Tree Trimming & Pruning
Good pruning is invisible. You should look at the tree afterward and think it just grew that way — not that somebody took a saw to it.
The difference between trimming and topping
Topping is when somebody cuts the top out of a tree at a random height, leaving stubs. It is the single most damaging thing you can do to a mature tree, and it is still done all over the Mid-South because it's fast and it looks decisive.
Here's what actually happens: the tree responds to the injury by pushing dozens of fast, weakly attached shoots from just under the cuts. Within five to seven years you have a taller, denser, heavier crown attached by unions that were never structurally anchored — sitting on a trunk that's now decaying from every stub cut. Topped trees are more likely to fail in a storm than the tree you started with, not less.
Every cut we make is a proper reduction cut back to a lateral branch capable of assuming the terminal role, per ANSI A300. If a tree is genuinely too big for its location, the honest answer is removal and replanting with a species that fits — not topping.
When to prune in the Mid-South
Late winter to early spring, before bud break, is the sweet spot for most species here. The tree is dormant, the structure is visible without leaves, wounds close fast once growth starts, and insect and disease pressure is low.
Timing exceptions worth knowing:
- Oaks: avoid pruning April through July where oak wilt is a concern. Dormant-season pruning is the safe window.
- Spring bloomers (dogwood, redbud, crabapple, ornamental cherry): prune right after they finish flowering or you'll cut off next year's show.
- Crape myrtles: late winter — and no, they do not need to be cut back to knuckles every year. That's topping with a nicer name.
- Deadwood and hazards: any time. Safety doesn't wait for a season.
Clearance work
A lot of what we do is unglamorous and important: raising a canopy off a roof line so squirrels and limbs quit using it as a bridge, clearing a driveway so a delivery truck stops shearing branches, opening a sight line at an intersection, or pulling growth back off a service drop. If a limb is touching a primary power line, that's MLGW's utility crew, not ours — but the service drop from the pole to your house is fair game, and we handle those carefully.
What’s included
- Crown cleaning — deadwood, broken, diseased and crossing limbs out
- Structural pruning on young and mid-age trees to prevent future failures
- Crown raising for driveway, sidewalk, mower and roof clearance
- Crown reduction and thinning done to ANSI A300 standards
- Storm-hardening pruning ahead of severe weather season
- We do not top trees, and we'll tell you why
Tree down? Limb on the house? We roll 24/7 across the Mid-South.
Call (901) 461-6075 NowTree Trimming & Pruning — common questions
How much should I take off a tree at once?
As a rule, no more than about 25% of the live canopy in a single season on a mature tree — less on an older or stressed one. Anybody offering to "take it down by half" is describing damage, not maintenance.
Do you use spikes to climb?
Not on a tree that's staying. Spikes are for removals. Climbing a live tree on spikes punches wounds through the bark all the way up the trunk and is an easy way to spot a company that doesn't know or doesn't care.
How often should trees be pruned?
Young trees benefit from structural pruning every 2–3 years — that's when you cheaply prevent the co-dominant leader that fails 25 years later. Mature shade trees typically need attention every 3–5 years for deadwood and clearance.
Can pruning fix a leaning tree?
Sometimes. Weight reduction on the leaning side can buy a tree years. If the lean is from root plate failure, no amount of pruning fixes it — that's a removal, and it needs to happen before the next storm.
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Need tree trimming and pruning? Let us get you a number.
Most quotes go out the same day you call. Storm and hazard work gets priority dispatch. Straight pricing, written estimate, and a yard that looks like we were never there.
(901) 461-6075