Tree care and maintenance is the key to healthy, longer lasting trees.  Tree trimming and pruning is important because it encourages proper air circulation, which can help reduce disease incidence in your trees. It also protects your trees from high wind damage, which can help prevent damage to your home and lawn. Tree maintenance can remove dangerous limbs that can easily fall during severe weather and it allows more sunlight to hit the flower garden you worked so hard on beneath the tree.  The biggest problem people have with proper tree maintenance is using the right tools.

Luckily, your local hardware store has everything you need for tree maintenance.  For starters, every one should own a chainsaw. Chainsaws are great for new homeowners especially because everyone wants to remove something out of their backyard.  However, their also useful for the occasional tree that falls during a severe storm. You want to be able to cut the tree into many pieces without having to use the effort of a real axe unless you are looking for one heck of a workout.  Another good tool is a log splitter.  When I first saw a log splitter I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. If you’re old school like me, you’re used to splitting wood with an axe on an old stump, which is ok, but if you have a lot of wood, it’s best to rent a splitter because it can reduce your effort and time by chopping massive volumes of logs. It’s also perfect for those really big logs where an axe just won’t cut it.

For those branches that are too high up, try using a trimmer on a pole. This will help you reach those dead branches that are so hard to reach. You can also use the pole attachment for pruning. Whether it’s a pole pruner or a folding pruner, pruners are essential to keeping an older tree healthy. Pruning is meant to remove diseased branches, obstructing lower branches, and to shape a tree or bush for design purposes. For those trees that have already fallen, to complete the job, you need to rent a stump grinder to remove what is left behind. These tools are really neat because there is no better way to remove a tree from its foundation.  Stump grinders are easily portable and use ‘teeth’ to break down tree stumps into mulch.  Finally for any branches and trees that are two small for the fireplace, use a chipper. A chipper will turn branches and pieces of wood into your own version of mulch for your yard. With the right tree, you can even use the chips for your next barbecue if you have a smoker.

All of these tools can be rented from your local hardware store. As spring begins to awaken, take a hard look at your backyard and figure out what needs to be trimmed, pruned, and chipped. Once you have an idea in your mind, visit your hardware store to get everything you need for tree maintenance.