Tree Trimming & Pruning in Knoxville, TN

Tree trimming and pruning in Knoxville is mostly about weight and structure. Hardwoods here grow fast in a long, wet growing season, and the result is often long, heavy limbs reaching over roofs and driveways, tight V-shaped forks in maples and pears, and dead branches in the interior of big oaks and poplars. The goal of good pruning is a tree that stands up better to summer thunderstorms and the occasional ice storm, keeps its shape and does not have to be cut again every year.

What we prune for

• Deadwood: dead and dying branches, which fall without warning and are an entry point for decay.
• Clearance: limbs over roofs, gutters, chimneys, driveways and sidewalks, cut back to a proper point instead of sheared.
• Weight reduction: shortening long, heavy limbs that hang out over a house or a slope, which reduces the leverage on the attachment.
• Structure: removing one of two competing leaders, or a branch with a weak, bark-included fork, while the tree is young enough for the cut to be small.
• Light and air: selective thinning so a lawn or garden gets some sun and wind passes through the crown instead of catching it like a sail.

How the cuts are made

We follow the ANSI A300 pruning standard, the American industry standard for tree care. In practice that means cutting back to the branch collar or to a lateral branch large enough to take over, not leaving stubs, not stripping a tree's interior (sometimes called lion's-tailing) and, as a general rule, not removing more of the live crown at one time than the tree can handle. We do not top trees. Topping leaves big wounds that decay and a flush of weakly attached sprouts that grow back thicker and more dangerous than the limbs that were cut.

Knoxville trees with their own needs

Tulip poplars are fast-growing and their branches are weak and easily broken, so long limbs over a house are worth shortening before they fail. Bradford pears develop narrow, weak forks and split in wind and ice; pruning can buy time, but on older pears it rarely solves the problem, and we will tell you if removal makes more sense. Dogwoods, so important to Knoxville that a 17-day festival celebrates them every April, are small understory trees that can suffer from dogwood anthracnose and borers; light pruning of dead and crossing twigs after flowering helps, and wounds from mowers and string trimmers at the base should be avoided. Oaks are best pruned in the dormant season.

Limbs near power lines

KUB inspects and prunes along its roughly 5,000 miles of line on a three- to four-year cycle, keeping at least 10 feet of clearance above and below distribution lines at no charge to you. The wire that runs from the pole to your house is different: KUB does not prune around service lines serving a single customer, so keeping limbs off it falls to the homeowner. Call KUB to have that line lowered for free before the work, and it will be reconnected afterward. Anything near the primary lines at the top of the pole is left to KUB's crews.

When to prune

Late winter is a good time for most hardwoods: leaves are off, structure is easy to see, and the tree has all of spring to start sealing over cuts. Spring-flowering trees like dogwood and redbud are often pruned right after they bloom. Dead, cracked or hanging limbs should come out whenever you notice them, and many homeowners schedule a clearance trim in late spring before thunderstorm season.