts provides tree services in San Antonio to help young trees flourish and mature trees sustain their health. Client satisfaction, quality work, and safety are our top priorities. Homeowners, commercial property owners, and apartment complex managers call on Agri Tree Experts for projects such as tree trimming, flowering tree pruning, ornamental shrub maintenance, tree removal, and tree preservation.