7 Reasons to Prune Your Missouri Trees This Year
Think your trees don’t need pruning? Discover 7 key reasons why trimming in Eastern Missouri can protect your home, improve tree health, & enhance curb appeal!
Your Missouri trees need regular pruning to keep them healthy, safe, and attractive. When trees aren’t pruned properly (or at all), they can become dangerous hazards that threaten your home, your family’s safety, and your property value.
Here are 7 important reasons to prune your trees in St. Charles County and St. Louis County this year.
Key Takeaways
- Regular pruning can help to prevent storm damage and protect your property from falling branches and tree failures.
- Strategic pruning can support tree health and aesthetics, boosting curb appeal at the same time.
- Well-maintained trees provide better shade, support healthier landscaping, and are less likely to develop diseases that can cause lasting damage.
- Professional pruning is safer and more effective than DIY attempts, helping trees stay strong and healthy for many years.
1. Prune to Prevent Storm Damage
Living in eastern Missouri means dealing with the risks of severe weather year-round. From powerful summer thunderstorms to tornados, and even winter ice, our trees sure take a beating from Mother Nature.
Trees with dead, diseased, or weakly attached branches are much more likely to break and fall during these weather events – often landing on houses, cars, or power lines. A branch falling on power lines can shut the power off for a whole neighborhood for hours, sometimes even days. And a branch falling on your home could render it unlivable until repairs are made.
Professional pruning removes these hazardous branches before they cause expensive problems.
2. Prune to Help Maintain Curb Appeal
A well-maintained tree can add thousands to your property value, but when branches grow too close to your house, they can damage your roof, siding, and gutters. In our humid Missouri climate, this can lead to costly moisture problems and wood rot. Plus, branches touching your home give squirrels, raccoons, and other critters an easy path straight to your attic.
When trees aren’t pruned regularly, they may become overgrown, shaggy looking, or downright ugly, actually lowering your property value.
Having your trees pruned keeps them at a safe distance from your house while maintaining their beauty and value. It also helps prevent leaves and debris from clogging your gutters – a common problem in areas, like Creve Coeur and Ladue, where mature trees create thick canopies over homes.
3. Prune to Support Tree Health
Trees are built to grow naturally, but in our urban and suburban yards, like those in St. Peters and St. Charles, trees need some help to stay healthy. Just like you need regular checkups, your trees need regular care to catch and fix small problems before they get worse.
When arborists prune your trees, they’re doing more than just cutting branches. They look for early signs of problems like decay, insect damage, or disease. They also remove crossing branches that rub against each other and create wounds where pests and diseases can get in.
And by opening up the tree’s canopy, pruning helps more sunlight and air reach all the branches, which helps prevent fungal problems that are common in our humid Missouri climate. Proper pruning can improve overall tree health and longevity, making it a worthwhile investment in your landscape. And while pruning can be done year-round, pruning in winter is ideal when it comes to tree health.
4. Prune to Minimize Damage from Pests and Diseases
Trees in the St. Louis area deal with plenty of disease challenges. Hot, humid summers and wet springs create ideal conditions for fungal problems. During spring and summer, tree-damaging insects are also active, targeting stressed trees and sometimes causing serious harm or even death.
The good news? Insect infestations and fungal infections usually start small, often affecting just one branch at a time.
Regular pruning helps stop diseases before they can take over an entire tree by:
- Removing infected branches before disease spreads
- Improving air flow through the canopy
- Getting rid of crossed or rubbing branches that create additional wounds
- Eliminating weak branch connections that could split and damage the trunk
This is particularly important for valuable shade trees in established neighborhoods, like Maryland Heights and Kirkwood, where losing a mature tree can drastically change your property’s appearance and value.
Pruning by utility companies isn’t always pretty.
5. Prune to Prevent Power Line Damage
Trees growing into power lines are more than just a nuisance – they’re dangerous. In areas like Hazelwood and Florissant, overgrown trees near power lines often cause outages during storms. And if branches touch live wires, they can spark fires or create shock hazards, especially when wet.
