The Winter To-Do That Can Save You Thousands (and Protect Your Trees)
Winter is the perfect time to remove small trees (saplings) and unwanted woody plants from your property. It’s a simple annual property-check I’ve built into my own routine—one that’s saved us money, protected our mature trees, and made spring feel a lot less overwhelming.
Depending on your property size, a 30 minute walk with a pair of loppers around the treelines near your important structures (house, shed, driveway, pool, etc) may be all it takes to thin your trees lines and save yourself a future headache. And if you do it every year, it might be even less time than that.
Why Winter Is the Ideal Time to Thin Trees
You can actually see what doesn’t belong.
Once the leaves are down and the snow provides a clean backdrop, it’s much easier to spot saplings and woody plants that popped up on their own and aren’t part of your long-term plan.
Everything is lighter and easier to move.
Without leaves, cut material is easier to carry, stack, burn, or chip.
Wood breaks down better later.
Wood cut in winter has time to dry and season, making it easier to burn or run through a chipper and turn into garden amendments come spring.
Your perennials are protected.
Frozen ground shields plants you might need to step on while working along borders.
Why This One Task Can Save You Money
If you’ve ever had to pay to remove a large tree, you already know how painful that bill can be.
Small trees grow into big problems faster than you think. If you didn’t plant it intentionally, and it isn’t a large, established tree, it’s often best treated as a weed in a suburban setting.
These self-sown saplings often grow at odd angles—toward your house, over your driveway, or into fences—because they’re stretching for light blocked by mature trees. Every year they’re allowed to grow, they become harder and more expensive to deal with.
Left unchecked, they can:
Require professional removal later
Fall and cause damage
Crowd mature trees, rubbing against them and creating wounds where disease can enter
In a forest, this is normal and beneficial. Trees die, fall, and create habitat. In a suburban setting, however, we want our large, mature trees to stay healthy and structurally sound so they can safely provide shade and beauty for years to come.
Thinning out competition helps them do exactly that.
A few winters ago, we learned this lesson the expensive way. We had to spend a significant amount of money cleaning up trees along our property line that were leaning toward our house, fence, and driveway.
That situation might have been avoided if the saplings had been removed annually when they were small. Now, we keep our borders in check by thinning once a year.
What You Can (Safely) Do Yourself
If you are comfortable using hand tools and working at ground level, you may be able to handle very young saplings with a pair of loppers.
My personal rule of thumb: If I can cut it with loppers and carry it myself, I’m generally comfortable handling it.
Use your best judgment. Anything larger, higher, or near structures is worth calling a professional. If you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself, then definitely don’t.
This post reflects my personal experience as a homeowner. I’m sharing what’s worked for us — not as expert advice, but as encouragement to think about small steps you can take to manage your property. When in doubt, ask for help.
If you do need to hire a tree removal service, winter can be an ideal time for that too because:
Frozen ground protects lawns and soil from heavy equipment
It’s often a slower season, making scheduling easier
Tend Trees You Intend to Keep
This is also a great time to decide whether there are any trees you want to allow to grow. Not every tree needs to be planted by you — but any tree you keep should be intentional.
Before letting one grow:
Identify the species
Research its mature height and width
Consider proximity to buildings, power lines, driveways, and other trees
If you need help identifying a tree, the Arbor Day Foundation has an excellent step-by-step identification tool: https://www.arborday.org/tree-identification
If you’re looking at a deciduous tree (one that loses it’s leaves in fall), then the above tool will be less helpful in winter, as it relys on leaf shape and pattern to help identify. However, if there’s a tree you’re thinking about keeping, you can flag it in winter and come back in Summer to identify it. Decide then whether to cut it or leave it.
Because I’m not an arborist (pruning is a skill I’m still learning), I use the dead of winter for removing unwanted woody plants, not pruning trees I intend to keep.
For pruning, I personally prefer late winter or early spring, when trees begin to wake up. At that point, I can see where new buds are forming and make more informed decisions about where to place a cut.
In January, my focus is strictly on removal, including:
Overcrowded saplings
Bittersweet
Invasive shrubs such as autumn olive and burning bush
Regrowth from the stumps of larger trees previously removed
Make Winter Work for You
Use this task as an excuse to get outside on a sunny winter day. A little effort now can save you money, protect the trees you love, and leave more room in spring for the fun stuff ;)
