Tree trimming questions?

[polarsusd81]

When should a person trim branches on trees? Along with that, how much should a person trim them back? I have way too many trees in my yard and 10 of 13 are fully mature, old trees. I would love to take 5 or 6 of them out, but the ones I want to remove are in the powerlines. Should I call the electric company to trim those ones or ask about removal? I have one pine that is actually growing between the telephone and power lines running to my house, the lines are less than a foot away on each side. I don't want to touch that one.

Just looking for a few trimming/pruning tips.

[Powerstroke]

As a general rule, tree trimming should be done in the winter. That being said, there are some species that cane be safely trimmed year round. It just depends on the tree.

There are many ways to trim a tree. If you're "thinning" it out you should not remove more than 1/3 of live material. Dead branches can be removed as much as you find. If you're "trimming back" meaning you're trying to shorten up some of the limbs or raise them up, then the 1/3 rule applies, but it takes mroe of any eye about how much to remove or whether to remove the whole branch.

When dealing with power lines, its important to know which lines are which. If they are the main lines from pole to pole they are the responsibility of the utility, but the only time they will trimmed is if they interfere with the power. Phone and cable lines aren't as adversely affected so they don't trim. They wait for the power company to come along. Call Xcel Energy and tell them about it. Most areas are on a 10yr plan unless they get complaints. Xcel won't remove a tree unless THEY think it needs to go cause it creates more work, but they should be able to clear the wires to a safe point that a normal tree company could remove the rest of the tree.

For wires between the pole and your house, those are technically your responsibility. If you need work done around them, the company can come and disconnect your house drop for a short time while the work is done and reconnect them afterward. Find companies who are trained to work around wires and identify them.