Professional pruning keeps trees clear of power lines while maintaining their natural shape. This not only keeps your lights on during storms, but also prevents the utility company from having to do emergency pruning, which often looks bad and can harm tree health.
6. Prune to Guide Tree Growth
Young trees in neighborhoods need proper pruning early on to grow strong and stable. Think of how many trees you see with multiple competing trunks, tight V-shaped branches, or limbs growing straight up instead of out. Most of these problems could have been prevented with early pruning.
Early pruning helps trees develop strong branch structure that will hold up better during the severe storms we get here in Missouri. It’s much easier – and cheaper – to guide a young tree’s growth than to fix structural problems in mature trees.
7. Prune Selectively to Support Your Landscape
Dense, overgrown trees can make it hard to grow anything underneath them. If you’ve tried planting flowers or shrubs under your trees only to watch them struggle, too much shade might be the problem. This is especially true in older neighborhoods, like Webster Groves and Kirkwood, where mature trees can create deep shade across entire yards.
Selective pruning lets more light filter through the canopy, which helps:
- Give your lawn the sunlight it needs to stay thick and healthy
- Allow landscape plants beneath trees to thrive
- Create better growing conditions for shade-tolerant plants
- Keep shrubs and small trees from getting too leggy as they reach for light
Plus, proper pruning helps trees fit better in your overall landscape. You can maintain views from your windows, keep trees from overwhelming smaller plants, and create a more balanced look in your yard _ all while keeping your trees healthy and strong.
Skip the DIY – Have Trees Professionally Pruned By Mathias Precision Tree Service
Pruning might look simple – just cut off some branches, right? But proper pruning takes skill, knowledge, and the right equipment. And not to mention in-depth safety training to protect structures and prevent injury.
When homeowners try to prune their own trees, they often make cuts in the wrong spots or remove too many branches. They may even “top” their trees, which can leave trees open to disease, create unsafe branch structures, or even kill them.
Professional arborists, like the team at Mathias Precision Tree Service, know exactly where and how to make pruning cuts. They understand which branches to remove to improve tree health and safety without harming the tree. They also have the right tools and safety equipment to work on tall trees and large branches – something that’s just not safe for homeowners to attempt.
When you hire a Certified Arborist, you get:
- Proper cutting techniques that help trees heal faster
- Safe removal of large or hard-to-reach branches
- Expert knowledge of different tree species and their pruning needs
- Complete cleanup and debris removal
- Insurance coverage in case anything goes wrong
If you attempt DIY pruning and end up in the hospital, or with a branch on your roof or car, your insurance company might not cover the bills, leaving you hanging. But with professionals who are certified, properly insured, and highly trained, you have nothing to worry about.
If you’re in St. Charles County or St. Louis County, give us a call at 314-322-7690 or fill out our online form. We’d love to take a look at your trees and provide a free estimate. Our goal is to save trees and make our communities safer and more beautiful.
FAQs About Tree Pruning
How often should Missouri trees be pruned?
It depends on the tree’s age, type, and location. Young trees usually need pruning every 2-3 years to develop good structure. Mature trees typically need attention every 3-5 years, though trees near buildings or power lines might need more frequent pruning. It’s best to have your trees inspected after major storms, as even healthy trees may succumb to damage and have hazardous branches.
What happens if I don’t prune my trees?
Without regular pruning, trees can develop weak branch structures, making them more likely to break during storms. They’re also more likely to get diseases, grow into power lines, or damage your house. Eventually, a neglected tree might need complete removal – which costs way more than regular pruning.
Is DIY tree pruning a good idea?
While you can handle some small branches from the ground, most pruning should be done by professionals. They have the right equipment, knowledge of proper cutting techniques, and understand how different tree species respond to pruning. Plus, climbing trees with power tools is dangerous. Professionals have the training and safety equipment to do it right.
Ready to Get Your Trees Pruned?
Don’t wait until storm damage or disease forces you to act. Having your trees pruned now by Mathias Precision’s Certified Arborists will keep them healthy, safe, and looking great all year long. Plus, catching potential problems early almost always costs less than dealing with emergency tree work later.
Call us today at 314-322-7690 or use our online form to request a free pruning estimate today.
