Tree Trimming & Pruning in Akron, OH

Tree trimming and pruning is how a big tree stays in a small Akron yard. A 90-year-old red oak or sugar maple over a house in Kenmore or Highland Square has usually had decades of uneven growth, a few storm breaks and some deadwood up top. Careful pruning removes the dead and broken limbs, takes weight off long horizontal branches that catch wet snow, and opens space over the roof, gutters and driveway, without stripping the tree or leaving stubs that rot. Done well, most of the tree's crown stays, and the tree is less likely to drop something heavy in the next storm.

What good pruning looks like

The industry standard for pruning, ANSI A300, and the guidance from the International Society of Arboriculture come down to a few practical rules. Cuts are made just outside the branch collar, the slightly swollen ring where a limb meets the trunk, so the tree can seal the wound. Limbs are shortened back to a side branch big enough to take over, not chopped at a random point. And only as much live canopy is removed as the job needs; taking off too much at once stresses the tree and triggers a flush of weak sprouts. If you see a crew leaving stubs or cutting a tree's top off flat, that is not pruning.

Why topping doesn't work

Topping, cutting a tree's main stems back to stubs to make it shorter, is the most common bad practice in tree trimming. The stubs decay, and the tree pushes out dense clusters of fast, weakly attached shoots. Within a few years the tree is as tall as before and more likely to shed limbs onto the roof. If a tree is genuinely too big for its spot, crown reduction to proper side branches, or removal, is the honest answer.

Oaks need their own schedule

Oak wilt has killed oaks on Akron's north and west sides, and fresh pruning wounds in spring and summer give the fungus a way in. Guidance shared when the City of Akron warned residents about oak wilt was not to prune oaks voluntarily from April 1 to October 1. We schedule routine oak work for late fall and winter. If a storm breaks an oak limb in July, that broken limb still needs a clean cut, and that's done right away.

When other trees are pruned

Most deciduous trees here, including maples, can be pruned while dormant in late winter, when the branch structure is easy to see and the tree is about to grow and seal its cuts. Maples and birches may drip sap from late-winter cuts; it looks alarming but does not hurt the tree. Spring-flowering trees like crabapples and serviceberries are best pruned just after they bloom. Dead, broken or hanging limbs should come out whenever you find them.

Clearance over houses, streets and wires

Limbs touching the roof hold moisture on shingles and drop debris into gutters, and limbs over the driveway scrape trucks and garage doors. Branches over sidewalks and streets need to be high enough for people and vehicles to pass. Limbs near the service wire that runs from the pole to your house can often be cleared carefully; anything touching the main lines on the poles is for Ohio Edison's line clearance crews, which trim around lines on a four-year cycle in Summit County.