As property owners, there are plenty of things to practice for proper tree maintenance. One of the suitable approaches to tree maintenance is tree pruning; it helps trees to grow healthier and stronger and reduces the risk of any kind of tree damage on your property. It also prevents trees from harsh climatic conditions like hail storms and thunders. Once you prune your trees, will it be enough for your trees?

Many people consider sealing pruned tree branches or parts of trees as an immediate course of action after pruning. Sealing tree branches or applying paints after pruning is an old practice considered an act of tree care. A generation of house owners grew up believing that using seals and paints on pruned tree branches prevents decay and improves appearance after pruning. On the contrary, this act is considered harmful to trees. Here’s why.

Impedes Natural Healing

Pruning sealers or paint – petroleum-based or natural sealers like aloe gel and collagen; obstruct natural healing in trees. When a tree is pruned, a soft tissue – callus tissue forms over the pruned surface, leading to natural healing in trees. The use of sealers traps the moisture around the pruned surface and halts the growth of this callus tissue, impeding natural healing. Callus tissue also acts as a shield against infection, rot, and foreign particles.

Invites Bacterial and Fungal Diseases

Some pruning sealers/ paint attracts insects, fungus, and bacteria. They feed on the sealers and leave the pruned wound wide open – vulnerable to diseases. Since sealers prevent the formation of callus tissue, there is no shield between the exposed part of the branch and those foreign bodies. This is as good as inviting new diseases to already wounded tree branches.

Leads to Tree Decay

Pruning sealers cover the pruned section of branches, thus trapping the moisture and sap – a kind of tree secretion throughout the wound area. This supports the growth of wood decay fungi around the cut section, which rapidly spreads to the other parts of the branches and tree. This increases decay susceptibility in trees.

If you have been practising sealing tree branches after pruning, this is a practice you should stop doing. Sealing tree branches, using any process, impedes the natural growth of the tree and effect trees from fighting off insect and organism infection on their own, making branches weak in the future. So, what can property owners do instead of sealing pruned tree branches to create healthy vegetation?

Over the years, tree care services like tree pruning, stump removal, branch removal, and others have helped house owners create a rigid and favourable dimension for tree well-being. Trained arborists and tree care workers are readily available to integrate a proper tree care habit for your vegetation; they provide affordable tree services even in city areas like Melbourne. Same Day Tree Works offers affordable tree care services near you in Melbourne.

In the case of a dead or diseased tree or parts of trees, it is in your vegetation’s best interest to contact professional tree service providers who not only help preserve your trees but also introduce proper and refined ways of better tree maintenance. Find the best and most affordable tree pruning service in Melbourne with Same Day Tree Works. You can help your trees heal and encourage their natural growth by getting help from Same Day Tree arborists. They are there to help!

David Jones