How Pruning Your Trees Can Protect Them From Disease

One of the biggest threats to the health of trees is disease. Once a disease sets in and spreads, an affected tree could die within a few years, gradually declining all the while. An effective way to control disease and stop its spread is to monitor your trees for signs of disease. Once you spot disease, pruning can stop the spread of disease effectively.

Pruning dead branches keeps disease at bay

Fungal diseases and pathogens invade trees by attacking dead branches. Once a dead branch is infected, the disease can then spread along that branch and into the living material of the tree. To prevent this from occurring, prune out dead branches whenever you see them.

If you see signs of disease in a dead branch, make sure you cut several inches into the living wood when removing the branch. This will ensure that you remove all of the diseased material.

Pruning diseased branches stops the spread of disease

If you spot disease infecting the living branches of your tree, then you should remove those branches as soon as possible. Just as with dead branches, be sure to prune a few inches away from the infected material to ensure that you don't leave a diseased part of the tree intact accidentally.

If there are multiple diseased branches, be sure to disinfect your tools after every cut to avoid spreading the disease to healthy parts of the tree.

Pruning structurally defective branches prevents future diseases

Structurally weak branches will potentially fail in the future. For instance, if you don't prune a tree properly when it is young, it might develop a poor structure. Some branches bear too much weight, while others have weak attachments that make them susceptible to storm damage.

The best thing to do is to prune away weak branches before they can fail and provide diseases with an entry point.

Pruning branches that were weakened by a storm can stop diseases and pests from invading

Storm-damaged branches are a common entry point for diseases due to the traumatic nature of the wounds. Trees struggle to form callouses over jagged or rough wounds, and this leaves them at the mercy of disease. If your tree has suffered storm damage, prune the damaged branches before disease sets in.

To keep your trees healthy, monitor them for signs of disease or potential for disease. If you see any of the aforementioned issues, prune your trees as soon as possible to keep disease from weakening and possibly killing your trees. Contact a company that offers tree pruning services to learn more.

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