Tree Service Definitions

During your tree care from Ted Safford & Son, Arborists, we may use industry terms that aren’t immediately clear.

Tree Services Rooted in Professionalism

We’ve provided this handy set of definitions to help you better understand your trees and what we’re doing. If you have any questions at all, we’ll be glad to answer them.

When we lace a tree, we selectively prune it to reduce the density of live branches by removing low-hanging or crossing branches, excess suckers, and water sprouts. We also remove dead, diseased, and weak wood.

During a crown reduction, we reduce the size of the tree by using a drop-crotch pruning, a trimming cut that removes the terminal portion of a large branch back to a lateral branch that’s large enough to assume a terminal role.

By using drop-crotch pruning (see crown reduction above), we can improve the artistic and structural form of a tree.

Raising a tree means to remove the low-hanging branches back to a lateral branch that’s large enough to assume a terminal role.

Heading (or topping) a tree is the act of cutting an older branch or stem back to a stub to meet a defined structural objective, such as making the tree look a certain way. This is not healthy for the tree, and it is no longer a recommended practice among professional arborists.

If you have a tree that’s weak or structurally unsound, we can attach cables to it and use bolts or threaded rods to secure it. That gives weak co-dominant stems, split crotches, or split trunks an opportunity to heal.

We can rejuvenate your unhealthy trees by applying essential nutrients using soil fracturing (aeration) techniques.

Tree Services Rooted in Professionalism