Tree Trimming

Limbing Up Blue Spruces to Open Up a Vaughan Condo's Picnic Area

Also at the same Vaughan community: a group of blue spruces whose lowest branches had grown down onto the lawn, shading out the grass and crowding the residents' picnic area. Goats Landscaping limbed them up in August 2026.

Project snapshot

Client: Condo & townhouse community
Location: Vaughan
Service: Tree Trimming
Date: August 2026

Scope of work

Crown raising (limbing up) a group of blue spruces
Low branches removed over the lawn and picnic area
Branches piled, loaded and hauled away
Ground under the trees raked clear

Blue spruce after limbing up — trunks cleared, cut branches hauled away, picnic area open again

Blue spruce before — branches sweeping the ground and swallowing the lawn

Before After

The challenge

Beside the residents' picnic area at this Vaughan community stands a group of mature blue spruces. Spruces keep their lowest branches unless someone removes them, and over the years these had swept right down onto the lawn.

The branches had killed the grass underneath, hidden the picnic table and made the area hard to mow or walk through. The trees themselves were healthy: the problem was only how low they had grown.

Blue spruces before, with branches sweeping the lawn and the picnic area behind

Our approach

Removing the trees would have cost the community decades of shade, privacy and year-round green. Goats Landscaping limbed them up instead, also called crown raising: taking off only the lowest branches so there is room underneath, while at least two-thirds of each tree's height stays as live canopy.

Every cut was made just outside the branch collar, the slightly swollen ring where a branch meets the trunk, so the trees can seal the wounds properly.

What we did

Removed the lowest branches from each spruce, cutting just outside the branch collar.
Lifted the canopies high enough to walk and sit underneath comfortably.
Left the upper crowns full, keeping the trees in proportion.
Piled the cut branches along the fence for loading.
Hauled the branches away and raked the ground under the trees.

Cut spruce branches piled along the fence, ready to be hauled away

The result

Clean trunks and open space under the trees
Light reaching the ground again
A picnic area residents can use
Healthy mature trees kept, not removed

Know-how from our crew

Good to know

Cut just outside the branch collar, the slightly swollen ring where a branch meets the trunk, rather than flush with the trunk. That lets the tree seal the wound properly.

Why limbing up beats removing the trees

Mature blue spruces give a condo property privacy, shade and year-round green, and they take decades to replace. Removing only the lowest branches keeps all of that while giving residents their lawn and picnic area back, with far less cost and disruption than taking trees out.

How much Goats Landscaping takes off

A common guide is to keep at least two-thirds of a tree's height as live canopy. We lifted these spruces enough to walk and sit underneath comfortably and left the rest of the crown full, so the trees stay healthy and in proportion with the buildings around them.

Common questions

Will limbing up hurt the trees?

Not when it is done right. Cutting lower branches cleanly just outside the branch collar, and not taking too much at once, leaves a spruce healthy. Branches that are already dead or shaded out can always go.

When is the best time to limb up spruces?

Late winter, before new growth starts, is ideal for most conifers, but dead and low branches can come off any time. This Vaughan job was done in late August 2026.