03/12/2026
Yesterday, employees from Citizens' Electric Company, Dincher & Dincher Tree Surgeons, East Buffalo Township, Lewisburg Borough, and members of the Lewisburg Shade Tree Commission gathered for our annual vegetation management training session, provided by Urban Forester Vincent Cotrone from the Penn State Extension.
The primary subject was 'Directional Pruning,' the method used by Citizens' and many other electric utilities to trim trees in a way that supports long-term tree health, reduces waste, and encourages tree growth away from our lines, making return trips fewer and farther between. Additional topics of discussion included general tree health, 'right tree in the right place' planting methods, and current threats to our trees and forest from disease, pests, human activity.
We often hear from property owners who have questions about our pruning practices, and we understand why. Trees are an important part of your property investment and our community. It’s natural to be concerned about how they look and how they’re cared for. We share this value!
The directional pruning method we use is recommended by arborists and tree-care experts as the best option for your trees. 'Rounding over' or 'topping' a tree may look nice (at first) to a human eye, but rounding and topping stress the tree, cause decay, and encourage a biological regrowth response that sends branches right back to where we just pruned them.
Want to learn more? Check out the article below from the Penn State Extension on pruning trees, including how and why utilities prune the way we do.
https://extension.psu.edu/pruning-landscape-trees
This training, along with a variety of other annual activities and our trimming program itself, are all part of our efforts as an Arbor Day Foundation "Tree Line USA" utility to care for our lines and support our forests and community in the process!
We expect our annual trimming program to begin in the late spring or early summer. As always, we'll let you know we're coming, and are happy to respond to questions and concerns, just call us!
