Improper pruning kills greenery more often than pests do, so you shouldn’t let your renters be the ones to do it. For strong, healthy greenery and a strong, healthy investment in Wilmington real estate, it’s vital that you understand proper pruning techniques. Get a good landscape company that knows how to do this and can complete this important maintenance task for you.
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 may have benefits on top of that. Benefits such as the removal of overhanging branches from the sidewalk or driveway, thereby preventing them from getting into your Wilmington rental property’s roof or windows, or surrounding power lines.
If you’re not proactive about pruning, dead limbs can simply crack off on their own, which might hit a person and injure them or fall on a vehicle and cause property damage. If you have bushes and trees that were not properly pruned, they could cause small nuisances 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 give the tasks of mowing and water to the tenants. However, the actual tree trimming and general pruning are best left to the experts. This would spare you from the liability involved with ladders and the potential landscape damage and tenant injury. Make it a point to communicate this in the lease so the tenant does not topple off a ladder or mishandle power tools as he tries to fulfill a vague “landscaping” clause. If you don’t, the potential lawsuits will far outweigh an annual vendor fee.
Another thing you need to think about would be that not every tenant has a natural green thumb. The possibility that they will weaken, warp, or kill greenery that formerly counted to your property value can lay waste to your curb appeal and be an even highly-priced mistake if you have to replant each thing.
Should you outsource pruning?
The biggest bit of being the owner of a rental property is all about protecting your investment, which implies conducting regular maintenance, inside and out. For safety and insurance reasons, and to ensure a job is done perfectly, it’s right to relinquish the landscaping maintenance to professionals. If a tree branch is under 10 cm thick, you may be able to have a go at it yourself. If you think it’s bigger than what you can handle, telephone a skilled maintenance crew for the most expeditious, low-risk way to the most attractive end result.
Real Property Management Champion has a network of licensed, insured maintenance staff to perform regular, proactive pruning for your single-family residence in Wilmington. We can also handle the entire leasing process, guaranteeing that any landscaping responsibilities are properly recorded and told to your tenants. Contact us or call 910-782-4488 for more information today.
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