Tree Climbing Spikes May Not be Advisable to Use for Pruning

Trees are a very beneficial and beautiful addition to your yard, but occasional upkeep is required in order to ensure that they don’t turn into a nuisance and continue to grow properly.

It is very important that you select the right arborist to handle your tree maintenance and trimming to ensure that they do the job properly and also do the work without damaging your trees.

Amateurs, for example, might use climbing spikes to scale a tree.

On the other hand, it is been known for 100 years at least by reputable arborists that using tree climbing spikes while pruning tree can cause irreparable damage to trees that can permanently disfigure or even kill them.

What Are Tree Climbing Spikes?

These are sharpened steel spikes that attach to the leg of the tree climber through the use of padded supports and leather straps.

These spikes are used by climbers to gain a solid foothold on a taller tree while they are trimming its branches.

Does Climbing Spikes Damage Trees?

As the tree trimmer is using climbing spikes to scale the trunk of the tree, the bark is punctured by the sharpened steel, which effectively kills all of the tree’s living tissue (tree cambium) that is pierced.

Unlike with human tissue, when a tree’s bark is damaged, it is irreversible since trees are unable to heal themselves. The wounds that climbing spikes cause leave a tree full of holes, battered and wounded permanently.

Even the trees that have the thickest and strongest trunks may still be damaged if the tree cambium is pierced by the climbing spikes. It is located right under the bark.

After the tree cambium has been pierced, there will be sap oozing from the wounds, which jeopardizes the future growth and health of the tree.

There are only rare circumstances when tree climbing spikes should be used by a tree climber when doing work on a tree, including:

– When removing a tree.
– If there are not any other safe ways to care for a tree.
– When there aren’t any branches that are lower than 50 feet from the ground and it isn’t possible to access the tree using a lift device.

Common Diseases Caused By Pruning Wounds

It isn’t just the tree’s aesthetics that are ruined by climbing spikes. Numerous trees are susceptible to dangerous pathogens that may be carried from dead trees to healthy ones by a climbing spike.

When open wounds are created it allows wood-boring beetles and decay-causing fungi to enter. They are attracted by the chemical signals that are released when sap oozes from damaged trees.

The following are some of the more common diseases that result from pruning wounds:

• Cankers – Cankers form on trees whenever a bacterial or fungal infection has entered the vascular system of a tree via a physical wound, like one that climbing spikes cause. Cankers frequently appear on sunken, dark areas of the trunk of a tree and on major branches. After the bark that surrounds the canker breaks off, the tree’s vascular system is exposed to all types of environmental stresses.
• Bacterial Blight – This is caused by bacteria spreading either by insects, rain, wind, or pruning tools that haven’t been properly sanitized. Bacteria blight causes brown spots on leaves and infects young shoots most severely.
• Fire Blight – This type of bacterial infection is spread to trees via insects, pruning wounds, and rain. After a leaf or blossom has become infected, this bacteria spread rapidly through new growth, which causes leaves to turn black or brown as if they were burnt. As this disease spreads, the tree’s vascular system is blocked. That creates cankers that infect the whole tree gradually and then kill it eventually.

The Proper Way to Prune

In order to prevent diseases from reaching the vascular system of your trees, the best thing to do is to ensure that the proper pruning techniques are used by your arborist.

Reputable professionals use approved and safe technique whenever they are pruning mature trees.

Instead of using dangerous spikes for scaling trees, responsible timers use a safety harness and rope system or cranes and aerial lifts for reaching your tree’s tallest branches, to significantly reduce the risk of your tree becoming damaged.

If you have a tree that needs to be pruned or trimmed, trust SCS Tree Service and our qualified professionals.

When you hire us, you will be able to have peace of mind because you know the job will be done properly.

Call us to receive your free pruning quote.