Precision Pruning for Stronger, Healthier Trees
At STS Arborists, we provide expert tree pruning designed to enhance your tree’s health, safety, and beauty. We follow ANSI A300 Tree Care Standards to ensure precise, responsible cuts that promote long-term growth and protect your property. From light crown cleaning to structural reduction work, we offer a full range of pruning levels to meet your specific needs.
Whether you’re protecting your investment, enhancing your landscape, or ensuring safety on your property, we bring decades of experience and a genuine passion for trees to every job.
Trees thrive when they’re cared for with skill and precision. Our pruning services are designed to balance beauty, safety, and long-term health so your trees remain strong and vibrant for years to come.
Why Tree Pruning Matters
Proper pruning improves a tree’s structure, encourages healthy growth, reduces the risk of storm damage, and enhances its natural beauty. For trees with heavy or weak limbs that need extra support beyond pruning, we may also recommend tree cabling services.
Our pruning services are tailored to the species, maturity, and condition of each tree, never a one-size-fits-all approach. For additional guidance on tree care across the state, you can review Pennsylvania’s forestry and urban tree care resources.
Our Pruning Levels
Level 1: Crown Cleaning
Crown Cleaning involves removing dead, dying, diseased, competing, broken, or weakly attached branches from the tree’s canopy. This improves the tree’s overall health and appearance while reducing the risk of disease and pest infestations. Crown Cleaning keeps the tree strong, healthy, and visually appealing without altering its size or shape.
Level 2: Crown Thinning
Crown Thinning selectively removes specific branches within the canopy to reduce density. This allows more light to reach inner branches and improves air circulation, helping prevent disease and promoting strong growth.
- No more than 10–20% of the leaf-bearing crown is removed, depending on the tree’s maturity, to ensure proper healing.
- A Level 2 pruning may also include crown cleaning to remove dead or weakened branches for improved health and safety.
Level 3: Crown Reduction
Crown Reduction reduces the overall size of a tree while preserving its natural form. This method is used to:
- Prevent clearance issues with buildings, driveways, or power lines
- Reduce the risk of branch failure from heavy limbs
- Improve tree balance and safety during storms
The process involves cutting back the top and sides of the canopy while protecting the tree’s structural integrity.
- No more than 10–20% of the leaf-bearing crown is removed to protect long-term health.
- A Level 3 pruning may also involve crown thinning and/or crown cleaning.
Why Choose STS Arborists for Pruning?
Your trees deserve expert care, not guesswork. Our certified arborists prune with precision to keep your trees healthy, safe, and beautiful – while protecting your property.
- Certified expertise for safe, correct pruning
- Low-impact methods to protect lawns and landscapes
- Modern equipment for even the toughest spaces
- Services tailored to your trees and goals
With STS Arborists, pruning isn’t just maintenance; it’s an investment in your property’s beauty and safety.
Tree Pruning FAQs
How often should a tree be pruned?
Most trees benefit from pruning every 3–5 years, but fast-growing species or trees in high-risk locations may need more frequent care.
Will pruning harm my tree?
When done correctly by a certified arborist, pruning benefits tree health. We follow ANSI A300 standards to ensure proper cuts and avoid over-pruning
How do I know which pruning level I need?
We inspect your tree’s structure, health, and surroundings, then recommend the appropriate level to meet your goals for safety, health, and appearance.
Can you prune trees near power lines or buildings?
Yes. Our crews are trained and equipped to safely prune in tight spaces and around utilities, following all safety regulations.
Is pruning the same as topping a tree?
No. Topping is an outdated and harmful practice that involves cutting back large branches or the entire top of the tree to stubs or small lateral branches. While some people believe topping will control size or improve safety, it actually has the opposite effect. Topping:
- Removes a large percentage of the leaf surface, reducing the tree’s ability to produce food, which weakens both the canopy and the root system over time
- Disrupts the tree’s energy balance, often causing roots to stop growing or even die back, which reduces stability and drought resistance
- Creates large wounds that are slow to close, making the tree more vulnerable to decay, disease, and pest infestations
- Stimulates rapid, weakly attached regrowth that is more prone to breakage in storms
- Permanently disfigures the tree’s natural shape, lowering its aesthetic and property value
At STS Arborists, we never top trees. Instead, we use crown reduction and thinning techniques that manage size and structure safely, while preserving the tree’s long-term health – above and below ground.
Sometimes pruning isn’t enough, and removal may be the safer option.
Get Your Free Tree Pruning Estimate
Call (814) 233-4088 or send us a message today to schedule your free on-site pruning assessment. Our team will inspect your trees and provide expert recommendations tailored to your property.
