Tree Pruning Cost

It is impossible to maintain strong, healthy, and good-looking trees on your home without regular pruning. Helping you eliminate dead branches, limbs carrying tree diseases, and branches harboring pests, tree pruning is a crucial tree maintenance activity.

One thing that Daytona Beach residents are realizing is that tree pruning works best when handled by professionals. From making the entire process safe to minimizing the chances of tree damage, professionals tree pruners are the go-to option for property owners.

Working with professionals, however, costs money. Knowing the tree pruning cost to expect puts you in a much better position when planning your tree pruning project. Giving you the exact cost for pruning a specific tree may be impossible – this is because different trees will have varying costs. However, we can give you accurate cost estimates and factors that affect the tree pruning cost.

Average Daytona Beach Tree Pruning Cost

Pruning projects cost between $200 and $2000 in Daytona Beach. On average, however, most property owners spend $460 on pruning. This tree pruning cost is for a single tree. If you have several trees that need pruning, the cost on your tree pruning quote will increase accordingly.

Improving your safety, eliminating the possibility of home damage, and ensuring that your tree does not get damaged irreversibly, working with professionals is worth it. It is not uncommon for inexperienced property owners to attempt pruning their trees, only to end up falling and sustaining heavy injuries. Some will drop the cut branches on their houses or utilities – this can lead to spending thousands on the necessary repairs.

Factors Affecting the Tree Pruning Cost in Daytona Beach

1. Tree Height

Carrying a significant height between the tree crown and the ground, taller trees are riskier to prune. In addition to this, they generally have bigger branches and complicated shapes. These tell you that taller trees will have a higher tree pruning cost, unlike the shorter trees.

To help you plan your pruning project, we have listed the pruning costs to expect for trees of varying heights:

• 30 feet and below– On average, you will spend between $75 and $400 pruning trees whose height doesn’t exceed 30 feet.
• 30 to 60 feet– Medium height trees cost between $150 and $800 to prune.
• 60+ feet– Trees with this height have a tree pruning cost of more about $1500.

2. Tree Health

Pest infestations and health complications weaken trees, often making them unstable. When pruning unstable trees, the tree pruners will have to come up with effective stabilizing options to keep the tree from falling while it is being pruned. Generally, pests and diseases make tree pruning more complicated.

Additionally, after the tree pruning, the professionals will have to implement treatment solutions to help eliminate the pests and to speed up the recovery process. The pesticides and medications needed to heal a tree are often charged separately. Compared to healthy trees, trees with health issues have a higher tree pruning cost.

3. Tree Type

Tree species have a significant effect on how complicated the tree pruning process will be. For example, some tree species carry thorns – to make the pruning process safe, the professionals will need additional safety gear. It is also worth noting that some tree species grow taller than others – this means that they will have a higher tree pruning cost. Below, we have outlined the tree pruning cost for different tree species.

Pine Tree

On average, pine trees reach a height of between 40 and 100 feet. White pine, however, tends to grow to 150+ feet. Tree pruners in Daytona Beach charge between $100 and $1,500 to prune pine trees.

Palm Trees

Palm trees rarely exceed 80 feet in height. However, you will be hard-pressed to find a palm tree with a height of below 20 feet. Palm tree owners spend $100 to $1500+ on palm tree pruning.

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees rarely grow to over 30 feet. With $100 – $400, you should be able to prune almost any fruit tree in Daytona Beach.

Crepe Myrtle Trees

One of the shortest tree species in Daytona Beach, Crepe Myrtle grows to a height of between 3 and 30 feet. Their smaller height makes these trees very affordable to prune. With just $75 to $400, you can prune any Crepe Myrtle tree in Daytona Beach.

Hardwood Trees

These trees are generally harder to prune – professionals tree pruners need more time to saw off a single branch. Compared to softwood trees, hardwoods have a higher tree pruning cost. Oaktree is one of the best examples of hardwood trees.

4. Tree Accessibility

Trees standing in open ground and away from buildings and utility lines are easy to access. When pruning such trees, the tree pruners can just let the branches fall freely. This reduces the tree pruning cost.

On the other hand, trees standing next to buildings and power lines are hard to access. To minimize the possibility of tree damage, the tree pruners will have to rope down the branches they cut slowly. Increasing the time and effort spent on a single tree, minimal accessibility increases the tree pruning cost.

Large Tree Pruning Cost

If you have big trees in your compound, you will have to dig deeper into your pockets compared to a property owner with shorter trees. Trees taller than 60 feet will cost between $800 and $1800 to prune. If you have a tree whose height exceeds 100 feet, you should prepare more than $2000 for the tree pruning project.

