If you've got a dead limb hanging over your car, you've got to take it off. But don't take it off in the spring. Take it off in November. Yet with about 46,000 trees in the city that must be maintained and only three crews to do the work, pruning must take place year-round, said Debbie Price, superintendent for the city's forestry and beautification division. Otherwise, dangerous limbs could fall on people or property.
Price estimates that the city is only able to maintain about one-tenth of the city's trees per year.
While it's not a tremendous threat, pruning is best done in the fall and winter, said Lex Glover, a wildlife technician with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. That way, birds have this time of year to make nests in tree cavities. Some Midlands birds, including woodpeckers, look for dead limbs to make holes in, Glover said. Then, there's another group of birds, such as blue jays, who can't make their own nesting holes but use them to lay their eggs in. The pruning of trees least affects birds that live in the Midlands year-round.