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Springtime means start of utilities’ pruning season

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Outrage or outage—take your pick.

Every year, energy companies in Wisconsin spend $31 million on tree trimming in an effort to cut back on power outages caused by storm damaged trees.

And every year, those same companies get complaints from homeowners who are outraged by the results.

“I do basic tree planting and pruning training all over the state,” said Mike Maddox, UW Extension and Rotary Botanical Garden horticulture educator. “Every time I teach a class, someone asks, ‘Why in the world do those blanketyblanks do this to our trees?’ ”

Maddox, a certified arborist, said utility arborists take a lot of abuse.

“These people are not tree haters,” Maddox said. “They are highly trained utility arborists.”

Pruning is usually conducted in late winter or early spring, before the trees have budded out. That means utility arborists might be in your neighborhood soon.

Here is everything you wanted to know about utility tree trimming, but were too polite to ask:

Q: What exactly have you done to my tree?

A: Pruned it back in order to reduce the number of power outages caused by tree branches knocking down lines. Even branches touching lines can cause short circuits.

Branches that might interfere with lines are trimmed back 5 to 7 feet for slow-growing trees such as sugar maples and burr oaks. For fast-growing trees such as pin oaks, northern red oaks and paper birches, branches are cut back 10 to 12 feet.

Pruning is done on a four-to five-year cycle.

Q: You call that pruning? It looks awful.

A: It’s called “directional pruning,” and it’s designed to make the trees grow away from lines. It’s not pretty, but it is the method developed by the National Arborist Association.

Q: Who said you could prune my trees?

A: Energy companies have agreements with the cities and communities they serve. Under those agreements, the companies are allowed to trim trees in easements and terraces.

Q: Does that mean I shouldn’t plant trees anywhere near power lines?

A: No, but you should choose wisely.

Know what the mature height of a tree will be before planting it. A tree whose mature height will be 40 feet should be planted at least 40 feet away from power lines. A tree whose mature height is 50 feet should be at least 70 feet away from power lines.

Trees planted in terraces—that’s the strip of land between the sidewalk and the street—should have a mature height of 25 feet or less.

When picking out a tree that will be planted in the terrace, make sure to choose a species that can handle road salt. The City of Janesville Parks Department has a complete list available.

Q: I don’t have power lines. My electricity comes from a green metal box on a concrete pad. What should I plant?

A: There should be three feet of clearance on the back and at each side of a padmounted transformer. There also should be at least 10 feet of clearance in the front. Consider the mature width of the shrub before planting.

Sources: Arbor Day Foundation, UW-Extension, Alliant Energy, MG&E.

Choosing the right trees

The Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Committee and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources offer these recommendations as the best trees to be used on city terraces: Amur maple; Japanese tree lilac; Thornless hawthorn; Sargent cherry; Crabapple cultivars such as ‘Adams’, ‘Centurion’, ‘Donald Wyman,’ ‘Prairiefire’ and ‘Tina’; and Cockspur hawthorn.

Other low growing “urban tolerant” trees recommended by utility companies for near power lines include the Tatarian maple and Callery pear.

Trees that are “urban tolerant” but sensitive to road salt include American hornbeam, musclewood; Winter King hawthorn; Eastern redbud, cultivar, ‘Columbus Strain”; Loebner magnolia; and Saucer magnolia.