Email: Woody@Stumpbuster.com

Tree Trimming - Why it is not the same as getting a hair cut.

If you get a bad hair cut all that you have to do is wait until it all grows again and start over with a perfect head of hair.

The same is not true with trimming a tree!

A tree is nature’s perfect solar collection system. The leaves are like solar panels that convert sunlight and carbon dioxide to sugars and starches that provide the energy to power up the tree. When trimming we should always leave enough leafy growth on the tree so that there is sufficient sap flow to heal the punning cuts. The sap flow out of the cuts will chemically change into a decay resistant compound that allows the tree to compartmentalize the wound and form a coating to {in many cases] completely stop rot from reaching the core of the tree.

It is generally not a good idea to remove more than twenty-five percent of the leafy growth of a tree at one time. However my customers generally cannot afford to have yearly maintenance done on their trees. They want as much done as possible when we are there working. Understandable.

Because sunlight is vital for sugar production, it is true that inside branches that are shaded from the sun are not contributing that much to sugar production. It is always better to thin out a tree from top the bottom and selectively remove a few large limbs hanging over the home than just hacking of all the branches nearest to the home.

To stop mold or damp conditions involving the home this top to bottom thinning and selective large limb cutting will allow much more leafy growth to be removed from the tree than the close to the house hack method, and will allow much more sunlight just to pass through the tree and is always your best option to protect your home and preserve the beauty and health of your trees.

There are many other elements that affect how a tree responds to trimming, such as excessive sunlight exposure to punning cuts that will cause sucker growth at the cut or prevent a proper healing of the wound.

Any tree will be healthier with several lighter trimmings rather than one heavy one. A heavy trim can cause what is referred to as a witch’s broom on a cut off stub and cause sucker growth all over the tree to manifest. If a terminal end is not left on the branch the sap flow out to the cut off stub will also cause witches brooms.

This is the reason that we don’t top trees.

Once this witch broom condition is caused nothing can be done to reverse it. The tree will have a Bart Simpson look with jagged suckers sticking out all over.

When you get a hacked up and badly done haircut, get some one better next time and all will be fine and you will no longer look like Bart Simpson.

Get the same bad cut to your tree and that Bart Simpson look is yours forever.

Working with a professional is generally your best value over the long run. If you have any questions about the trees in your yard just call Woody at 203-CUT-TREE (288-8733) for a free tree analysis

A professional generally deliver's the best value in the long run

About the Hands of Tines.

Everything that has ever been invented was created to fill a need.
Imagine a large tool that has some of the function of a human hand. The plowrake is such a tool.
Imagine working in the garden, you thrust your open hand palm up in the soil and push up a small pile of dirt. Now imagine curling your fingers over that pile until your fingernails are in the front of the dirt pile, then clawing the ground and pulling back the captured dirt and raking back the dirt with your fingers, releasing the dirt as you fill in holes and level the grade. The PLOWRAKE™ is a tool with similar functions of the human hand.

All about the Plowrake.

Woodward Harding of Hamden, Ct. has been granted two patents for a landscaping tool that combines a plow blade and hydraulicly controlled horizontal pivoting rake-tines allowing for quick, efficient, cost effective plowing and raking of materials such as soil, gravel, wood chips and snow.

The PLOWRAKE™ has a robust overall design that is meant for heavy use and features a patented self-cleaning hinge mechanism which expels rather than binds foreign materials within the hinge. This patent hinge design assures continuous and unhindered use regardless of what material is being worked.

The PLOWRAKE™ can be attached to pickup trucks, tractors and skiploaders enableing landscapers, road construction personnel, farmers and others who work with aggregate materials to complete tasks with forward-backward motions producing high quality grading results with less time and effort than with conventional plows. This significant time savings (40% or more) equates to increased profit generation in commercial applications and substantial labor savings in private use. The PLOWRAKE™ eliminates the need for awkward, inefficient and time consuming backblading.

Mr. Harding has enlisted the Kessler Corporation of Freemont, Ohio in assisting with the marketing of the PLOWRAKE™ to manufacturing firms interested in licencing, production and sales agreements world-wide..