Pruning is an essential care operation carried out on plants that ensure that the plants do not just grow but ensures that they grow well and look in their best shape. Pruning branches may appear to be counterintuitive at a logical level, but it does help tree plants in a lot of ways.
Pruning branches can be likened to having a haircut. Initially, you lose some hair, and your hair takes better shape. Afterward, the hair starts growing back in a fuller, shinier, and thicker. The hair also becomes healthier and will no longer break, in the cases of split ends.
So when people ask ‘do branches grow back after pruning’? We like to go with the hair analogy, but as you know, tree plants and hair are not the same, so there are more to tree plants and their growth after pruning.
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Why Should I Prune My Tree Branches?
If you want your tree to be in the best state and live for a long time, then pruning is compulsory! Additionally, taking out diseased or dead branches keeps you, your home, and the household safe.
Below are the reasons you should prune your tree branches:
Prune Tree Branches For Good Health
Pruning tree branches for good health is essential when the tree is young. It is carried out on the tree a few years after planting the tree.
At this stage, the tree is trained to develop a sturdy and sound branch structure. Then the when the tree becomes more mature, you prune to reduce its thick canopy or get rid of weaker branches.
When you remove excessive branches, you improve the shape of the tree, and the amount of sunlight and air that circulates through the tree’s canopy is increased. As your elementary science suggests, when there is more sunlight, there is improved photosynthesis, which leads to increased growth!
Trees that are not pruned routinely or pruned at all deteriorate rapidly and die faster than trees that are routinely pruned.
Prune Tree Branches For Safety
Trees that are pruned are less likely to have their branches breaking off and falling during storms. This should be the first reason why you should have your trees pruned as at when due.
You wouldn’t want any weak branches destroying any of your property or even causing harm to you during adverse weather conditions.
In order to avoid any of these from happening, old trees should be pruned, and the not-so-healthy branches should be gotten rid of. While pruning, make sure to checkup your tree to ensure that it is entirely healthy.
A healthy tree would save you a lot of money and deliver pleasant aesthetics. Whereas if it is unhealthy and poorly maintained, the tree will cause you expensive damage to either your household or property or even both!
Take, for instance, a sweet gum tree weighs twice as much as a Honda Civic at 52, 000 pounds, and 75 feet in height. Now, imagine the grievous damage this tree would cause if the branches are left unattended to and a storm strikes!
Damaged and downed trees account for more than $1billion in property damage yearly in the United States.
When you think of not pruning your tree branches, think of your home and other valuable property you have.
For Aesthetics and Improved Home Value
One of the reasons you should prune your tree branches is to improve the tree’s appearance, which influences the aesthetics it offers to your landscape.
In addition to this, a well maintained, beautiful tree will improve the value of the home, in which it is grown, should you want to sell the home. Research showed that a healthy tree in front of a house increases the value of the house by $7,130 on average.
If the tree bears fruits, pruning the tree would help it grow bigger fruits consistently over its fruiting seasons. So, pruning offers a win-win situation.
Do Branches Grow Back After Pruning?
You have to pay close attention to the answer to this question. If you are wondering if branches grow back after pruning, the answer is no. Branches do not grow back after pruning.
Do new branches grow after the old branches are pruned? Yes, new branches grow in place of the old ones, but this depends on a lot of factors.
Some of the factors that determine whether a tree grows new branches after the old branches have been pruned include the part of the tree that was cut.
If you want your tree to grow new branches after pruning, then you must avoid cutting into the trunk wood, by all means; instead, you can cut into the branch wood.
If you cut into the trunk wood, your tree branch would take a very long time to grow back, and in most cases, they would not grow back at all. Cutting into the tree trunk destroys the tree’s ability to grow new woods either for a significant time or permanently.
To avoid creating this type of damage to your tree, while pruning your tree, cut the branches with caution, and ensure to cut only the branch wood. If you do not trust your hands enough, you can call on a professional to handle the pruning job.
Another vital factor to consider in ensuring that your tree branches grow back after pruning is to avoid tree topping. Tree topping is when the main branches of a tree are cut from the top all the way to the trunk.
Most tree owners carry out tree topping during stormy weather, as they often think that it is the best way to keep branches from falling off.
They also assume that the pruned branches will grow back exactly where they were because they think they have just temporarily shortened the branches.
Well, this is a wrong assumption, and by carrying out tree topping, they are severely damaging the tree. The branches do not grow back, and if they ever do, they grow back weaker than they were before they were pruned. This leaves them very susceptible to being destroyed during incoming stormy weather.
Conclusion
By now, you should have known whether branches grow back after pruning or not. As stated above, some factors determine whether branches can grow back after pruning or not.
If you are interested in having the tree branches grow back after pruning, you should hire a professional hand to cut the branches at the right spots, to avoid damaging the tree entirely or causing the branches not to grow back as at when due or in a weaker form.
So do branches grow back after pruning? I bet you already know the answer.
