Cutting trees and bushes in the winter? Good or not?

[Sydnie]

I have a town work crew out here cutting my trees and bushes that line the road. This is the second time this week they have been here doing this. I sort of understood when they cut one branch that was sort of growing close to the power lines a few days ago. Now they are back cutting everything in site it seems, near a power line or not.

I had always been taught that you don't cut trees and bushes in the winter for fear of doing damage to the plant. They are not able to heal the wound in the winter and that makes them more vulnerable. At least that was what I was always told. And, if this were an acceptable practice, why would any landscape company feel the need to layoff in the winter months instead of servicing clients by continuing to prune?

Can anyone give me some guidance on the practice of tree/bush pruning in winter? Is it a good thing or should I be strapping myself to my bushes until they stop?

[Earth_First]

1. It's probably the BEST time of year to do it...

For one, the trees are in their dormancy, so they are not expelling a whole ton of energy towards production. In addition, the odds of infection from insects and biologicals is vastly reduced on the wound during the winter. Secondly, it's the best time of the year to see the crown open to decide which leads need to be removed for disease and nuisance.

[Sydnie]

2. they are not discriminating though

They are chainsawing everything in sight. Blunt cutting so that the trees and bushes are becoming lopsided.

I could understand if they were doing it with the eye of an arborist but they are doing it with the eye of an abortionist instead.

[NV Whino]

5. Earth First is right about the timing

Unfortunately, these guys are probably employed by the city or county and their objectiveis to keep the roads clear, not keep the tree pretty. We have the same thing around here and I cringe whenever the crew are out. They basically take a machine (think giant lawnmower) attached to a truck, raise it to the vertical position, and drive along the roads literally mowing the trees and bushes lining them.

[Sydnie]

7. they are town crews

and obviously are getting a good deal of grief as they go down the road doing this as they were already hostile about answering any questions about what they were doing.

One of the guys told me to call and complain. He didn't see it as the best way to spend what little bit of taxpayer money they have at this point and he lives in town too.

We had a microburst this spring which has done a great deal of damage to the trees, making them, in my opinion anyway, more vulnerable to this lopsided pruning. I have a large tree in front of my house that they cut a few days ago and after seeing other trees come down due to the weight of the snow that could have held the snow if they hadn't been weakened by the microburst already, I don't want this tree to fall on my house!

The bushes weren't obstructing anything but they were growing over my wall. They weren't in the road at all.

[kimmylavin]

12. I hate that.

I was driving home a few weeks ago, along the beautiful mountain road that leads to my town.

Then I started noticing that every single branch of every single tree had been chopped/torn.
Each branch edge was just a twisted wreck, for miles and miles.

Depressing...

[nevergiveup]

3. It sounds like they are butchering

the trees. There is a correct way to prune trees and they obviously are not interested. The thing you have going for you is that sap doesn't run in the winter so the trees and bushes will probably survive.

[zagging]

4. Some trees, like oaks, are supposed to be cut during dormancy

Otherwise oak wilt can kill the tree. For some it doesn't matter. I can tell you this, cutting live wood in the winter plays hell with a chainsaw blade.

Either way, road crews and utility crews don't give a fig about appearance. They're protecting assets. If they cut limbs, make sure they flush cut them and don't leave four foot logs sticking out of the trunks.

[ThomWV]

6. Best time for this, pruning, and also best time to get next year's firewood.

If you cut firewood now is the time to drop the trees for next year's pile. Get them down before the sap starts again and the leaves are on; it will make your work so much easier when its time to cut them up and split them.

Now is the time to prune in much of the country too. Get the old growth out of the grape vines and the blueberries - whatever you've got that requires annual maintainence, now is the time to do it.

And if there is clearing to do for powerlines or other civic reasons you'll do less damage to the plant in winter than when its active again.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. If I must cut down standing trees for firewood, I usually wait a little later.

If you wait until the trees are just starting to leaf out, the leaves will continue to grow, drawing most of the water from the down tree.

[Trajan]

8. Always pruned in January - February ...

Bushes .... Grapevines ... Tree limbs ....

For the reasons already offered ....

[susanna]

14. Lilacs, too.

It's the time I was taught by grandma; prune them while dormant for the next year, so they stay bushy and don't grow vertically out of control. You need to do it in three stages, though, or you'll lose all the blooms the next season (as the blooms are set right after flowering). You cull a third of the branches the 1st winter, the next third of the branches the following winter, and the last third the winter after. Repeat the process indefinitely. It works well for my lilac bush, which is a certifiable monster and would overtake the house if we didn't follow that process. We just mark the branches to cut with a white crayon in the fall and wait until Jan/Feb to remove them. At that point, we mark the next set and reapply the crayon throughout the year until the next pruning period. When we first started doing it, it looked pretty ugly (super tall branches next to short ones) but now it's really come full circle and looks lovely. Blooms something crazy, too.

If I am not supposed to do it that way, the lilac doesn't seem to know the difference. :-)

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Safer for line crews to trim and cut when the leaves aren't out

That goes for homeowners, too.

[NNN0LHI]

10. They have a right of way below the power lines

They can completely remove your trees if they wish.

Its the law.

Try and stop them and they will have you arrested.

Its hard to really understand why until you see a tree on fire some day from the wires going through it.

Don

[crispini]

11. Sounds like the power company is doing a "five year cut"

They do this so they won't have to keep coming back. However, it's pretty shocking when you see it at first. You can't do anything about it. Luckily winter is in fact the best time to prune trees. Just had mine done a few weeks ago.

[susanna]

15. And once the leaves start growing in,

a lot of the currently savage-looking cuts fill in and look OK (unless they really lopsided their cuts), or that's been my experience. I'm sure they look awful right now though!

[earth mom]

16. I won't let those guys touch my trees. They do a crappy job.

I'll find a way to pay for an arborist before I let those guys touch a leaf of one of my trees.

[susanna]

19. You have a choice?

I'm in an urban area, and it's pretty much their call. Must be nice where you're at...

[bigtree]

17. town crews are butchers

. . . but, the bushes and trees should be in dormancy, with most of the sap withdrawn into the trunk. It's an ideal time for this. Plus, you can see the shape of the trees (or bushes) better without the leaves and make better cuts.

[B Calm]

18. Be thankful they're not spraying. . . .