I am on a neighborhood association and we have trees in the boulevards in the streets. In those boulevards are linden and Bradford pear trees. We would like to get them trimmed to stop the school busses and cars from brushing up against them.

The trees are well established, most are 8 to 10 years old. They also receive regular water from an irrigation system.

My question, is this the right time to trim them? (August) Will the drought change the perspective on taking down branches? Could we kill the trees if we trim them back now?

The largest limbs we would be taking out are no larger than the 2 to 3 inch range. And most of the work would be to shape them up and keep them from hanging over the street.

Thanks for any help you can provide. This is a great service

Hi,

Most arborists will suggest that it is not a good idea to prune during times of drought stress. the only time you might consider this is if there is some type hazard posed by limbs if they remain on the tree. I might suggest that yo wait until perhaps the cooler weather in the fall or even after a frost or two when the tree starts to shut down for the winter.