Is there a best time of the year to trim/prune a couple of ~20-year-old Live Oak trees in the Clear Lake area? I have two trees that have not been professionally pruned in the 15 years that they have been planted in our yard. We now have multiple, low-hanging branches going nowhere, areas in the middle that probably need to be thinned, and a small section at the top that was damaged by a hurricane. The trees have thrived, but because they are low to the ground and dense, we are having trouble keeping the grass alive around the trees.
If maintenance pruning is needed, winter is the best time. Being semitropical to tropical, our live oaks do not go dormant per se, but are thinner in the winter as they lose more leaves prior to production of pollen, etc., and it is easier to spot structural problems.
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