August is a good time to sit outside, take it all in and relax.

As you relax, take the time to look up…way up.  Or out.  At your trees, because maybe some should go.  Moose maples (Acer pensylvanicum), Poplars, and Pin-cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) sprout and grow very fast, choking out more desirable trees. Decent loppers (such as Stihl, available locally) cut twice as well and last longer than a cheap pair.

Cut the offending trees as low to the ground as possible, haul the brush aside, and you and your ‘good’ trees will breathe easier. With evergreens, the Cedars and Balsam firs are often browsed up or die off for the bottom five feet, and the tops get scraggly. Cut out the dead or ugly trees, evaluate, and then trim the lower branches on the keepers.

Eliminating some trees, then pruning out dead and weak branches, can get rid of a lot of visual clutter.  Please resist the temptation to ‘clean up’ the whole understory; ferns, shrubs, and young trees are an important part of a forest’s evolution. And when pruning, note the collar at the base of the branch.

It has a little round of different-textured bark, which holds special cells that promote healthy scarring.  Cut clean at the collar, not below. Cutting into the collar wounds the trunk and stresses the tree; leaving a stubby branch drains a lot of the tree’s energy as it tries to heal (and the stubs can be ugly and dangerous).

This is a good time of year to cut ‘weed’ trees. It’s not the ideal time for pruning, but if you do it properly, the tree won’t mind. Lastly, some trees will soon start ‘turning’ early. This can signal weakness; keep an eye on them going forward.

For now, enjoy that deck time and enjoy trimming those trees!

By the same author: Ferns and fronds (Click the image below)