Tree Trimming & Pruning in Salt Lake City, UT

Tree trimming and pruning in Salt Lake City has two jobs: make trees safer under snow and wind, and avoid stressing trees that already live on irrigation in a high desert. Good pruning removes the right branches, not a set percentage of the tree. On a mature shade tree that usually means taking out dead and broken wood, thinning a crown that has grown dense and heavy, shortening long limbs over a roof, and lifting low branches off the driveway or sidewalk.

How a proper cut is made

The ANSI A300 pruning standard, which the tree care industry follows in the U.S., describes cutting a branch just outside the branch collar, the swollen ring where it joins the trunk, and reducing a limb back to a side branch big enough to take over. Those cuts seal over. Topping, which shears a tree back to stubs, leaves wounds that rot and sprouts that grow fast and attach weakly. Topped trees often come back denser and more dangerous than before, so we don't do it.

Why stubs and wounds matter here

USU Extension says cytospora canker, one of the most common diseases of shade and fruit trees in Utah, gets into trees through pruning cuts, broken branches, sunscald and other injuries, and that there is no fungicide that controls it once inside. It advises against leaving stubs or narrow crotches and suggests not pruning in spring when rain is expected. Clean cuts at the right place give a tree its best chance.

Timing in the Salt Lake Valley

Late winter suits most deciduous trees: the leaves are off, the structure is easy to see, and the tree pushes new growth to close wounds in spring. USU Extension recommends avoiding late-summer pruning because it can make trees more vulnerable to winter injury. Dead or broken branches can come out any time of year, and pruning before an early snow can save a limb that would otherwise tear out.

Evergreens and the trees in your park strip

Spruce and pine are pruned lightly, mainly to remove dead lower limbs and clear sight lines; cutting into bare wood won't grow back. Park strip trees are city trees, and Salt Lake City requires a permit for any pruning in the public right-of-way. The city prunes those trees itself for safety, obstructions and health, so call Urban Forestry at (801) 972-7818 before you hire anyone.

Near power lines

Branches near overhead lines are Rocky Mountain Power's job. The utility prunes for clearance at no charge and asks people to call 1-888-221-7070 instead of pruning near lines themselves.