I'm looking to cut back some (of my neighbour's!) trees to get more sunlight in my garden. Already spoken to the fella, it's all good, but is it ok at this time of year? Had a quick look online, it seems that just as long as it's not spring then it's fine. Am I on the right lines here?
You're supposed to do fruit trees in the winter - not sure about others but probably the same. Tree sap is low in the winter and high in the summer, now think of sap being tree blood.
Cutting in the winter causes less harm to the trees.
Just make sure that there are no nesting creatures in the tree. That's why I don't do it in the spring. August bank holiday is when I usually trim my bush.
As a general rule sharkbait is correct but certain trees have specific requirements. For example soft fruit trees such as Cherry etc. are very prone to disease if pruned in winter so need to be pruned in June / July.
If you can identify the trees people can advise correctly.
winter generally as sap is not rising but you are unlikely to kill it whenever you choose