Additional Tree Pruning Costs

The quote you receive from a tree pruning service provider includes the basic services needed when pruning a tree. In most cases, some services are not included in the tree pruning cost – you will need to pay some additional fees for the services. The services that often increase the tree pruning cost include:

• Treatment costs– If your tree is dealing with health problems, you may need to spend some extra money on the arborist and treatment services.
• Pesticide costs– If the tree is infested with pests, these may force you to spend some extra money on the pesticide spraying.
• Travel fees– If the tree pruners live a significant distance from your home, you may need to spend some money on the travel fee. Most tree service providers charge a flat rate of $50 to $200. Some will, however, charge $0.5 per mile.

Factors Influencing the Timing for Tree Pruning

Tree pruning has to be timed correctly to ensure maximum benefits. The factors considered when timing the tree pruning include:

Safety

Tree pruning helps remove risky limbs from a tree. If you check your tree and determine that its branches are putting your home at risk, you need to schedule tree pruning as soon as possible.

Health

Tree pruning can help remove limbs suffering from health complications. This will help give the tree a chance to heal itself. If you notice disease symptoms on some limbs, scheduling tree pruning immediately – or at least, as soon as possible – increases your chances of saving the tree.

Aesthetics

Any property will have an improved look once a tree pruning procedure is conducted. If you are looking forward to renting out your commercial property, ensuring that it has a good look gives you a better shot at getting desirable rent rates. This tells you that you can schedule the tree pruning to coincide with the period when you want your property to have a maximum value.

How Seasonal Factors Affect Tree Pruning

Professionals prefer to conduct tree pruning when the tree is not growing actively – that is when it is in its dormant stage. The dormant stage often coincides with various seasons. Below, we have taken a deeper look at how seasonal factors affect pruning:

Spring

For homeowners planning to add trees to their homes, the spring is the best period to plant the trees. Most trees grow actively in this season – this makes pruning less ideal. In spring, you should only prune your trees to eliminate safety hazards or to save them from health problems and pests.

Summer

Trees continue growing actively through the summer season. You should, therefore, hold on tree pruning for a later season. If your home is too dry in the summer, watering your trees might be a great idea.

Fall

A lot of trees in Daytona Beach enter the spring season in the fall season. This is the best time to conduct major tree pruning operations.

Winter

Some trees enter their dormant stage in the winter stage. Pruning these trees gives you a better shot at saving yourself some money since most tree pruners will offer competitive tree pruning cost rates – this is because they are generally less busy. If you have weak trees in your home, it is always a good idea to employ measures that can help these trees beat the cold weather.

DIY Tree Pruning

We do not recommend DIY tree pruning. The tree maintenance practice features a large number of risks – for example, you could easily destroy your home with falling branches or fall from the tree crown and end up with heavy injuries.

However, for property owners with extra small trees, DIY tree pruning might be a good way to save some money. If you have some experience pruning trees, you have already invested in tree pruning gear, and you are positive that attempting DIY tree pruning won’t result in losses, you can use the tips below when pruning your tree:

Prune the Right Branches

Branches with a diameter of less than 5 cm are safe to remove. However, once a branch reaches a diameter of 5 cm, careful consideration is needed. If possible, do not remove branches with a diameter of more than 10cm.

Checking the angle made by the branch at the tree trunk can help you cut the right branches. Branches forming a weak V-shaped angle can be removed. However, if a branch forms a strong U-shaped angle, it is recommended that you allow it to stay on the tree.

Tree Height to Living Crown Ratio

When pruning a tree, focus on pruning less than a quarter of the tree crown. Also, ensure that the tree has a ratio of 2:3 between its living crown and the trunk.

Follow the Right Procedure When Cutting the Tree Branch

When cutting any branch, start with identifying the collar – this will be available at the base of the branch. Next, look for the branch ridge. Using a sharp tree pruning tool, cut the branch between the ridge and the collar, ensuring that you do not leave a huge stub on the tree trunk.

Types of Tree Pruning

When pruning your tree, you will use one of the following types of pruning:

• Crown reduction– This involves removing branches from the top of your tree. This type of pruning is only ideal when trying to improve safety or restore the tree’s health.
• Crown raising– If the branches on your tree are blocking visibility on the pathways – whether walkways or driveways – you can reduce the possibility of accidents by sawing off the limbs at the bottom of the tree.
• Crown thinning– This is the process of removing excess limbs from the tree crown. This encourages the healthy branches left on the tree to grow stronger.

Tree Pruning Tools

Tree pruners use the following tools to make tree pruning successful:

• Looping shears– These are generally used to get rid of huge branches.
• Bypass pruner– These make the pruning process smoother by making the removal of narrow-angled branches simpler.
• Pruning saws– If your goal is to remove branches with a diameter of fewer than 2 inches, a fine-toothed saw should work for you. If you have to remove branches with a diameter of more than 3 inches, you will need coarse-toothed saws.
• Hedge clippers– These work best on small hedges.

It is worth noting that tree pruning tools can spread tree diseases. Therefore, to make sure that you do not move a health problem from one tree to the other, use a sanitizer featuring 70% rubbing alcohol concentration to clean your tools when moving from one tree to the other.