5 Benefits of Regular Tree Trimming

Georgia is home to nearly 400 Champion Trees. While living in a climate so favorable to the growth of strong, resilient trees is a boon for homeowners, it also brings with it serious responsibilities.

Keeping the trees on your property safe and healthy means scheduling regular tree trimming. Keep reading now to learn why to trim a tree, how to do it, and how to get the best results for your efforts.

Benefit 1: Curb Appeal

At first glance, curb appeal might sound like a frivolous reason to invest in tree pruning. In reality, however, curb appeal is critically important. How you maintain your home not only sends a strong message that you're proud of your home and community, it also:

• Helps keep home values high
• Reduces the likelihood of crime
• Helps keep your insurance premiums down

In fact, good landscaping can boost the value of your property by as much as five percent. Poor or untidy landscaping, by contrast, can devalue your property by up to 10 percent. Properties with mature trees are 20 percent more likely to sell than those without.

Whether you need to touch up your yard to keep things neat or you want to take more radical action for a fresh look, trimming your trees is a powerful first step. It's also one of the best ways to get a great bang for your buck because trimming gives you a host of other benefits as well!

Benefit 2: Safety

Unkept trees are more likely to cause injuries and home damage than well-maintained ones. While the chances of injury or damage can feel remote, they are much more common than people realize.

In fact, the National Storm Damage Center reports that falling trees cause several hundred deaths and more than $1 billion in property damage every year. These accidents can take many forms.

• Children climbing on unhealthy tree branches risk falling and suffering a serious injury
• Tree limbs can fall on people or pets
• Whole trees or branches can fall on houses, cars, or other vehicles or structures during storms

To make matters worse, your insurance may not cover or may only partially cover tree damage to your property if they determine that you did not take appropriate action to maintain your trees safely.

Benefit 3: Healthy Trees

Experts in fields ranging from urban planning to ecology to healthcare agree that healthy trees are key to healthy communities.

Trees contribute to human health by:

• Lowering pollution and promoting good air quality
• Lowering blood pressure
• Improving mental and emotional health
• Encouraging people of all ages to spend time outdoors being active and social

Trees protect the environment by:

• Providing shade that decreases heating and cooling expenses
• Sequestering carbon dioxide
• Reducing stormwater runoff
• Providing homes and food sources for birds and other native wildlife

Trees reshape human behavior patterns. They make our neighborhoods safer and give us a better quality of life. Keeping your trees healthy ensures that future generations will continue to enjoy all of these benefits.

Benefit 4: Early Warning of Problems or Disease

Pestilence and disease can not only hurt trees but the people and communities around them. For example, the NIH reports increased levels of illness and illness-related mortality in areas ravaged by the Emerald Ash Borer.

One of the benefits of tree trimming on a regular basis is that you can catch signs of disease or infestation in your trees early. This enables you to:

• Take corrective action to save the affected trees
• Take steps to prevent the spread of the problem
• Address problems while they are still small, manageable, and inexpensive to handle

Long-term, catching and addressing problems early can help you keep the strong, mature trees in your yard that play such a key role in property value and quality of life.

Benefit 5: Saving Money

As with nearly everything else about owning a home, the old adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" applies. Taking care of your trees, including trimming them on a regular basis, is the most cost-effective way to enjoy all the benefits that having trees on your property affords you.

It prevents major accidents, emergency investments, and the outright removal and replacement of mature trees. Finally, it protects your family and your property in truly priceless ways.

How Often Should Trees Be Trimmed?

There is no single timing interval that applies to every type of tree or every property. How often your trees need pruning depends on:

• The type of trees you have
• Your trees' age and health
• Your trees' positions relative to vulnerable landscape features such as power lines or roofs

Most homeowners find it convenient and appropriate to evaluate their trees:

• In the spring when doing other yard cleanup or house projects
• In the fall, before winter sets in
• After storms or bad weather when trees might have taken damage

At a minimum, have an expert assess your property at least once per year. This ensures that you don't miss key early warning sins of trouble.

In the event of a disaster, it also allows you to document for the insurance company that you maintained your trees in a responsible way. This protects your coverage and ensures you receive the funds you deserve.

The Benefits of Hiring Tree Trimming Professionals

Once you've decided that your trees need some attention, it can be tempting to google "how to prune a tree" and have a go at the project yourself. This is a mistake, however.

Tree trimming that is safe for both the tree and the trimmer requires:

• The right tools and personal protective equipment
• Experience assessing and evaluating trees
• Knowledge of how to address common tree problems

Tree trimming can be dangerous. In addition to common risks such as falling or cutting oneself on one's tools, OSHA reports numerous tree-trimming-related injuries and fatalities every year due to less well-known hazards like asphyxia and electrocution.

Then there is the question of liability. If you trim your trees yourself and later an accident happens, your insurance company may blame you for failing to handle your tree care properly. This can lead to their refusal to pay your claims.

Hiring professionals protects you, your family, your trees, and your home.

Call Today

Tree trimming offers a host of benefits, but it is best handled by experts. Get a free estimate today and discover just how easy and affordable it is to take great care of your property.

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