Improper pruning kills greenery more often than pests do, so you wouldn’t want your renters to do it themselves. For strong, healthy greenery and a strong, healthy investment in Lynchburg real estate, it’s crucial to know the proper pruning techniques. Find a good landscape company that has this skill and can handle this vital aspect of maintenance for you. You would greatly benefit from their service.
What is pruning and why is it important?
Pruning simply means trimming back overgrowth that can damage a plant or weaken its structure. Cutting away the dead or diseased limbs will lengthen the life of the plant and help prevent infestations of pests on your property. Both will maintain your property value, if not add to it. Pruning also has other benefits. It removes any overhanging branches from the sidewalk or driveway and prevents them from growing too much that it makes its way to your Lynchburg rental property’s roof or windows, or surrounding power lines.
If you don’t stay proactive about pruning, dead limbs can simply crack off on their own, which might result in a person getting injured or their property getting damaged. You wouldn’t want a dead branch fall and ruin someone’s car. Bushes and trees that are allowed to grow and aren’t properly pruned can lead to all sorts of problems– from minor inconveniences like cuts from thorns to major hazards such as obstructing views of traffic. Additionally, in many areas, you are legally required to maintain the landscape in such a way as to not create a nuisance, block line of vision, or to encroach on property lines or air space.
To avoid lawsuits, perform regular trimming of trees and shrubberies every spring. Making cuts in cold weather can damage the plant. You can train a plant’s branches simply by making slightly angular cuts that will shape its growth in the most attractive or functional direction. Cut above growth buds to preserve flowers.
Why should the resident avoid pruning?
You can pass the responsibility of mowing and water to the tenants. However, the actual tree trimming and general pruning should be performed by professionals as there are too many risks involved. The liability involved with ladders or the potential of landscape damage or tenant injury is not worth it. Ensure that you communicate this in the lease so that the tenant will not topple off a ladder or mishandle power tools in an effort to fulfill a vague “landscaping” clause. If you fail to do this, the potential lawsuits will far outweigh an annual vendor fee.
A different aspect to consider is that not every tenant has a natural green thumb. It’s conceivable that they could weaken, warp, or kill greenery that had once increased your property value. This might destroy your curb appeal and be a terrible blunder if you have to replant the whole lot.
Should you outsource pruning?
The main responsibility of possessing a rental property is all about protecting your investment, which necessitates conducting regular maintenance, inside and out. For safety and insurance reasons, and to make sure a job is done well, it’s smart to entrust the landscaping maintenance to professionals. If a tree branch is under 10 cm thick, you should be able to handle it yourself. For anything substantially larger, phone a skilled maintenance crew for a speedy, risk-free way to the most appealing outcome.
Real Property Management Cairn has a network of licensed, insured maintenance staff to perform regular, proactive pruning for your single-family residence in Lynchburg. We can also supervise the entire leasing process, seeing to it that any and all landscaping responsibilities are correctly enumerated for and conveyed to your tenants. Contact us or call 434-215-3028 for more information today.
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