When should spruce trees be pruned?

Timing

Spruce is a conifer, so Battle Born's rule is early spring and summer for routine work, with hazards removed whenever they appear. If the tree is stressed or in a dry year, ask the arborist before cutting. The comparison with deciduous trees, which wait for late winter, is in the best time to prune guide.

What the cuts are for

On a Colorado blue spruce, the useful work is deadwood, lifting a skirt that touches the ground, and clearing branches off the roof and wires. The lowest branches on a spruce keep the tree looking full, so lifting is judged against the site. For its traits see Colorado blue spruce. The Forest Service notes the roots are shallow; one study found 73.6 percent in the top 2 feet of soil, which is a reason not to disturb the ground under it.

Why not shear it

A hedge cut, where the outer foliage is sheared back to a surface, removes the green growth the tree lives on. Spruce does not push new buds from old brown wood, so branches cut into the interior stay bare. Dead branches inside a healthy spruce are normal in shade, and they can be removed without touching the green.

When it is removal

More than half the crown dead, a dead top, or decay at the base moves it past pruning. Blue spruce does not sprout from the stump. A certified arborist makes that call at a free estimate. Call 775.232.8243.

Before you book

Note what the spruce is near: the roof, a fence, wires, a neighbor's yard. If any branch is near a power line, stay away and see utility and structure clearance; NV Energy handles its own primary lines. A certified arborist walks the tree first, and the plan says what will come off. Spruce is often planted close to houses as a windbreak, and the skirt cut is the one most worth planning with the arborist.