Name the goal
The International Society of Arboriculture describes pruning as work done for a reason, not as a routine haircut. The usual reasons in a metro Atlanta yard:
| Goal | What the crew does |
|---|---|
| Safety | Removes dead, broken and weakly attached branches |
| Clearance | Raises low limbs over a driveway or lawn; shortens limbs over the roof by cutting them back to a side branch |
| Lighter crown | Thins selected branches so wind passes through |
| Structure on a young tree | Picks one leader and removes competing stems, so the tree does not grow a weak fork |
A quote that says only “trim tree” leaves too much open. Ask what will be cut and roughly how much of the crown will come off.
Not topping
Topping cuts the main stems back to stubs, leaving a tree that looks shortened. The ISA calls it harmful: it removes much of the leaf surface the tree feeds itself with, leaves large wounds that decay, and is followed by fast, weakly attached sprouts that break more easily than the limbs they replaced. A topped tree often becomes more dangerous, and more expensive to maintain, than the tree before. If the goal is a smaller tree, the alternative is crown reduction: cutting stems back to side branches large enough to take over.
Near lines
The ISA recommends that homeowners never prune trees near utility lines themselves. Branches touching the line from the pole to the house, or the lines along the street, are for the utility or for line-clearance trimmers; OSHA reserves work within ten feet of a line for them. See Tree on a power line.
Permits
Pruning is not removal, and the permit rules in Permits are written for removal. Heavy work on a large tree inside the City of Atlanta, where removing a hardwood 6 inches across needs a permit, is still worth a call to the Arborist Division first.
When
Dead and broken branches can come out any time. For structural pruning on most shade trees, ask the arborist; the right season depends on the species.
Checked against the sources below on 2026-10-11.